54 renegade

[vt mike]

been a few months but I finally got to the range today to try out Dans plains bullets in my 54 renegade. at 25 yds 3 shots are touching each other-60 grains o FFg,over powder wad. at 50 yds they were roughly a foot low and all over the plac. 8-12 inches apart ! mo' powder ?

 

[Idaholewis]

What kind of powder are you using? Are you weighing your charges, or using a Powder measurer? When is the last time you replaced the Nipple? Any idea of the Nipple Flash hole diameter?

 

[Matthew323]

Pin gages?

 

[Idaholewis]

Pin gauges are definitely the most precise way of measuring the Flash Hole size

 

[Idaholewis]

Another thing a person can do to check flash hole size if they Don’t want to buy a set of Pin Gauges is buy a single .034 Pin Gauge, After each outing and the Nipple is Clean, Check to see if the .034 will fit inside? When it does, it’s time to replace the Nipple.

Like this, under 4 bucks and free shipping
https://www.progressivepii.com/spi-plug-pin-gage-0-034-diameter-class-zz-plus-plug-pin-gage/

 

[Idaholewis]

Treso/Ampco are the Nipples that i use in ALL of my Blackpowder Guns, Even my Long Range Rifles, They are the best Nipples i have ever used. They start out at .028, and after a few hundred shots they are stil .028-.029, They are DURABLE. Even in my 1-24 Twist .50 Cal pushing 610 & 615 Grain Bullets, They keep going and going
https://www.buffaloarms.com/1-4x28-treso-ampco-t-c-nipple-tre115001.html

 

[Matthew323]

Except for that sub-.40 caliber bullet barrel you had a few years ago. That bad boy burned out the Treso AMPCO nipples pretty quickly, as I recall. Had to go to platinum- lined I think.

 

[Matthew323]

I got my set/50, 0.015"-0.060" minus pin gages from Accusize Industrial Tools from eBay a little over a year ago. At that time they cost $32.00 (more now). I also purchased the Accusize pin gage holder which has a collet on both ends. I think it was around $11.00. I had free shipping with Amazon.

 

[Idaholewis]

Except for that sub-.40 caliber bullet barrel you had a few years ago. That bad boy burned out the Treso AMPCO nipples pretty quickly, as I recall. Had to go to platinum- lined I think.

Correct, I gave up on the Barrel as it just wasn’t worth pursuing. This thing was VERY much a one of a kind Sidelock Barrel.
Breech plug question for Idaholewis

 

[Matthew323]

Correct, I gave up on the Barrel as it just wasn’t worth pursuing. This thing was VERY much a one of a kind Sidelock Barrel.
Breech plug question for Idaholewis

Lewis, thanks for putting the link to my old thread with the question on the breech plugs.

I had forgotten how much useful, and interesting information was in that thread as far as keeping a long range, fast twist, percussion sidelock rifle from having the breech plug foul to the point where just a single shot could/would render the rifle unshootable.

 

[Idaholewis]

been a few months but I finally got to the range today to try out Dans plains bullets in my 54 renegade. at 25 yds 3 shots are touching each other-60 grains o FFg,over powder wad. at 50 yds they were roughly a foot low and all over the plac. 8-12 inches apart ! mo' powder ?

After post #22 above, How does your Barrel fit in the Stock? Is there any movement when you grab the Barrel and Stock? To test this, with the butt of the rifle on the Floor, Hold the Forend of the Stock, Grab the Barrel and Try to move it, Are you feeling any movement at all?

If there is ANY movement, follow these steps and Group Shoot the rifle, cut yourself some strips of paper like this, just regular printer type paper is fine

Place a Strip between the Stock and barrel just forward of the Wedge Key (you can also do this at the Breech end) add as many strips on top of eachother as needed to get the Barrel SNUGGED up good in the Stock, Also make sure your Wedge key goes in from the Right, I engrave my Wedge keys with a ”T” On the Flat, this stands for Top and is facing up as i push it in place, The wedge Key should be put in EXACTLY the same way each time. You can do this paper trick at the Range, Ad some paper/remove Etc. And Group Shoot

 

[vt mike]

What kind of powder are you using? Are you weighing your charges, or using a Powder measurer? When is the last time you replaced the Nipple? Any idea of the Nipple Flash hole diameter?

i'm using Goex ffg in a powder measure and replaced the nipple last fall. no idea of the hole diameter.

 

[vt mike]

After post #22 above, How does your Barrel fit in the Stock? Is there any movement when you grab the Barrel and Stock? To test this, with the butt of the rifle on the Floor, Hold the Forend of the Stock, Grab the Barrel and Try to move it, Are you feeling any movement at all?

If there is ANY movement, follow these steps and Group Shoot the rifle, cut yourself some strips of paper like this, just regular printer type paper is fine

Place a Strip between the Stock and barrel just forward of the Wedge Key (you can also do this at the Breech end) add as many strips on top of eachother as needed to get the Barrel SNUGGED up good in the Stock, Also make sure your Wedge key goes in from the Right, I engrave my Wedge keys with a ”T” On the Flat, this stands for Top and is facing up as i push it in place, The wedge Key should be put in EXACTLY the same way each time. You can do this paper trick at the Range, Ad some paper/remove Etc. And Group Shoot

OMG !! theres movement there alrite !! well that's a good place to start, maybe I'll glass bed it. thanx -I have a knack for overlooking the obvious!

 

[Frank in Fairfield]

Get rid of the wad.
Not needed..

 

[Idaholewis]

Keep the Wool Felt Wad, The Bullet base is what steers the Bullet, protect it at all costs! The ONLY time I don’t use a Wad is with a Hollow Base Minie type Bullet

 

[Idaholewis]

OMG !! theres movement there alrite !! well that's a good place to start, maybe I'll glass bed it. thanx -I have a knack for overlooking the obvious!

Those were tips/tricks that are easy to try, When you get what you need, Correctly Bedding the Stock is the right way to do it I shoot so many different Barrels in Different Stocks that i just Shim, and Shoot. My 1,200 Yard Shoots were done with Duct Tape in the Forend of the Stock, BELIEVE That

 

[vt mike]

well I glass bedded it last nite and she's tight now ! I' outta wads but I may try to get a group out of it tomarrow . shoots a foot lower without the wads, which I ve ordered. if I can get a group I'll be happy

 

[brad502a]

Keep the wad. It protects the base of the bullet from the burning powder.

 

[vt mike]

after bedding > left group is great plains bullet at 25 yards. right group is TC maxi ball at 50 yards, two of which are same hole ! no wads 60 gr FFg. cant wiat to get more wads and bullets and play some more

 

[deermanok]

Don't get much better than that.