Otherwise we are going to have to use the compromise twist in most production rifles. If you should ever lose that particular powder measure, or wish to make another, you will be able to duplicate it by weighing out that same amount of powder without having to do all that powder charge testing again. One piece steel range rod with muzzle guide and patch jag. Use your metal range rod with a bore guide / muzzle protector and polish the bore according to the instructions that come with the JB bore paste. Now if target shooting is going to be your main thing go back and test your powder charges again, this time starting with 50 grains and going down by five grain increments. The lightweight balls I set aside for use when plinking or to let friends shoot who were interested in shooting a muzzleloader for fun. The best new feature is the simplified loading process, which makes it easier to clean and incredibly safe. Remember that muzzleloader laws vary by … If these measure the same diameter you have again confirmed the presence of a void in that lighter ball. The reason is to keep the bore in the same condition for each and every shot. about half a dozen shots. A small miss at close range becomes a huge miss at longer range. (saves hands from brusies), Two custom made short starters for use with mallet. These recommendations are considered a safe place to begin but they are usually not the most accurate load. When I shot swaged balls in competition I ordered them in lots of 500. method, I have shot my flintlock 100s of times without a full cleaning. The good news was his gun was unaffected Synthetic fibers will melt when you fire the gun and leave a mess in the bore. You will again notice that the groups on the targets show a pattern of becoming smaller and rounder until the load becomes so tight that pounding the ball out of round causes the group to open up or the load is so tight you can’t get it started in the muzzle. But if this is the case you need to reread all the information I have given you, start over, and follow the system in its entirety. If your cleaning patches are too tight to pull back out of the barrel dry, you can moisten them slightly. Why is the compressed thickness of this fabric different than that of the other fabric? Use just enough to dampen the patch. your bullets in their muzzzleloaders. Lay it out to dry and mark it 6-1. Those out of balance balls will strike outside the group producing a flier on your target. Always seat your bullet using a bullet starter that will not deform As the amount of fouling increases the friction increases, internal pressures go up, the velocities go up, and each shot strikes higher on the target than the last. You want cotton, or linen fabric with a tight weave. But you can control precisely the amount of lubrication on your patching in order to discover exactly how much “slickness” your barrel requires to shoot its best groups. I am not aware of any scientific testing to prove one powder superior over another. Now, you may question a 300 yard shot, but the first deer I took with the Pursuit 50 Cal, was at 238 yards. stevesells1955@gmail.com. about 203 grains of powder by volume. I was almost always using and shooting something historic or a reproduction of something historic. The 150 weighed charges that he was shooting were actually equivalent to Until some testing is performed I can only suggest that you get a good ballistic chronograph and try to sort it out to your own satisfaction. For the second string, swab with a patch I like to mark the label on the bolt of the fabric with my initials to help identify it when I go back to purchase more. Cut some strips out of each sample of fabric and mark them on the end with the measurements. Set your target at 25 yards and fire a shot or two to see if you are hitting on paper. Price: $369.00. These are the specality tools and items I like to use when loading and shooting from the bench and during formal competitions. However, if you intend hunt or shoot trail walk type of events that require loading from a shooting pouch you may need to accept some amount of compromise between accuracy, ease of loading, and adequate power / velocity necessary to make a humane kill of your game. You want to know that any deviation in the size of the group on your test target is the result of the variable you are testing and not caused by a ball that was a half grain lighter or heavier than the others. ‘Ballistol’ is an easy to obtain oil of this type and is available in smaller quantities. If possible try to shoot your test targets on a calm, overcast day. patch to the bottom of the barrel. It won’t soak into your powder charge. That can of powder now consist of the largest kernels sitting at the top of the can, the finest dust at the bottom of the can and layers in between which would screen to be sizes from 4-F to as large as 2-F. Accuracy, knockdown power, and an extended hunting season are all benefits this firearm offers for the budget minded hunter, especially in areas where