Fired the .58 Caliber Today

[Okie Hog]

Went to our firing range this morning. Fired the newly re-bored .58 caliber New Englander.

Ball: Hornady .570
Patch: Drill cloth
Lube: Frontier's
Cap: #11 Remington
Powder: 90/100grains of Black MZ

First ball hit low and to the right. Fired four more rounds that went about 1 1/2 inches higher. Powder can was empty so i opened a new can of Black MZ with another lot number. There is this thing about Black MZ; sometimes it ain't consistent between lots. The balls went low so i went to 100 grains of powder. That put it back on target. Best three shot groups were about 1 3/4 Inches. Sky was overcast and i had trouble with the front sight. Will go back on a sunny day and finish sighting it in.

After short starting the ramrod went down easily. After a few rounds Black MZ sometimes causes heavy residue close to the muzzle. i used a moist patch on short starter to clear that up prior to loading. One patch was blown because i got the ball off center.

i'm very happy with this barrel.

 

[Marty1]

What distance falcon ... 50 yards?

 

[Okie Hog]

What distance falcon ... 50 yards?

Yes, 50 yards.

Some patches:

 

[Hanshi]

Some of those patches look burned and torn.

 

[Billy-by-gosh]

Congrats on the new barrel! I cut my teeth on the .58 bore and just loved shooting them.

MZ powder seems to have irregular sizing of granules, which may account for the variations you noticed.

Ditto on Hanshi's observations from your patches. You could add a felt wad to protect the patching; also the ball size could be bumped to .575 and/or patching material may need experimentation to get optimum results.

(In my bygone days we would "break-in" a new bore by putting a twist or two of #0000 steel wool on the cleaning jag, then make a couple of passes down the bore with that to try and diminish the sharpness off fresh cut lands; but with Hoyt's barrels that is probably unnecessary.)

 

[Hanshi]

I agree ball size and patch thickness, as Billy mentioned, can be experimented with. An op wad often helps as well. Another thing to consider is to polish the muzzle crown thus smoothing the entry of the prb and remove the abrupt ends of the lands. It makes a difference in ease of loading, and allows tighter prb to be easily seated.

 

[coupe]

So true as Hanshi states. I have a 50 hawken 1:48 twist and I replaced the .490 to .495 and saw a difference in grouping to the better. The .018 pillow tick patch comes out reusable with or with out an op wad at 85gr. of 3f goex. I am going to try .535 in my 54, it always shows small signs of shredding in two areas with the op wad. I polished the crown tested the ball n patch by pulling the ball out and no sign of patch shred, but fireing it will show the small areas begin to give up. The balls are my castings I check weight for building a load and patch info, now I'll set aside the .530 and look hard at the .535 ball.
coupe

 

[JMG1894]

I want to shoot mine now.
Thanks Falcon

 

[Dennis Olson]

So true as Hanshi states. I have a 50 hawken 1:48 twist and I replaced the .490 to .495 and saw a difference in grouping to the better. The .018 pillow tick patch comes out reusable with or with out an op wad at 85gr. of 3f goex. I am going to try .535 in my 54, it always shows small signs of shredding in two areas with the op wad. I polished the crown tested the ball n patch by pulling the ball out and no sign of patch shred, but fireing it will show the small areas begin to give up. The balls are my castings I check weight for building a load and patch info, now I'll set aside the .530 and look hard at the .535 ball.
coupe

Sam Fadala says to use a ball closest to bore dia and a suitable patch for best accuracy.

 

[exMember]

Now go pop some piggies Floyd!

 

[Okie Hog]

Now go pop some piggies Floyd!

Will do, probably this weekend. There is now an enclosed blind overlooking a feeder on the point. It's on the high bank close to where we forded the creek. PM coming your way soon.

 

[Okie Hog]

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