accuracy question

armouredtrooper

armouredtrooper

BANNED
BANNED
BANNED
Rating - 100%
5   0   0
Location
Edmonton, Alberta.
I seem to be having some difficulty with accuracy with this rifle of mine:
It's a .50 cal investarms percussion and I'm using 60 gns of Black powder. The barrel has a 1-48 twist so it should handle ball (.490 175gn) as well as maxi balls (320gn)
I'm casting both with pure lead. Ther are no deformities in either the balls or the conicals ( Lee 320 gn mould used). At 50 yards I'm on target, but as I keep shooting, I'll get one placed about 8" high and then the next one a foot down! The groups get progressivly worse as the range session continues. I'm using a good quality brass powder measure, the kind with a povoting funnel top, so I'm sure I'm adding the right amount of powder each time. I'm scratching the noggin wondering what I'm doing wrong? I've tried upping the powder charge (Goex FFG) to 100 gns in 5 gn increments with poor results.
I will shoot a 5 Round string then attempt to tighten up the groups which usually measure about 12"
My shooting skills aren't the problem as I can consistantly shoot under a half inch with my Savage .308 at 100 meters.:confused:
 
use moose milk to lube patches while at the range just don't take too long between shots or it will soak into powder this should keep bore fouling down and increase you accuracy. every time you put a patched ball down it will clean the bore. I have shot 30 plus in a row with little change in acuracy.
 
1:48 twist tends to be fussy about powder charge. I would suggest stick to 50 yards as long as you can keep them on the paper and try 5 shot groups starting with 50 gr and increasing by 5 gr jumps. Your patches should be a snug fit (but not require repeated hammering) and for range shooting use a water based lube like moose milk to keep the bore clean. You may have to wipe the bore with a damp patch between shots but try the moose milk first. I would also switch to 3F powder; you will find it much cleaner burning and much less fouling.
I get the impression you have 2 problems; one is fouling and the other is a fussy rifling rate. Traditional for .50 cal roundball would be 1:68 or there abouts.

cheers mooncoon
 
armouredtrooper said:
I seem to be having some difficulty with accuracy with this rifle of mine:
It's a .50 cal investarms percussion and I'm using 60 gns of Black powder. The barrel has a 1-48 twist so it should handle ball (.490 175gn) as well as maxi balls (320gn)
I'm casting both with pure lead. Ther are no deformities in either the balls or the conicals ( Lee 320 gn mould used). At 50 yards I'm on target, but as I keep shooting, I'll get one placed about 8" high and then the next one a foot down! The groups get progressivly worse as the range session continues. I'm using a good quality brass powder measure, the kind with a povoting funnel top, so I'm sure I'm adding the right amount of powder each time. I'm scratching the noggin wondering what I'm doing wrong? I've tried upping the powder charge (Goex FFG) to 100 gns in 5 gn increments with poor results.
I will shoot a 5 Round string then attempt to tighten up the groups which usually measure about 12"
My shooting skills aren't the problem as I can consistantly shoot under a half inch with my Savage .308 at 100 meters.:confused:
Click to expand...


Hi
I would have to say that is a fast twist for round ball .
I have a Traditions tennessee carbine "24 inch barell" with the same twist and I seem to get acceptable accuracy with a 50 grain charge and a tight patch on the round ball, When It gets too tight to load I use a 454 round ball "smaller" and keep going, conicles I use 60 -70 grains.

I dont patch my conicles...are you patching yours....maybe thats it?

Also it could be possible theres a small burr on the rifling, in that case you could steel wool scrub it a bit, or just keep shooting it and it will right itself after a few hundred rounds.

Each one of these guns seem to be prone to their own quirks.

Its all part of the fun with these , figuring em out.

Oh yeah it just hit me if your getting those flyers with a patched ball....hows the patch look ..usuallyif theres a burr you can tell by rips and what not.


:sniper:



Theres my meandering 2 cents

Rob
 
My wife has a Traditions Deerhunter with the 1 in 48" twist, and it shoots a .490 round ball with a 15th pillow ticking patch very well out to 80 yards. She is now using a home made grease lube, but has also used Wonderlube with good results too. The rifle seems to like 70g of Goex 2f the best. This rifle also shot the Lee 250g REAL bullet very well, and seemed to like sabots with a 240g pistol bullet too. My .50 Lyman Deerstalker also liked a tightly patched ball [.495+15th patch], and was accurate out to 100 yards.
Keep working with it changing one thing at a time, you are bound to fine it's favorate load. Good luck.
 
Check what your fired patches look like.See if they are torn or burnt throu and check how the rifling marks look on the patch.Maybe you need to adjust the thickness of the patch?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom