percussion muzzle loader questions?????

[cant_rope_the_wind01]

so today I bought a percussion cap muzzle loader,at the Yorkton gun show and sale
50 CAL, looks like a hawkins style with double set triggers
because there was no manual with it , what type of powder should i use??
how much???
as I have all the different grades of powder already, in Swiss, goex and elephant brands, cartridge grade for my bpcr,s and Swiss 1 1/2 f for my bpcr as well, i also have ff, fff, & f
i,m going to p/u some 50 cal balls and some maxi balls as well on Monday,
I was thinking of starting with 80 grains of ff and work up to 100 grns of FF does that sound right???

 

[Farva]

I'm most curious about this, as I picked up a Safari Arms one several months ago. I fired it up to 75gr of FFFg [3F] behind a 240gr .44 bullet in a .50 cal sabot. Worked just fine. Not too sure about accuracy, I was just function testing at the time. It seemed to shoot minute of hillside.

 

[tonyg]

I use 60 grns of 2f under a .495 patched ball. My barrel is around 35 years old now , rifling getting a little light .
Still capable of winning a match.
Never tried maxi's in it.
I have fired 75 grains, double balls, when using it for 2x4 cutting

 

[Ol' Flinter]

I would first determine the rate of twist - it will likely be slow (1:66) to handle round balls. If 1:48 or faster then it will also handle slugs. Try .490 and .495 balls: my 50's seem to shoot better with thinner patch and 495's. Try 3-shot groups (5-shot is better) at 5 grain increments from about 75 gr until accuracy deteriorates which will likely be around 100 gr. My most accurate hunting/full power load is 80 gr. of FFFg or about 85 gr FFG. I prefer the finer powder as it seems to leave less residue in the barrel. My target load is 45 gr FFg for distances out to 100 yd. I have only GOEX but would really like to try Swiss sometime.

 

[pacobillie]

so today I bought a percussion cap muzzle loader,at the Yorkton gun show and sale
50 CAL, looks like a hawkins style with double set triggers
because there was no manual with it , what type of powder should i use??
how much???
as I have all the different grades of powder already, in Swiss, goex and elephant brands, cartridge grade for my bpcr,s and Swiss 1 1/2 f for my bpcr as well, i also have ff, fff, & f
i,m going to p/u some 50 cal balls and some maxi balls as well on Monday,
I was thinking of starting with 80 grains of ff and work up to 100 grns of FF does that sound right???

The first thing that you need to figure out is whether the gun is safe to shoot. Make sure that the bore is free of obstructions. Then give it a good cleaning. Take the nipple out and make sure that the bolster area underneath the nipple is free of gunk. After cleaning, dry everything out thoroughly.

Next, run a jag and a tight patch up and down the bore, to figure out the twist rate of your barrel. If the twist rate is about 1:60", it will be a good round ball shooter, but that rate of twist will be too slow to shoot conicals and sabots. One exception might be the PA conicals made by Hornady, which are meant to be shot in slow twist barrels.

If the twist rate is 1:48 or thereabout, it should shoot RB, lighter conicals and short saboted bullets fairly well. If it is 1:30" or thereabout, it will not shoot RB well, but will do well with heavier conicals and saboted bullets.

As far as powder goes, BP, Pyrodex and T7 powder should work well. Do not use pellets or BH 209 in a sidelock. When you load, tap the gun on the side, to get powder to flow into the bolster.

I personnally prefer Pyrodex P, because the finer grained powder flows better into the bolster, which eliminates hangfires.

As a starting load, try 60-70 grains with RB, and 70-80 grains with conicals.

You may need to experiment with different diameter balls and patch thicknesses to figure out what your rifle prefers. As a guideline: a shallow groove barrel will prefer a larger ball and thinner patch. Usually, the tighter, the better. Harder to load, but more accurate.