Got out with the 58!

[exMember]

Windy or not, thank god for the wind though! Its in the high 70's but with the wind, it feels only 72 :lol:

The 562 ball with .020 patch has a limit of 100 grains. Any more and it opened up to 6" @ 100 yards.

Switched to the 570 ball and finally figured out where to adjust my rear sight to, on the 3rd notch. Going to clean the bore and let it cool down for a good 20 minutes. Those loads really heat up the barrel extremely fast, especially in this heat today.

 

[Spitfire1]

I've noticed with the .54 and balls that they also like loads in the 90-120 gr range

 

[Muley Hunter]

Don't complain. It's snowing here and windy.

I need to mention something about loads that's been tucked away in my pea brain. I read a book by Sam Fadala a few years ago, and he was talking about working up a load. Most believe that when you start to lose accuracy you have found the limit of the gun. He didn't agree with that. He said that there's a gap between accurate loads.

As an example. You start with 70g and keep adding powder until you lose accuracy. That might be 100gr. Sam said that most guys stop there, but if you keep going the accuracy will come back at a higher load. Maybe at 130gr it becomes accurate again. I never tried it, because recoil get ugly. Sam shoots between 175-200 gr of powder. He never talks about exceeding load limits manufacturers put on guns.

Something to think about.

 

[Spitfire1]

Pete my new toy will use 160 gr as a starting load and around 250 gr as a max load. The 8 bore use 200 gr to start with.

 

[Muley Hunter]

Yes, but Sam was talking about .54 cal guns. He uses gr of powder equal to the weight of the round ball. Up to a certain caliber, because it gets ridiculous with the bigger bores.

 

[patocazador]

If you have an accurate load with 70-90 gr. of powder, it seems senseless to waste more powder and punish your shoulder by continuing to increase the load. But I'm recoil (and money) sensitive.

 

[Spitfire1]

Weight of powder equal to weight of ball.....OUCH !With the 8 bore that will be around 900 -1000 gr of powder , might be fun touching that off !

 

[Muley Hunter]

That's why I said it doesn't apply to the bigger bores. He stops at .54 cal.

 

[Spitfire1]

But even with the .54 you're looking at 230 gr !

 

[Muley Hunter]

That's what he said.

btw..It's 225 gr.

 

[exMember]

Ive heard that guy was mostly FOS and ruined a lot of barrels by using his theory. I'd have to guy the book and take a look at it myself to rule on that.

 

[Spitfire1]

Highest load i've ever used in my .54 Hawken (1:60) was 160gr and that gave a healthy slap with that curved butt plate.... :lol:

 

[Smokin' Joe]

I just stopped by the "Track of the Wolf" store today. I needed to get equipped to shoot my .58 Call Flintlock. I dropped $70.00 so I can now shoot that bad boy. They were out of the Hornady round balls so I bought 50 of their hand cast round balls. I weighed a few and they averaged 276 grains. I'm going to "start" out with 70 grains of the Pyrodex P and see what that does. Hope to get to the range this week.

Joe

 

[Muley Hunter]

Does it shoot well with Pyro? Flintlocks usually have a hard time with it, and want real BP.

 

[Smokin' Joe]

I don't know Muley, I've never shot a flintlock. Pyro RS and Pyro P is what I have on hand. I did buy some GOEX black powder FFFFG to prime the pan. If you are recommending I go back and get some real black powder I will. 2F? or 3F?

Joe

 

[Muley Hunter]

3F Goex will work better. The Pyro will have a longer delay than real black on ignition. If it fires at all. Just depends on the lock.

 

[Smokin' Joe]

OK thanks, I'll get some 3F.

I'm open for advice. At my age I don't need to learn everything the hard way anymore!

Joe

 

[Muley Hunter]

Get the 3F, and compare it to the Pyro. Then you'll understand the difference better.

Flintlocks are picky. Keep the flint sharp, keep the touch hole clear, keep the powder dry, find what the gun likes as far as priming the pan, and when you get it all working right. Repeat everything exactly the same everytime.

 

[Spitfire1]

Flinty's are great fun to shoot . I'll get some 2f as well just in case the .58 does'nt like the 3f.

 

[Muley Hunter]

3F will ignite quicker, and have less fouling. Better for a flintlock.