FFFG in a .50cal

Farva

Farva

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Hello all,

I recently had a chance to pick up a Safari Arms percussion cap rifle for one hell of a deal. The barrel is in pretty poor shape, but I just bought it to mess around with mostly.

I picked up a pound of Hodgdon Pyrodex "P", also labelled as "The FFFG Equivalent". Now, I have read that FFFG is generally for .45cal and lower. I have also read that I can start at 50gr FFFG, and work my way up [which I don't plan on going much higher].

I know I'm going to get told to buy the Lyman book, or whatever one is all the rage these days, but in order to buy it, I'll have to find it. My biggest concern here is that I got boned out of a pound of powder that I won't have a use for.

So, my question is: Can I start with 50gr of FFFG in my .50cal muzzleloader safely, and work my way up to, let's say 65gr.? For refrence, I'm using a T/C .44 240gr lead HP in a .50cal sabot.

Thanks y'all.
 
You sure can. Target shooters routinely use triple F if it gives them tighter groups.
 
If you are not going to load it with 100 + grains of FFF, go for it.

At our month BP shoots, most of the shooters use less than 50gr of FF or FFF.
 
I shoot 75 grains out of my .50 flint pennslyvannia and i get great groups for hunting. For just messing around and shooting i use .50 grains.

Mclean
 
Thanks everyone! I was worried that I had stuck myself with a pound of powder that I couldn't use. If I get out to shoot it this weekend, I'll be hoping to get pictures for you guys!
 
In his book, Black Powder Loading Manual, Sam Fadala tests a Lyman Great Plains .50 cal with up to 90 grs (by volume) of FFFg with a .490 round ball.

He also tests a Traditions .50 cal with 100 grs of FFFg with a .490 round ball.
 
45 -50 grains of FFFg or equivalent makes a great target load for out to about 75 yd before trajectory starts to become a challenge. I set my sights for dead on at 50 yd with this load. For hunting and targets at 100 yd or more I use 80 gr of FFFg and the same 50 yd sight setting puts the ball 3" high at 100 with excellent accuracy. Your gun may want as much as 5 gr more or less for top accuracy but this gives you a lace to start... good luck. Most shooters find that FFFg leaves less fouling in the bore than does FFg and that holds true for me.
 
I shoot 3F in several rifles up to a 20 guage smooth bore. In my .50 Pennsylvania, I use 50 gr for target shooting and 70 to 80 grains for long range shots (200 yds). This also is referring to GOEX black powder rather than Pyrodex. One of my main reasons for using 3F is that it burns a lot cleaner than coarser powders

cheers mooncoon
 
I use 3F in my 58 caliber Musketoon to get it to shoot accurately. If I use 2F I get groups that look like a shotgun pattern...I guesse the short barrel has something to do with it.

Cheers, Steve.
 
My son and I each a Robinson 54 cal, 2 digits apart in ser #'s. Mine preferred FFg and my son's shot best with FFFg :confused:
But to answer your question , as stated above I would recommend the FFFg in a 50 cal. also.
With 55 gr my 50 cal will drop off after 75 yds. and with 65 grs will shoot flat , out to 100yds.
Cheers nessy.

Goex recommended load chart here for reference.

http://www.goexpowder.com/load-chart.html
 
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I use fffg black in my lyman .50 cal, i've used as much as 90 grains behind roundball and behind minies, even a couple of sabots. The only thing i would say is, make sure you seat the projectile against the charge well, if it goes boom in a bad way, theres a lot more fuel. Also, call me crazy but i think there is a lot more fouling when you use sabots with fffg, than roundball or minie, two shots of 90 grains and i can barely load the next ball. skokie.
 
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