.62 range report.

RANGE REPORT:
Well I got some 20 gauge wads from Rod and finally tried the .62 smoothie G.M. drop in barrel over the chronograph.
This time I tried a sane load of 70 grains of Elelphant 2fg, a fiber wad over the powder then a thin patched .600 ball.
Five shots at 25 yards went into a ragged hole measuring about an inch and velocity was an average of 1025 fps.
Next I tried the thing at 50 and was sadly disappointed. 10" again and no pattern to the shots, each was a very random impact at that range.
Can anyone offer some more advice. I'd think 5" at 50 would be acceptable.
I did try one shot load...70 grains of Elephant 2fg, a fiber wad, 1 OZ of #7 shot and an overpowder wad (thanks Rod) at 25 yards. The pattern was nice, very nice indeed for the cylinder bore, a cottontail would have taken about 15 to 20 hits at that distance, that is if I could hit one.
I'd think the shotgun load would be good on grouse and rabbits to 30 yards.
There is a lot of experimenting to do with shot loads.

 

[cayugad]

Well I also have been playing with my GMB .62 caliber smoothie. I was loading 80 grains of Pyrodex RS a Nitro Card, a fiber wad, the .600 ball, and then an over the shot card. At 25 yards the accuracy was exceptional.

I then kicked the charge up to 85 grains of Pyrodex RS with the same set up and the group was still excellent. When I went to 90 grains it started opening up a little.

I did not go back to the 50 yard line yet. I want to get the most powerful loads I am comfortable with at 25 yards first, then we will see if it will hold.

I also went 80 grains of RS, a paper shot cup on the fiber wad and 100 grains of #6 shot. This is an excellent shooting bird shot group. I think it would take a turkey out without problem and could be used for upland birds and rabbits like you are finding out.

I am going to go back and play with the patched round ball a little more. They are hard to load but seem to shoot well. The other thing I thought I would try is wrapping the round ball with some cotton balls when I use the cards to shoot it. If I stabalize it in the barrel better it should act as a slug does in a shotgun I would think.

These sure are a lot of fun to shoot.

 

[Rebel]

to try out the wads. I assume they must have been the right size? You might still try the wads only system and no patch. Also, i found with mine i get better accuracy with Goex 3f than with Goex 2f. I get good accuaray, at 25 yds at least, with up to 80 gr. of 3f. I did try some shots at 50 yds, and at first was disappointed. I got 7 shots in about a 12" group using 7o gr. I then uped it to 80 gr. and my next 3 shots went into a group about 1 1/2" center to center, with 2 of them overlapping. I need to do more testing at 50 yds and see what works best. You might try some Goex 3f and just the wads and see how it works for you. Can't hurt to try it at least. Take care, and watch yer backtrail.

 

Thanks again for the wads. Now I know that they work I can get some from Circle Fly.
The 25 yard groups are very good, but this is hardly a small game gun and I want acceptable 50 yard accuracy to use on deer.
I have much better rifles for deer hunting, but I'm not taking the birddog6 Jeager out in the rain, so the .62 is sort of a foul weather gun for short rage work. I'm sure it'll make a dandy rabbit gun with shot loads.
Actually I have several good inexpensive rifles that would make fine foul weather guns, but the .62 is....well,....er, it's BIG!

 

[cayugad]

I decided I had to shoot some more today with the smoothie so I went out in the yard. This time I used Pyrodex P. I loaded 80 grains, then the Nitro card, the fiber cushion, and then the ball with the shot card. At 25 yards it shot a big nasty hole. At 35 yards if shot an excellent group with one flyer which I think was caused because I wanted to see what would happen if I lubed the fiber cushion wad. At 43 steps (which was a nice level spot were I could see the target well) It did real well. I was really impressed with this smoothbore up to this point.

At the 50 yard line things started going down hill. It held about a 4-5 inch group, which is not the end of the world but needs work.

At the 70 yard line I could hit the 8X11 paper the target was printed on, but as far as grouping them, they were all over the place.

So I guess it is back to the drawing board for more ideas. Glad I ordered a lot of powder, I am down to my last pound which was why I was shooting the Pyrodex P.

 

What you want, or want to try to ackomplish is that the ball doesn't want to start spinning for as long a time as possible. Once it starts spinning, it'll take off on a tangent. The outside surface of the ball should be as free of deformation as possible. This would mean a patch that 'just'barely takes up the windage. Some experimentation would be necessary, along with powder charge/type, etc.

 

[Rebel]

load fer sure. Don't know why your groups open up that much from 43 steps to 50 yds, unless there is some defect in the ball. Any visible defects like wrinkles or such? Maybe a hole at the Sprue? Any little defect can affect the flight.

 

[Stumpkiller]

Here's the aerodynamic answer. At the muzzle, a non-spinning round ball is clocking along at, say, 1200 fps and pushing a shock wave in front of itself (we've all seen the images

The air is, and behaves life, a fluid; flowing around the ball.