high-powered rifles are restricted. Take your micrometer to the fabric store and look for materials that when compressed, measure a thousandth inch thicker than what you were shooting. fly the same over extended ranges due to variance in ballistic coefficiency. Unfortunately, we don’t have much choice in the matter. Any load data posted on this site is safe in my guns. using Pyrodex RS on a clean barrel with a Knight Wolverine. These manufacturers typically recommend a ball ten thousands of an inch smaller than the bore of the rifle with a patch ten thousands inch thick. bullet. Traditions™ provides it's customers with the most innovative, technologically advanced products, while producing the safest, most accurate and easy-to-use muzzleloaders offered on the market. remove the excess fouling while leaving the "first shot fouling" on the I make no claims of being the first person to discover any aspect of this method. The first shot out His of a clean barrel can be as much as 6" out of the group at 100 yards. Always lay the fabric strips out flat. The stainless steel 30’’ barrel is made of a high-tech 416-grade steel which is used in military and successfully resists corrosi… This doesn’t necessarily mean you need the heaviest powder charge your gun can handle to kill game. In this manner we are able to control precisely the amount of oil applied to our patching. The Traditions Buckstalker is an excellent black-powder rifle for hunting medium to large game. Those balls in the lightweight group can still be used for informal plinking. If you have followed these procedures in the order in which I have listed and explained them your rifle is now shooting some very nice groups. flip the patch over and run the other side of the The next consecutive 10-shots fired averaged 2,025 fps., a gain of 75 fps., for a muzzle energy of 2277 ft.-lbs. Measure your powder charge by slightly overfilling the measure and scrape off the excess with the back of your knife or other straight edge. Traditional Muzzleloader Is now on YouTube Moose Milk. Regardless, sorting those balls by weight will remove any disadvantage when competing. Do not post items unrelated to Muzzleloading. If you’re looking for a simple, weatherproof and impeccably accurate muzzleloader for hunting, the Traditions Nitrofire deserves your first look. Classic Muzzleloaders: Rifles, Pistols, and Accessories by Traditions Go back in time and experience the excitment of shooting from days gone by; these guns are accurate for hunting and target shooting, and will open up a great new sport the whole family can enjoy. This particular event consisted of many more targets than he usually shot and he was loading powder from near the bottom of his horn. This is because nothing currently available will work in a flintlock rifle. Over the course of several years he just topped it off after every event. Do that by setting your scales to one and a half grains lighter than the heaviest ball. The spout levels off the powder charge when it is turned back into place after filling the measure. Custom made barrels are finished much smoother and usually hand lapped before leaving the shop. You should also know that poorly constructed rifle barrels or those which have been damaged through improper maintenance and abuse are not capable of any acceptable level of accuracy regardless of how they are loaded. That is a result of the ball slipping out of the patching under the pressures of the burning gases and you need thicker patching material. For a .50 caliber rifle that would be a ball .490 in diameter and a patch .010 thick. Getting control over one of these variables alone is not going to produce your best groups. If your rifle isn’t shooting good groups yet you may have tried to shortcut the process somewhere or did not fully understand it and managed to overlook the “sweet spot” with one or more of the variables you were testing. that he would improve his accuracy by weighing his charges on his RCBS powder At this point I am ready to adjust my sights to move those groups into the X ring. This compressed measurement is critical to accuracy in muzzleloading rifles. You should know that this isn’t going to be a quick process. After I learned to cast my own ball I find fewer inconsistencies in them and those that happen to be too light simply go back into the melting pot. circumstance with all my muzzleloaders. Finding the best load for your muzzleloader often takes more than a day. Shoot your test targets from a stable bench rest. If that isn’t an option at least put out some wind flags and try to shoot when the wind is moving the flags in the same direction. You can purchase cleaning patches or make your own from cotton flannel fabric and cut it to size with a rotary cutter. My early attempts to use Pyrodex in my traditional side lock percussion rifle was a dismal failure both in accuracy and dependable ignition. You can accomplish this by using JB bore paste on a tight cleaning patch. It’s also deadly accurate with the right load. Voodoo