Going juuust a bit crazy...

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My flintlock Pennsylvania Hunter is giving me fits. Inconsistent accuracy, groups from an inch for 3 at 50 yards, to over 4 inches. Bought a .50 flint Renegade and loaded it up with my usual inline load, and she shoots right around an inch for 3 at 50 so it isn't me.
In the Pennsylvania Hunter, I'm shooting a .490 Hornady ball in a pre lubed Ox Yoke .015 patch and a .54 caliber Ox Yoke lubed wad over 70 grains of 3f Swiss. The bore is quite smooth, but patches show minor, very uniform, fraying from the lands. I patch between shots and don't shoot a hot barrel.
The lock is fast. Barely hear the flint strike.
.018 patches give poor(er) accuracy. Haven't tried .010 yet. This barrels a deep groove 1-66, so it seems counter intuitive to go thinner...
Tried some Hornady Pa Conicals, with a wad, and the shot about the same as the patched balls. Same point of impact too! They did lead a little though.
I'm going to try some different lubes. There's no obvious issues that would give accuracy issues.
I don't have much hair to pull out anymore, so anyone out there with a Pennsylvania Hunter, whatcha doing?
Patch ball shooter, how 'bout y'all?
LOVE the rifle, but I have to get better results if we're to get along...
 
My flintlock Pennsylvania Hunter is giving me fits. Inconsistent accuracy, groups from an inch for 3 at 50 yards, to over 4 inches. Bought a .50 flint Renegade and loaded it up with my usual inline load, and she shoots right around an inch for 3 at 50 so it isn't me.
In the Pennsylvania Hunter, I'm shooting a .490 Hornady ball in a pre lubed Ox Yoke .015 patch and a .54 caliber Ox Yoke lubed wad over 70 grains of 3f Swiss. The bore is quite smooth, but patches show minor, very uniform, fraying from the lands. I patch between shots and don't shoot a hot barrel.
The lock is fast. Barely hear the flint strike.
.018 patches give poor(er) accuracy. Haven't tried .010 yet. This barrels a deep groove 1-66, so it seems counter intuitive to go thinner...
Tried some Hornady Pa Conicals, with a wad, and the shot about the same as the patched balls. Same point of impact too! They did lead a little though.
I'm going to try some different lubes. There's no obvious issues that would give accuracy issues.
I don't have much hair to pull out anymore, so anyone out there with a Pennsylvania Hunter, whatcha doing?
Patch ball shooter, how 'bout y'all?
LOVE the rifle, but I have to get better results if we're to get along...
Problem is your lube I use bear oil , but Neats foot oil works too on your patch over a dry felt wad (make your own ) from Dura Felt Co. .And your right thicker patch (Joanns Fabric store ) bring your calipers and buy some different drill/canvas/mattress and denim . Find what works best ,there will be at least one and note the lot number and go back and buy as much as you can afford . Same stuff next week looks the same but isn't . And forget about pre lubed store bought cause it's junk as no one knows how long it's been in the package ,when you do it you know what the lube is and fresh not old on a down hill slide/Ed
 
I have some .495s. Tried them last year, in .015s, and they were a bit heavy on the rammer pressure.
I shot over powder patches in an old Renegade. Worked pretty well too. But over powder wads did better.
Given the deeper rifling in the Hunter... Seriously. The lands are a trip hazard compared to the usual TC 1-48 barrel. Maybe the patch will seal things better?
Excepting 2 errant shots, she put her rounds (8), 2 very different loads, into 3 3/16ths at 50 yards. She seems to REALLY want to shoot. Guess she's just a fussy girl!
 
Thanks Ed!
Lube was gonna be my next guess. I did notice the Wonder Butter patches shot REALLY poorly last year, when the temps started dropping.
Am fresh outta bear oil, but was thinking of going Dutch ( R.I.P.) with the Ballistol/ water combo. I also have mink oil and a bud gave me some " Bumblin' bear grease" that he swears by.
When shooting ball, patch/ lube combos are as bad as the toothpaste aisle!
Sabots are sooo much easier!
<(;
 
You may have seen this before. I've been using Liquid Wrench lube with all of my ball guns for quite a few years now. Every caliber from .32 to .58, both caplocks and flintlocks. Most of my guns shoot best with the "almost dry" patch. But some like the patch little moister. For those, I don't squeeze the patch bundle quite as dry.