For a round ball the boundary layer is more even than the above image.

As the ball slows it pushes less of a boundary layer ahead of itself, and that presents less of a 'cushion' ahead of any imperfections on the ball. It's like the rocks beginning to show as the tide drops. The ball is also being acted upon by wind currents. Eventually, it begins to 'tumble' which with a round ball isn't as big a problem as with a conical projectile, but it is there. Imperfections cause the surface to have a different amount of 'grab' in the air, and the spots with drag cause the ball to fly erratically. With a spinning ball the cone of dispersion opens up gradually, with a non-spinning ball it can happen like a trumpet bell, a 5" group at 50 yards becomes a 20" group at 75 yards. With the sprue and mold line of some large balls it amounts to the stitching on a well thrown knuckle-ball. It just suddenly drops out of what appeared to be a smooth trajectory.

Transitioning through the speed of sound, around 1,000 fps, causes a shock wave that can also effect the balls' flight. Sometimes increasing or decreasing the powder charge slightly can improve smoothbore ball accuracy measureably. Subsonic loads can be very accurate.

 

[cayugad]

Rebel I bought these round balls and to be honest, the ones I cast from my LEE molds have a much smaller spur then these I bought from TOTW.

Next time I am going to try putting the spur on the bottom and see if that makes a difference. I also bought my own mold so I am going to cast up a bunch of ball and see if my homemade work better before I get to frustrated.

The only good thing is where I intend to hunt with this smoothie, the longest shot will be 35 yards in the most nasty brush you ever tried to walk through. How them deer can run through that is beyond me, but it should work fine in that thick cover.

I still want to get it better. Besides I claimed I needed this smoothie to be a shotgun not a round baller. That was the reason for the .58 caliber... ::

 

[Rebel]

can run through a lodge pole pine thicket that is so thick and has so many blowdowns and tangels that i have trouble getting through them. But a big 'ol bull elk can run through it like there is nothing there with a huge rack of antlers on his head. As for the smoothbore, i have a Lee mould for mine and your are right, there isn't much in the way of sprue. I am new to casting though, and i keep getting wrinkles, usually a horseshoe shaped one, right next to the sprue. Anybody got any idea why that is? Also they are coming out really shiney silver. Does that matter? Any help appreciated. Thanks.

 

[cayugad]

The ones I cast for the .50 &.54 caliber also come out with a high shine, as do the conicals. I have no idea what causes that, and I tend to shoot them off before they ever get a chance to get old. As for the horseshoe that does not appear on mine.

I think the big thing is mold prep and getting the lead to the right temp before you cast. I always clean my mold before I start, then smoke them in a candle to where they are black. I them paint them with rapine mold prep.

When I cast I look all of them over close and remelt any that even have a hint of not being right. One of these days I am going to get a scale and weigh them. Those that do not match a certain weight will be sent back to the smelter.

 

[Rebel]

mould, so i don't know that there is much prep i can do to it. I put back any to be remelted that have any flaws i can see. I have a scale, but unfortuately it only goes to 325gr and my rd. balls weigh just a hair more than that. Or at least most of them do. The ones that don't also go back to be remelted. No flaw inside the mould blocks that i can see that would cause the horseshoe shaped wrinkle. Not sure what it is. I know they shoot real good at 25 yds. and not as good at 45 yds. But a lot of that is me getting used to this gun and flintlocks in general.

 

[cayugad]

I have not made any with the new mold yet. When I cast, I have a lot of different projectiles to make. My only real prep is to; wipe it out with denatured alcohol to get all the oils and dirt out of them, then smoke them with a candle until they are black, and then I paint them with rapine mold lube.

What is a good brand scale to get? I want one that can go all the way up to the big conicals and minnies I make.

thanks

 

[Rebel]

a scale that goes that high. I know somebody must. I would like to get one that goes at least to 350 gr so i could weigh my balls, my cast rd. balls that is. :: ::

 

I changed my powder scales from balance beam (normal) to an electronic scale by PACT. I got the $129.00 one, $187.00 for me, up in Canada,by the time I got it. Let me tell you all, that is the BEST $185.00 I've EVER spent.
: IT weighs up to 1,000gr. within 1/10gr. and within 1 gr. above that to 1,500gr. or above.
; I repeat - That was the best $185($129.00 to $149.00 depending on location, for you guys down south of the 49th parallel. I bought it straight from PACT, on 'special'.
: There are others, cheaper, but without the accuracy, or with lower charge limits. The PACT is GREAT!
: Oh yeah- I'm quite happy with that scale.- Oh, I already said that.
Daryl

 

[cayugad]

Daryl the PACT BBK or the DPPS both seem like great scales. I am wondering of the two which one you were refering to?

PACT Scales

I set the link so you can take a look. I really think if I am going to get this bullet making really accurate, I will need to go to this step instead of my eye ball examination that I have used for so many years to judge the good from the bad. I found a couple more molds I want to buy and make projectiles from, and see just how good I can get these things to shoot.... ::