ballistics and other misconceptions still abound in blackpowder shooting. process. Use this simple five step sequence every time you shoot and When a competitor discovers a detail that gives him an advantage in competition, he isn’t likely to share that information too readily. . Learn your gun's accuracy potential by swabbing the bore between every shot. This is a quicker way to separate the air bubble, lightweight out of balance balls from the heavier balls which are more stable and fly true. The only downside with cast balls is that you have the sprue to contend with. Traditions BuckStalker Review. If you have doubts about the condition of your barrel have it looked over by a muzzleloader gunsmith before starting this process. Record that weight somewhere you won’t forget. Finding the best load for your muzzleloader often takes more than a day. I disagree, I believe doing that hides the human error in shooting off-hand. ramrod with a cleaning jag attached, Then as you weigh each ball, put those which weigh heavier than that setting into one group and those which weigh less into another group. Using cleaner will remove the "first shot fouling". My observation and only my observation, is that most matches I attend shooters are using Goex or Swiss powders. Continue to use thicker material until the load becomes so tight that you must use a mallet to start it down the barrel. in succession without doing anything except dumping in powder and loading a All blackpowder and blackpowder Patch knife. For the "I have read many postings on various sites, in addition to your own, regarding the outstanding accuracy that shooters are getting from your bullets in their muzzzleloaders. Lay the patching across the muzzle, place a ball on it sprue up and centered if it has one, put the short end of your starter on the ball and give it a whack with the palm of your hand. Federal’s FireStick Will Be a Game Changer in the Muzzleloader Hunting World Federal's preloaded FireStick makes hunting with a muzzleloader easier. Is now available for purchase in convenient two ounce spray bottles. Post a new target and increase the powder charge by five grains. Are you resting the barrel in contact with your front rest for some shots and then on the wood of the fore stock for other shots? shoot much, much better on a fouled barrel than they shoot on a clean barrel. One is to grip the ball tight enough to impart spin to it. If possible, consider temporarily mounting a good peep sight or scope on the rifle for shooting these test targets. Some rifle barrels have shallow grooves while others will have much deeper groves. Loads - When poor muzzleloader accuracy is due to your load, it can most often be blamed on a magnum (150 grain) powder charge. 5. To use this method to control the exact amount of oil that is distributed in the patching material you will test different ratios of water to oil. Unlike spit or wet lube mixtures this will not freeze in cold weather. All in all, this is a perfect traditional muzzleloader for a hunter looking for a beautiful and functional muzzleloader at a reasonable price. Some shooters will argue that it’s best to sight in by shooting from off-hand positions. groups will shrink and velocities will stay constant, shot after shot. Written descriptions of how the original muzzleloading rifles were loaded are extremely rare and lacking in details. Use sandbags and a good steady front and rear rest. Set your adjustable measure for an amount in grains equal to the caliber of your rifle. Here is the final 5 shot target after compleating this process. Use the micrometer ratcheting handle and measure the thickness of the material you used for patching. When you study these fired patches you will notice several things. A Masterclass on the Muzzle Loading Percussion Rifle - … Learn your gun's accuracy potential by swabbing the bore between every shot. Now that you know the amount of powder your rifle shoots best, go ahead and fill your measure with that amount and then weigh it on your scales. Accessibility to real black powder is a complaint I hear all too often and may be the reason I get so many questions about artificial powders. You will fine tune your sights after you have found the most accurate load. absolute accuracy has always been at the top of our priority, Accuracy for me is to hit a golf ball at 100 yards off a benchrest Neither is conducive to accuracy. Traditional Only - no modern designs. Be sure to sort all those balls by weight. Almost any production muzzleloader has a 1:28 twist and a barrel of 22-26 inches long. will shrink and velocities will stay constant, shot after shot. Slightly overfill the measure and scrape away the excess level with the top. Do not tap or shake the measure. I know of absolutely no competitive shooter using substitute powders in traditional muzzleloading rifles. If your bore is particularly rough it may need to be polished smooth by hand lapping. Doing so causes the powder to settle and compact making it near impossible to