Getting back to black powder shooting

[HardlyWarcane]

Hello
I have not shot black powder guns for more then 25 years and don't remember the important numbers and sizes?
I have two guns at this time, both percussion:
An Ardesa Spain .54cal rifle kit that still needs to be put together.(I hope all the bits are still in the bag)
and a :
CVA .45cal Pistol that besides tightening the front site and needs a nipple installed ,looks good to go!

So questions go like this 
   - Does it matter witch nipple is used - I have a small nipple on the rifle and one that's almost 1/3 bigger that came with the pistol - though this nipple doesn't hand thread into the hole opening like the rifle one does. Thread on the pistol one look to be just a touch bigger then the rifle one, though it seems like it might thread in if I put a wrench on it. (which I wouldn't do with out knowing it was the correct thread!)

   - If I was to use Gorex blk powder witch "F" number is for witch "F","FF","FFF","FFFF", I still have cans of each from 25 years ago. ( it should be good and hot by now - LOL!)
I think the really fine powder was for the flint pan and the course-est  was for rifle shooting???

   - ball size?? for .54 rifle (should it be like .520ish / .530ish with patch around it???) and .45 pistol (.44ish with patch???)

   - Last is there anyone that sells bits like ram rod holder tubs or screws ,sights ,trigger , hammer parts in B.C., or at least Canada... as last I remember we Canadians aren't aloud to bring any gun parts across the boarder.  Unless that has changed in all this time.

   - Oh perhaps a couple powder charges, to start both guns at, just to get going.
I'll start out shooting round ball and by then I'll have figured out what bullets work well in .54 cal rifle and .45 cal pistol. (both have deep rifling in them, I don't recall the rifling being that deep??)

Thx ahead of time for any and all help.

 

[singletree45]

Howdy: I've been shooting black powder since the early 70's and have built several rifles and pistols. to start with the rifle I would try a .530 ball and a .011 to .015 cotton patch. If that seems too lose go to a .535 ball with the same patch. With one exception I've never seen a rifle advertised as a 54 cal and used .520ish sized ball. The powder charge should start around 60 gn. and go up from there. I would go up 5 or 10 gn. at a time and see what shoots the best group of 5 shoots. I wouldn't go much over 80 or 90 gn. in your rifle. I would use FFg or FFFg. For the pistol I would use a .440 ball and the same patch material as the rifle and use FFFg powder in it.  Since parts are hard to come by there I would use the nipple that came with the gun. When I build a kit I always check and see if the boss for the nipple is small enough to re drill for 1/4 X 28 thread which is the most common here in the US.

 

[HardlyWarcane]

Thank you for the info.
The .520ish thing I was just throwing numbers out there - aren't the rifle land's like .005 which by them self?

I stopped by my local shooting store to find he only has Pyrodex FFg for powder.
He has both <a href='/tags/10' rel='nofollow' title='See all tagged subjects with: #10'>#10</a> and <a href='/tags/11' rel='nofollow' title='See all tagged subjects with: #11'>#11</a> caps ,witch I just read <a href='/tags/10' rel='nofollow' title='See all tagged subjects with: #10'>#10</a> is for cap and ball revolvers and <a href='/tags/11' rel='nofollow' title='See all tagged subjects with: #11'>#11</a> is for pistols and rifle's of the single shot type.
He only has 50 cal. mini bullets and no round ball at all.
So I'll need to find a source for lead ammo here in B.C. ,Canada so I can even try different size balls to learn which one works.
One foot in front of the other this could be slow, but what the hell ,I remember shooting smoke poles was a lot of fun! 
Any Canada shops you know of ??? so I could mail order powder and ammo?
I can't bring it across the border, so if I can't get it here that could make it hard to shoot these two peaces.

 

[exMember]

An Ardesa Spain .54cal rifle kit that still needs to be put together.(I hope all the bits are still in the bag)
and a : .530" round ball with an assortment of patches. .015 - .018 and .020 is which I recommend trying first. My traditions prefer the thicker patches.
CVA .45cal Pistol that besides tightening the front site and needs a nipple installed ,looks good to go! .440" round ball with .010 to .015 patches

So questions go like this 
   - Does it matter witch nipple is used - I have a small nipple on the rifle and one that's almost 1/3 bigger that came with the pistol - though this nipple doesn't hand thread into the hole opening like the rifle one does. Thread on the pistol one look to be just a touch bigger then the rifle one, though it seems like it might thread in if I put a wrench on it. (which I wouldn't do with out knowing it was the correct thread!) Never force the nipples in! They should turn in by hand smoothly. CVA/Traditions both use 6-1mm thread size. I suggest ordering two Knight Red Hot nipples or the Spitfire nipples.

   - If I was to use Gorex blk powder witch "F" number is for witch "F","FF","FFF","FFFF", I still have cans of each from 25 years ago. ( it should be good and hot by now - LOL!)
I think the really fine powder was for the flint pan and the course-est  was for rifle shooting??? 2fg Goex will work perfect for both the pistol and rifle.

Canadian issue is very difficult. I think parts like nipples, spare lock parts, triggers, stocks, etc, will be fine. Parts like barrels, that will be the most difficult.

   - Oh perhaps a couple powder charges, to start both guns at, just to get going. Hawken - 70gr 2fg goex, .45 Pistol I would start with 20gr 2fg Goex.