3F or 2F

i am shooting 3F in my 1in66 traditions kentucky rile. 70 grain prb. will switching to 2F be any better? i am having trouble getting good groups. my patches are beautiful no rips or burn through but can't get group better than 6 inches at 50 yards. when i was shooting 50 grains this gun shot about sub 1 inch groups a same 50 yards.Alright gurus help me please. :cry:

 

clearly your rifle likes the 50 gr charge better than 70 gr. Back off on your powder to tighten group. Switching to 2fg will, volume for volume, give you less pressure and velocity than 3fg. But why change granulation? What caliber is your rifle?

 

[Haggis]

It has always been my understanding that 3f burns faster than 2f and thereby creates more breech pressure but other than that there is no real difference.

 

[walruskid1]

what caliber brother? .45 or smaller i use 3f. .50 and up i use 2f. just because and it works for me.

 

[Mulebrain]

I am not expert, that is for sure. Hogdon has some great load data on their site

http://www.hodgdon.com/data/muzzleloading/granular/pdx-rifle-round-ball.php

 

[sfruhwirth]

What caliber are you shooting?

A .50 cal should be able to do better with a higher charge easily using 3f. :imo:

I wonder how loose your ball and patch are in you shooter. Maybe you need to try a larger ball or thicker patch, or both. Sometimes ya just gotta tinker to find the right fit for each gun.

:blue:

 

My Lyman GPR .50 cal loves 40 grains of Pyrodex P (equivalent to FFFg)best. .490 ball, 0.15 patches, Hoppes #9 BP lubricant. About 1-1 1/2" groups from an improvised bench (ammo-can + sandbag).

 

[Snuffy]

Something as simple as changing from a cotton patch to a pillow-ticking patch or vise-versa cures the problems. You may have to tinker with a different patch thickness - even a different lube. Should not be a difficult fix -- just an excuse to keep going to the range to get her zeroed-in. eace: eace:

 

sorry it is a .50 taditions kentucky rifle.

 

[pondoro]

I was taught that .50 cal is transitional - it can use FFg or FFFg. But I just checked my NMLRA book and it calls .45 the transition - they recommend FFg for .50 cal. I would try a .490 and a .495 ball, FFg and FFFg, also different patch thicknesses. Look for a combination that works at 60 or 70 grains. But "field clean" before each new combination. It is amazing how different combinations can yield different accuracy. Keep everything at or below the max recommendation in your loading manual though. And do not try really tight patch/ball combinations at max loads.

 

[roundball]

FWIW, in my Flintlocks, I use Goex 3F in .45, .50, and .54.
And I use 2F in .58 & .62...excellent in all cases.

 

[arcticap]

Since you have previously indicated your deer hunting intent, I would make every effort to verify any accuracy results by duplicating everything from a cold, clean barrel to simulated your first hunting shot fired at a deer. I often wonder if groups are affected by barrel temperature since it usually noticiably heats up after the first shot. :m2c:

 

[Landngroove]

I find that accuracy diminishes, when the barrel heats up, no question about it. Good advice to sight in your ML, the way you will be shooting in the field, when hunting.

 

i went to the range today and shot about 10 5 shot groupings in my kentucky my wifes hawkens and my cascade magnum all 3 in .50. i found out a few things 80 grns of 3f in the kentucky is producing 3" groups at 50 yrds, 60 graind of 3f produces 5" grous a 50 yards with the hawkens and 105 grains of 2f produces key hole @ 50 hyrds with the cascade magnum. i also learned that 150 shot is too much for one man in a single day, i feel like my shoulder and cheek are a foot more in diameter. :crackup: well still have a ways to go to get max accuracy in the kentucky and hawkens.

 

[Zonie]

"...105 grains of 2f produces key hole @ 50 hyrds with the cascade magnum..."
_______________________________
Sounds like your Hawken is trying to tell you something about it's dislike for bullets. You either need more powder or a faster twist barrel. Maybe both.
A better idea might be to patch the roundball with a little thicker patch and try the heavy powder loads with it.

If nothing else, it's real hard to tell if a roundball is keyholing! :crackup:

 

[Runner]

I use the 495 ball and a thick patch to get the accuracy I want with heavy loads.