20 gauge smoothy which powder

[huff]

I'm a bit cornfused. I've been seeing loads for 2f and 3f for 20 gauge. I put together a Fordney kit that I bought from Tip Curtis. I'm shooting 65gr 2f 7/8 oz shot 1 shot card and 1/3 fiber wad lubed over powder 1 shot card over shot. Can I shoot same load with 3f. What would be safe loading range for 3f. Thanks Dave

 

[Rifleman1776]

3Fg is a bit 'hotter' but a 65 gr. load would still be safe. Many use 3Fg in 20 bore smoothies. Just adjust downward and do some test shooting to see if your patterns are to your liking. Practice and testing is part of the fun of a new gun. Welcome to the world of smooth bores. :grin: Keep us informed of your experiences with it.

 

[BrownBear]

The change in powder "hotness" works the other way, too. Both my 20's are at least as happy in shot loads with 1f as with 2f. But I have to increase the volume of 1f by about 10% over what I use with 2f. For me in field use, there's a great advantage in 1f. Rather than using a different measure to throw a little less powder than shot (by volume), I get as good or better performance with equal volumes of powder and shot.

Perversely, both of those smoothbores, as well as my 62 rifle, consistently shoot round balls better with 3f.

Each gun is going to have its own preferences in loads, so in my book it's important to try lots of different things in each gun. Online recommendations are interesting and give you some starting places, but there's just no such thing as one load that works best in all guns. Period.

 

[Brokennock]

There is someone here who will try to convince you that 3f is unsafe, but there are many of us here who use it with great success, and no documentation of these safety issues has been provided. I find that using 3f, I can use less powder for the same result, prime with the same powder I charge with, and I also find it seems to shoot a little cleaner (maybe because I'm using less).

 

[huff]

I tried my same load using 3f yesterday. My findings; faster ignition, more recoil and shot count about the same as 2f ( that would be 18 shot in a coke can at about 27 yards). Still working on things.

 

[BrownBear]

Still working on things.

Atsa way. :thumbsup:

 

[Alden]

Welcome.

As you probably determined by now FFg is obviously the "correct" powder for a .62. Yes, there are those who clearly never learned the basics.

 

[Snow on the Roof]

Still working on things.

Asking questions here be a good thing, a lot of wisdom and experience on this board. Keep in mind the information garnered here gives you direction and new ideas but very little is gospel. You just keep working on it, which in part, is the joy of this hobby.

 

[Dane]

It's only gospel if you're Alden.

The rest of us are stupid I guess.

 

[Dewey]

It's only gospel if you're Alden.

The rest of us are stupid I guess.

The rest of us know better.

3F in my 20 ga Chief's gun works just fine !!!

Then there is this:

Smoothbore loads

 

[faste350]

25 years of 3f in mine. works great!

 

[tenngun]

I do adjust a little downward with 3 compared to two. Looking at data published by lyman there dosn't seem to be much of a pressure difference. In the old days 2f was the 'right' powder, and even 1 f for bigger guns. Turkeys, bunnies and treerats dont care. Deer dont care if the ball was on top of 2 or 3. Play with loads. Try 3 f at 75-80% and see how it does. Modren guns can withstand stupid big charges. Val Forget loaded 120 grains 3f behind a 600 grain minnie and shot it out of a shortened zouave. 'Wrong' powder, double charged and extra fat minnie, and his gun stood it well. 600 grains is about an ounce and 1/2. Not too big of a shot load but far more powder of any size you would try for getting a good load.

 

[Alden]

Tenn, it's Blackpowder Shooting: 101 which powder to use! I know people don't pay attention, don't and seem not to want to learn things especially farther away from where there are many libraries and lots of other bright people who shoot blackpowder, never get to know many things that aren't down home country goodness , do whatever they want, then justify them without understanding the tenets of the discipline in the first place. Reminds me of an old Chris Rock joke...

...about hiding the valuables in your home in a book.

So some can continue to exhort that they have gotten away with using the wrong powder for years and think they sound experienced. LOL They're like the kids who buy cheap and relatively inexpensive shiny India-made muskets and then claim they are the best, most accurately made, arms available. The rest of us sit back and understand they literally don't understand the basics, and worse, they KNOW it and know WE know they know we know it which is why they get defensive instead of thanking me and others (who have given up on this Darwin-challenging lot) for an education any pre-teen with a blackpowder gun should have gotten from a half-way responsive and responsible parent. Yeah, I know grits may be involved in that negligence...

 

[azmntman]

Courtesy Translation: Alden recommends only 2f per basics of 3f up to .45 and 2f for larger. Your welcome! :grin:

 

[George]

But he's so busy insulting anyone who doesn't do it his way he never gets around to telling us why his way is the only way. Like another I've heard about lately, he's fact free.

Spence

 

[Stumpkiller]

As far as I can tell the screening of granulations did not catch on until 1825. That's when the current "F" designations stared to be used in Europe.

So, in the Golden Age, a person probably went to the dry good store and asked for powder for their gun and they got a horn or lead flask of gunpowder. They didn't spend five minutes discussing the merits of FFg vs. FFFg and they most likely primed with the same powder; whether or not it was kept in a smaller horn.

The amount was whatever it took to fill the little tin measure the gunsmith supplied with the gun; which was also used to make spares or replacements from antler, horn or bone.

Just speculation; of course.

 

[coloradoclyde]

Courtesy Translation: Alden recommends only 2f per basics of 3f up to .45 and 2f for larger. Your welcome! :grin:

Thanks! I kept falling asleep halfway through his tirade losing my place and having to begin again....only to fall asleep again.
It was like the movie "groundhog day" :haha:

 

[George]

As far as I can tell the screening of granulations did not catch on until 1825. That's when the current "F" designations stared to be used in Europe.

Or maybe 100 years earlier?

THE SOUTH CAROLINA GAZETTE
September 25, 1736
Charleston, South Carolina
JUST imported in the King George, Jacob Ayres from London, white and colour'd plains, strip'd duffils, bullets, shot, F FF FFF gunpowder, Saxe Gotha hoop-petticoats,

THE SOUTH CAROLINA GAZETTE
June 11, 1741
Loaf Sugar, Gun Powder in half Barrels FF and FFF, Bullets, Strouds, Indian Trading Guns, Mens and Boys Felt Hats

The Pennsylvania Gazette
January 7, 1752
Imported (chiefly) in the Myrtilla, the last ship from London,
....best London steel, shot, F, FF, and FFF gunpowder....

Spence

 

[Zonie]

They all must have shot their flintlocks without priming the pan.

I didn't see FFFF mentioned !

:rotf:

 

[George]

Sometimes you surprise me, Zonie. As long as you've been doing this, surely you know they ground some FFF with a spoon.

Spence