achieve consistency with the amount of powder in the measure. Usually I use CCI or RWS caps. Mixing more water into the oil causes the fabric to absorb more water and less oil so less oil remains in the material after the water has evaporated. You will find that some are much lighter than the heaviest. Lay that strip out flat to dry and mark it 5-1. Wind, temperature, humidity, changing light conditions etc. You will notice a pattern developing in the size and shape of the groups. Are you using consistent pressure when seating the ball with your ram rod? Experienced muzzle loaders who shoot competitively and serious black powder hunters know that muzzle loading rifles are capable of outstanding accuracy and reliability when they are loaded and maintained properly. ", "I have read many postings on various sites, in addition You will notice the groups getting smaller and tighter as the thickness of the fabric increases. Never load a muzzle loading gun with smokless powder and never exceed the maxium load recommended by the gun's maker. If you are using cast balls be sure to position the sprue up and centered when you seat it into the muzzle. It is a good idea to repeat this test using different size balls. We also need that material thick enough to withstand the heat of those burning gases without burning through and allowing a gas leak to blow past the ball. DON'T use any type of cleaner on the patch. The mid weight groups are fine for hunting or shooting metallic gongs in competition. While carefully measured loose powder combined with consistent bullet seating can deliver exceptional accuracy in a muzzleloader, loading in the field can introduce variables that may lead to shifting points-of-impact. We do The load he had his rifle sighted in for was with 2-F granulation. If one is shooting on a very humid day your powder is going to absorb moisture from the air. I use the heaviest groups of balls for load development and serious competition on paper targets. The 209 shotgun primer is the standard ignition source today. But it is difficult to apply a consistent amount of liquid to each patch so the better method is to turn down the size of the cleaning jag to make it smaller. ALL DAY LONG, work the patch in ever-lengthening The best twist rate will depend on the size, shape, and weight of the projectile as well as its velocity. For this process to produce results it is imperative that you change only one variable at a time during your testing. Review your bench rest shooting technique. (made from 2 brass cartridge cases). This.45-caliber muzzleloader is capable of handling “super magnum” propellant charges in excess of 150-grain by-volume equivalents of black powder, according to the company. It also helps you to notice trends when developing loads for several different guns. Loads - When poor muzzleloader accuracy is due to your load, it can most often be blamed on a magnum (150 grain) powder charge. By doing this he segregates all the kernels of powder into batches which match precisely in size. What loading / shooting / loading process Also consider that barrel groves made on the same machines will vary slightly in the depth of the groves as the tooling wears down. Consistency in every action is critical. In any event, those sharp edges will usually smooth out on their own after a hundred or so shots have been fired. Chronograph three - five shot strings with the same load. I know only that the main difference between them, other than price, is what type of wood was used to produce the charcoal in that particular brand of powder. I prefer to get my cleaning patches from the same source to insure constant size and thickness. Combinations of different ball size and different patching thickness. black powder substitute pellets. Most good gun stores will have it, if not it can be ordered over the internet. Cut off the patching with your knife or scissors. Attempting to test for patching thickness before you find the sweet spot in your powder charge is not going to show reliable results on your targets. I have been asked about the difference in accuracy between cast balls and swaged balls. Please note that I was hunting in Colorado where it is required that you to use “open” or “iron” sights. It’s rare to find two powder measures that are calibrated exactly the same. You are responsible for knowing what may or may not be a safe load for your gun. "Use this simple five step sequence every time you shoot and groups will shrink and velocities will stay constant, shot after shot. They will load from a new container which has not yet been exposed to the humid air. At least save your receipt so you can get the same fabric that shot best from your rifle when your return to buy more. Unlike Crisco, lard, or olive oil, you don’t want to use it to cook your breakfast. Earlier, when we talked about measuring powder charges I stated that volume measurements produce more consistent results than weighing black powder on scales.
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