3f loadf in large bore

[musketman]

I found this on another forum.
1cc=15.1 2F and 14.5 3F. This correlates very closely with what both Stumpy and I found. I have to admit I would have thought 3F weighted more.

Thanks Deadeye, I guess there is still more to learn here for everyone, including myself... :hatsoff:

 

Thanks one and all for your input. While not the most experienced smoothbore shooter I have pretty much left my rifle in the corner of late (and it's a darn nice rifle). I have done a bit of experimentation with ball/patch combos and have concluded the following. A .678 ball needs to be short started and I want to eliminate that step. A .648 ball is too small and slips the patch when loading. A .662 ball starts sooooo nice shot after shot with the .015 patch. I like 3f as I prime with the same horn and thus eliminate a priming horn. A large ball and thinner patch will blow the patch. I am willing to loose a little accuracy to gain the ease of loading. That is how I arrived at my current combo. I started with 60 gr. but wasn't happy at longer ranges and went to 70gr with what I think are decent results. Now this doesn't mean that I am ready to tackle the boys from Friendship but I definately have fun knocking down gongs with that big ole ball. :grin: Thanks again, squint

 

[Rebel]

You might try an over powder and a lubed cushion wad over the powder before the patched rd ball. It will seal the bore better, prevent burned out patches, and may help with the accuracy. It helped in my .20 ga and .12 ga.

 

[paulvallandigham]

All of this is nice, but if you are not using a chronograph to measure your velocities, it means very little. You have to know where you are going before you pick the route to get there. With smoothbores, it is important to not exceed the speed of sound with your round ball. The sound barrier does nasty things to the ballistics and flight of a round ball. If you stay under it, you can get better groups at longer ranges. You may have to aim higher, or get a lower front site, but the inherent accuracy of the round ball in a smoothbore will be better if you stay below 1100 fps at the muzzle. If using 3F puts you over that figure, it may not be the best. Either reduce the load of 3F, or try 2F, to see if the velocity is not lower with the same measure of powder. If you can get a cleaner shooting gun shooting 3F, and get the accuracy you want using it, use it. On the other hand, if your gun shoots best with 2F, don't lose any sleep because you might have to clean the barrel between shots. I had a friend who owned a 62. cal. rifle that just plain preferred 3F, while his .54 cal gun and his 12 ga. shotgun both preferred 2F. YOu could have pushed him over with a pinfeather when he discovered that fact.

 

[Wes/Tex]

Bottom line is whatever load you use for a large bore in FFg, cut the "VOLUME" by 15% to 20% for FFFg. The velocity will be roughly the same. Heavy charges of FFFg, certainly not in the 60 to 80 grain range as mentioned, will gradually erode the bore due to blow-by around the patched ball before it begins to move. Just remember that setting land-speed-records isn't what you're shooting (pun intended) for. Good luck. :hmm:

 

[Swampman]

I just got tired of the extra cleaning involved with 2f. I'm glad that I got away from 2f years ago on the advise of someone who was using 3f in his Brown Bess. 3f is cheaper to shoot because you get more shots per pound. It's tough to shoot enough 2f in a Bess to get an acceptable trajectory even at close range. The standard British military load was much heavier than we normally shoot because they used coarse powder.

 

[weirdjack]

I've tried both 2F and 3F repeatedly in my 51" barrel .70 Fowler. In it, 2F leaves less mess in the bore.
With 3F, I always get a fouling ring just ahead of where the ball seats, then a bunch of fouling halfway up the barrel. That ring then has to be cleaned out every 5 shots or so or it's tough to seat the ball all the way down.
I do not get that fouling ring with 2F and the 51" barrel is so long that the powder is fully burned and the fouling is distributed fairly evenly down the bore. Makes loading really easy without all the swabbing. I can only assume this is due to the 2F's slower burning rate.
With a slightly undersize (some would say) roundball and plain old Walmart pillow ticking (olive oil lubed), I can shoot for hours without having to stop and scrub the bore. And after shooting cleanup is a breeze with plain water.
Maybe I am just lucky....or maybe I just like to plink comfortably without the constant barrel swabbing, but 2F is what I use. And when my last pound of 4F is empty, I'll be using 2F to prime with as well. This all applies to my .69 Navy Arms Charleville also....it gets the same fouling ring buildup with 3F, but not with 2F.
Aside from all that....felt recoil is much much much less with 2F in both my smoothbores. Recoil is felt as a "push" instead of a "kick". I'd much rather be comfortable when I shoot large roundballs for a few hours, than kicked and pounded. :smile:
Jack