Too Much powder

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strawberry

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I have been using differnt powders in pellet form so far. I am thinking of playing around with some loose powder and rounds balls, patche ect. i have a T/C encore, and love it. I an looking for some advice on what to look for if I am reaching my MAX in powder. I want to play safe and don't need to find out the wrong way I've loaded too much.
 
Accuracy will go south if you load heavy. Start around 50g of 2f powder, .490 ball and 15th or so patch. I have a friend that shoots 60g of Pyrodex Rs, .490 ball, 15th pillow ticking patch and wonderlube in a 1 in 20" twist barrel. He even shoots whitetails with that load, but shots are around 50 yards.
 
My most accurate 50 cal round ball loads use 80 gr of Goex FFg with suitable patch and ball combo: that could be .490 with 10 oz denim or .495 ball with 8 oz denim patch. My guns have 42 " barrels and 1:66" slow rifling twist rate. A shorter barrel with faster twist may work better with a bit less powder. If you can shoot over clean snow, any unburned powder grains will be visible on the snow in front of the muzzle. If you have a chronograph, just start about 65 grains and up the charges by 5 grain increments until you don't gain any more velocity and you will have the practical limit for your barrel. Most new barrels are proofed by using at least a double powder charge behind 2 patched balls so you are not likely to reach a safety - imposed limit on the powder charge unless you really go crazy. Regarding patch lube: try different lubes (like 1:20 solution of Murphy's Oil Soap and water or one of the various "Moose Milk" recipes) for best accuracy and be aware that under hot and dry conditions Wonder Lube-soaked patches apparently can smolder and start grass fires.
 
I shoot a T/C Firestorm flinter. Once I chopped that #$%%*& QLA (Quick Load Accurizer) off and made a false muzzle out of polyethylene it shot much better. I'm not sure why everyone wants to get to the top end of the powder spectrum... it's a lot more fun and quieter to work near the low end unless you're stopping a grizz. I work at about 60 grains of 777. I use a .490 ball and patch, and around 300 grain conicals. Since the "lopping off" I better groups from the conicals than patched balls. I haven't used sabots after my first bout with the rifle. The groups were terrible. As too max loads, a lot of muzzle stuffers are proofed up to 150 grains. A much braver (and tougher) friend of mine tried 120 grains in my flinter,,, but he only shot it once. His reaction..... OUCH!!
 
No experience with in-lines but I'm thinking that a patched ball can sit on any amount of powder , as it will just blow out the front of the barrel. It reaches a point where your just wasting powder.

A heavy slug and too much powder ? well , accuracy will suffer , along with your shoulder. I have double charged and double balled my.50 TC Hawken several times , it just kicks harder.
 
I was reading an old book (1884) recently, and there was a brief reference to the West coast Indians hunting seals with their trade muskets. It said; "TO ENSURE SUCCESS, A DOUBLE CHARGE AND AS MANY AS FIVE BALLS WOULD BE LOADED AT ONCE. THE OLD MUSKETS OFTEN BURST FROM THE STRAIN." Yikes!
 
I've seen a .54 TC Hawken that burst like a bomb just ahead of the lock with 210 grains of FFG (triple charge)and a .54 Maxi Ball.
The shooter suffered a badly sliced left hand and blast injurys to the bare skin on his left forearm.
The barrel was opened up like a banana peel from mid point to about 6 inches from the muzzle.
The stock ahead of the lock was shrapnel.

Dont ever make the mistake of thinking that excessively big charges of black powder dont ignite.
Black powder is a true explosive and requires as much respect as any smokeless load.

BTW in the above incident the shooter had pulled off the triple charge trick many, many times before with nothing more than big recoil.
TC Hawkens are strong guns but all steel will weaken over time if you keep pushing the limits.
 
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