Getting used to the caplock rifle finally (??)

Brutus

Brutus

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I think I found "the load" that my .50 PRB Browning Mountain Rifle shoots the best at 55 yards.
It seems that 70 grains of FFFG cloverleaf at this distance. I've also learned to be patient as after four rounds at the outdoor range I cannot get it as clean as it came from home. So I pack it up and play with other range toys in the meanwhile. Also discovered the barrel wedges become loose in transit. I will have to take care of this as well. Discovered that 60 & 80 grains just group equally poorly, and I feel no desire to experiment with heavier powder loads.

It's really nice to finally be at this juncture as I wish to hunt it this fall.

Cheers!
 
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Sam Fadala, in his "Black Powder Loading Manual" recommends 70 grs of FFg for target work. 120 grs as an "optimal" load for big game - 1974 fps with 1532 foot lbs energy.

Good luck with it. I hope to take my .50 cal percussion Lyman Trade Rifle hunting this fall.
 
70 will work fine in the distance one should be hunting with a sidelock, go get em!!!!

ps, glad you found a good load, patched ball has no rules but its own!
 
Thats great news!

Tip for the barrel wedge, take it out and give it a slight bend. Ive done that with mine and it works like a charm.

Cheers, McLean
 
In the quest for more consistant accuracy, I measured the Hornady supposedly .490 RB I have on hand, and quickly found very many in the .484-.485 diameter range. And I'm running .018 patches already.
So I ordered .495 Hornady and .490 Speer from hillfolk just today.

Hoping hoping hoping!
 
Have you weighed the balls, Brutus? That much inconsistency in diameter must make for a wide range of weights. I am a pretty firm believer in casting my own balls and bullets, then if you get a few light ones, or heavy ones, just toss 'em back in the pot. Inconsistent weight, or diameter for that matter, will make it pretty tough to group, although you seem to be doing ok @ 70 yards. I found that weighing balls carefully, patching just right, and cleaning between shots was the ticket for me. As always, YMMV...
Glen
 
Wind shield wiper fluid works well for cleaning at the range, some recommend the more expensive stuff with good bug goop removal. The alcohol in it evaporates fast and it will clean the gunge out.

With my caplock I use cardboard wads behind the bullet it scrapes the walls of the barrel as it is being loaded and makes it so I can get more shots before needing to clean.

For mine I use 120 grains of 3f I get about a inch and a half group at 100 yards with that and a 530 grain slug. (Has a decent push to it. Sounds like a deck gun going off lol) 34" barrel with long range target sights (it is a replica of a rigby sporting rifle) has taken 1 deer so far and that was at 75 yards. The entrance hole almost removed the front leg the exit was the size of a softball. Took a twonie sized chunk out of its heart. Ran 50 yards into the bush and laid down and died.
 
There is enough smaller inconsistancies in diameter for myself to concentrate on this firstly. Once I had a new batch of correct diameter ammunition, I can segregate them by weight. I'm running with the thickest .018 thou patches over the counter and always have.

Cheers!

PS: What I have been running into is this rifle still shooting to the right and high by about 2.5-3 inches either way at 50 meters. With the occassional bullseye to torment me! In the recent past I thought this was a dirty barrel condition, along with loose wedges and a sight alignment problem. Coolpoolken gave me a hand with the wedges and alignment of sights. Shooting it that afternoon still gave me more similar grief. Hence I now suspect an ammo problem as everything else has been reasonably seen to. Miking my Hornday RB gave me several undersize readings. Becky at Hillfolk has my recent order right now.
 
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plinker 777 said:
120 grains :eek:!
Click to expand...

My barrel is a 1 in 18 twist. Needs the extra powder to get a decent velocity on the big projectile. Can shoot it all day. Have to use musket caps though as standard rifle caps dont put out enough to touch off the powder. And with the pressure it produces it burns the powder fairly cleanly. Not a huge explosion of white smoke.
 
Airies, I have a Gibbs, similar to your Rigby. Reliable ignition is an issue, alright. I also load the powder, then a cardboard wad, clean, and seat bullet. I use a long funnel/drop tube, cut off at the end at a bit of an angle, which sort of encourages the first few grains of powder to go off sideways out toward the nipple (can't remember the correct terminology). Then, when all the powder is in the chamber, I bump the butt sideways against my foot to move a little more out there. Since I have been doing that, I have no misfires.
 
Not sure what your twist rate is, but mine is 1:48. I discovered that going to 80 grains and up rips up the patching. A little research on this site lead me to conclude this is called
"stripping". The twist rate is faster than 1:60, and any more than 70 grains powder caused the ball/patch to go faster through the barrel while being unable to follow that twist at the same time. And 70 grains seems to be the sweet spot that others with that twist rate are reporting, regardless of rifle make. I'm finally grouping better, and will also try an .018 patch or the .495 ball next as you did. Clean between each shot, as others have recommended. My local gunsmith is a hardcore muzzleloading guy. He says he sprays a patch damp(NOT soaked) with water and leaves that out for swabbing between shots. One damp patch and one dry patch are left on the bench for use. I tried that and can keep on shooting.
 
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