Kentucky Long Rifle giving me a beating.

[Okie4570]

Thanks for the input guys. I'm pretty new to muzzle loading and I can see where dropping my powder load would help a lot. I'm using FFg. I don't know where I came up with using 90 to 100 grains probably read it somewhere and didn't pay attention to what rifle they were using. I was using a conical because I thought with a hollow point and heavier lead I would get more expansion and kinetic energy. I guess using round ball will be just as effective. How do I tell if I am using a soft RB? Is there something noted on the packaging that I can look for? I primarily buy Hornady.

Used to go to the John Zinc Ranch shoots with dad often. The Hawken guys almost always shot 70gr of either fffg or ffg..........where as the "kentuck" guys shot about 2/3 of that, like Lurker mentioned. The magic "90g" of powder has been around as long as I've been shooting BP, not sure where it came from, but it's still out there and passed down.
I'm sure this won't go over with the trad crowd, but you can shoot a 240gr or 220gr .44 bullet and green harvester sabot all day long out of 1-66 twist accurately......it's "length" is hardly any longer that a .490 prb is wide. Not quite as accurate as a prb, but very much accurate enough to hunt deer with and normal BP and open sight ranges. This is what I deer hunt with when using my flintlock.

Doesn't take much to poke a deer either. 50gr of pyrodex and a 225gr powerbelt, complete penetration at 30y on a 200lb animal.

 

[Lurker66]

If ya dont tell anyone, I shoot conicals an sabots out of a T/C new englander. I just aint used it in years.

Ive even had some semi accuracy success shooting a tripple patched .36 maxi ball out of the same .50 T/C. Just too much work loading.


What I really wish is that we could get regs changed to hunt deer with a .32 ML. That little maxi ball pill is the most devastating thing ive seen.

 

[Okie4570]

If ya dont tell anyone, I shoot conicals an sabots out of a T/C new englander. I just aint used it in years.

Ive even had some semi accuracy success shooting a tripple patched .36 maxi ball out of the same .50 T/C. Just too much work loading.

Yep there's all sorts of combos and mismatched trad/modern techniques out there that work...........it's just not commonly done in public! lol. Almost as fun and effective as shooting two .457 round balls out a .45-70 Great fun in a single shot, wouldn't recommend in a lever gun though.

 

[Lurker66]

Yep there's all sorts of combos and mismatched trad/modern techniques out there that work...........it's just not commonly done in public! lol. Almost as fun and effective as shooting two .457 round balls out a .45-70 Great fun in a single shot, wouldn't recommend in a lever gun though.

Kinda a Buck n Ball load. Lol. Nice pic btw.

 

[Shadowrider]

Everything Lurker said was pretty spot on. I used to shoot rendezvous matches occasionally with a .54 cal Hawken. I learned real quick that 55 to 60 grains of BLACK under a PRB was far more accurate that 90, 100 or 120 of anything else. A lot funner to shoot too. Never got a sabot or conical to shoot at all with it's 1" in 66" barrel.

 

[Okie4570]

You old farts and your BLACK powder........

 

[Lurker66]

You old farts and your BLACK powder........

Old farts n black powder smells bout the same. Lol. My wife really get puffed up when I burn up a pound n come home n start cleaning 7 guns.

Thats what the Lilac sprays for.

 

[dlbleak]

If I'm using pyrodex, I found that 70 gr is a good load for the cap and ball stuff.

 

[Shadowrider]

You old farts and your BLACK powder........

I won't tell all my ARs what you said, so they won't be offended. They're already at the bottom of Grand lake, no use in adding insult to injury.

 

[JEEPr]

I've shot a good bit or RB, I have messed with the patch a little bit. I bought some pillow patch, the cotton patches with the bore butter in it and I also tried to make some of my own out of an old cotton shirt. I didn't try silk to get extra yardage (Last of the Mohicans). However I never thought to drop below the 90 mark on the BP. Accuracy with the Great Plains bullets for Hornady was pretty good. I got a group of 3 inside a 6" target. I also bought some of the PA conicals by Hornady as well, They are supposed to be designed for slower twist rifles. Those weren't as accurate. I will say I had the best luck with the RB with pillow patch. I'm curious to see how things go when I drop the powder load. Speaking of changing the rules for hunting... I wish I could hunt with my muzzle loader during modern firearm season too. Got another question... Hang fires and miss fires have cost me a couple of deer. What steps can I take to prevent this. I know it can be humid during Muzzle loader season I didn't know if that was a contributing factor. I'm using a stainless steel #11 nipple.