If this and a fairly tight patch doesn't work for you, sell the gun. :cool:

.
 
I ran into a similar problem as yours with a TC renegade 54 barrel that I picked up. Wonder lube on the patch ball and had a pattern, not a group. I mixed up some balistol and water "Dutch" recipe and things got much better. One final try with the Dutch recipe but used a single patch as an over powder wad of sorts then the .015 patched ball. Bingo 3 shots touching at 50 yards. I didn't change the powder charge at all just the lube and then the additional over powder patch.
 
Experiment with different lubes. I have an old CVA with a sewerpipe barrel that will shoot 1in groups at 50yd all day long with the right combination. Forget reading a patch with that gun as the barrel leaves them looking like a Cujo chew toy. I use a .495 ball, a .015 ticking patch soaked in neetsfoot oil, a cork over powder wad, and 65g 3f Swiss. You'll just have to experiment with the variables.

One other thing to consider, Swiss is a great powder but the fouling is a bit dryer than Scheutzen. That's why I'd look at a very wet patch of some sort first.
 
Gonna try a variety of lubes. And patches.
I swab between every shot. Always have, even in the field.
The maddening things are the consistency in group size and point of impact. Just have to get the groups smaller. Heck, I'd ( almost) be happy with 3 rounders being 2 inches at 50.
ALMOST...
 
I have a particular rifle that just will not shoot a round ball very good. I tried some of those Hornady PA conicals. It will shoot those great.
Might be worth a try sometime?
 
What I would try is to eliminate the wad, use an over powder patch, and try olive oil as a lube or even coconut oil. If neither of that works try .495" balls with .010", or .015" patches. My patch material is pillow ticking but I am soon going to try drill cloth as it is a bit tougher.
 
Tried the Pa conicals. Got slight keyholes, but they shot better than the balls! With wads btw.
They did lead a little. The keyholes make think there may be a bit of runout in the bore. Won't matter to a ball, they can't pitch/ yaw like a bullet. All a ball can do is drift.To zero, her rear sight is a full mark right. If you're familiar with the TC rear sight, you get the picture.
Might try a MMP sub base and see if goes away. This also helps bad QLA results with full calibers.
Greg Dixon suggested cutting patches at the muzzle. Gonna try that next.
I used to shoot overpowder patches as wads. Not much, if any difference in this rifle. I use O.Y. .54/56 lubed. Use them with big lead in my Firehawk and Hawken.
Will let y'all know how things progess.
 
Most times I'd say that's the fun of it. But, this one's reeeealy frustrating. I haven't had the best luck with patched ball loads in any rifle.
But Peach, that's her name, makes me want to break that jinx.
My Firehawk is superb with sabots and conicals. My Hawken with sabots. Got to work on conicals a bit.
My ( $250) Renegade .54 remains to be seen. Peach was made for ball. I will figure this rifle out.
 
First thing I would do is try a different lube. Also put a patch down the bore between the powder and PRB. It may sound funny but I get great accuracy in both my .58s with pillow ticking and olive oil as a lube. I hear coconut oil works good too and you can get a good size jar at the Dollar Tree!
If your lube doesn't improve your accuracy go with a bigger diameter ball and varying patch thicknesses until you get what you're after.
I know you'll get there with persistence.
 
Does your PA Hunter have a QLA? That could be your issue if all other avenues don't work. You may have to have it removed and a new dovetail installed.
 
Ihave the P. hunter I use a 490 round ball I had the same problem till I talked to a old friend ,who told me to use tompson center number 13, a moist patch not wet. have not had trouble since, and use it in all my muzzleloaders works great anb don;t have to swab between shots , I go to all the shoots in my area and win constantly.
 
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