Accuracy expectation

[Little Wattsy]

3-4" is BEST with most guy's because of iron sights and eyes.
Use a small aiming point at 100, perhaps a blackned cirlce about 1"- 1 1/2" on a printer sheet. It helps, "aim small-miss small".

Try 535 ball also,, I like a tight (TIGHT) fit, I'm a swabber so buld-up is not a problem. I don't hafta hammer, but it takes, several jamming strokes to get it down. I've used 535 and a .021 dry lubbed patch for best accuracy. That combo is a match winner and the gun shoot's better than me.

Ditto... I personally get between 3 and 6 inches depending on the day and how "fresh" my eyes are... The longer I shoot the fizzier that target looks at 100 yards.

P.S. My .54 GPR loves 90 grains of powder, .530 ball with a .015 patch too... and I still get the occassional little burn holes. :hmm:

 

[J.D.]

Patches burning through is usually caused by either a too thin patch, not enough lube, wrong lube, but IMHO, rarely by a too heavy powder charge.

Another factor in blown patches might be the thread count in the fabric. IMHO, # 40 cotton drill, for example, holds up better than ticking simply because it tougher, due to a higher thread count.

For a 50cal rifle, for example, with a land to land diameter of .500 with .010 deep grooves, firing a .490 ball, will require roughly a .015 patch to fill the grooves. IMHO, a .018 or .020 thick patch will give some compression to the patch down in the grooves, and therefore a better seal, which means fewer blown patches. IMHO, a barrel with deeper grooves needs a thicker patch, just to get down to the bottom of the grooves.

I suggest trying a liquid patch lube. Spit works good as does a soap/water combination, or even a water soluble oil in water. Windex and windshield washer fluid work pretty well too.

The patch should be a little sloppy, but not so sloppy that it is dripping lube.

Personally, I don't like the yellow miracle lubes, though a lot of folks swear by them. They are all the same, BTW, so one isn't any better than the other.

If patches are still blown after removing sharp edges from the lands, changing to a thicker patch and increasing the amount of lube or changing lubes, there is something wrong with the bore.

Some folks shoot incredibly heavy loads without blowing patches, so IMHO, I have to wonder if an excess of powder is a factor in blown patches, given that the patch is thick enough and the lube is adequate?

God bless

 

[ebiggs1]

This is my own experience with my Lyman GPR in 54 cal.
I suspect there are 100’s of ways to shoot muzzleloaders and I certainly don’t claim to know the why’s a where fore’s.
I am the world’s worst shot and I maintain that title, always. I am not going to even try 100 yards because I can barely see this target at 50 yards. I am only interested in hunting and I am not going to shoot over 75 yards. When hunting the first shot must go where you aim. My rifle had about 20-30 rounds through it because it preformed so poorly from the box. Mine is a flintlock and fired about 2/3rd of the time. It took me that two dozen shots to get it reliable. I clean the bore with de-natured alcohol, dry it, upon first load than I don’t swab, wipe or pick, just shoot. While I was tweaking it shot low at first at 25 yards so I filed the front sight down, way down. I went to the farm to try 50 yards.
This was a typical target for the day.

It now has about a 100+ rounds through it and everybody says they get better!
Well, OK.

“Are my expectatons simply too high for a simple PRB with a primitive sight?”

If this is expected accuracy, you can do it because if I can anyone can. I am a believer in keeping it simple. Don’t make it harder than it has to be.

 

[smo]

I own a GPR in .54 cal flintlock.It would rip a patch apart when i first got it.As stated the rifling is very sharp on these guns. It took several rounds through mine to get it smoothed out. My rifle seems to like a heavy load,I shot it starting out at 50 grns and worked my way up. The best groups came at 100 grns of fffg Goex. I shoot a .530 r/b with Oxyoke ticking.Look at the amount of lube that you are using,as stated you my need to use more lube .I shoot spit patches and have no problem with burn throughs. As for accuracy, it depends mostly on the shooter.Some guys can group em' some guys can't. :idunno: It depends on your eyesight & nerves. :wink: Just keep shooting it and work on defferent loads to see what works best for you.As suggested you might try a filler over the powder ,I have used wasp nest before and the work great and they are free :thumbsup: Just make sure no wasp are home before you try using them. :rotf:

 

[Dave Rosenthal]

Get that bore broken-in and you'll do things that you've haven't even thought of yet--like cutting playing cards in half at 25 yards with those open primitive sights!

It's all been said by now......Scotchbrite, steel wool, use of the pre-lubed felt wads, and here's one more little trick: apply a little extra bore butter to those pre-lubed .015 patches and see if the holes stop happening :wink: .

Enjoy the ride! Stay safe and make smoke!

Dave

 

[flyfish]

Here is what my patches look like.
The top one is .018 prelubed pillow ticking from another days shooting. The bottom three are .015 prelubed patches from the outing that I described above.

 

[Leatherbark]

I always expect my muzzleloading rifles to be accurate enough to place the shots in whatever size the front sight subtends at 100 yards. If my bead covers a 6 inch bullseye at 100 yards I would hope that all the shots would be covered by the bead...........

Is there any of you mathmaticians that have a formula or math procedure that someone can measure the size of the front bead and extrapolate what size it would be at 100 yards? Bob

 

[Leatherbark]

Get you some dry patches and use spit........I believe that the lube in some of those patches have been there so long that the patch fibers are rotted and the lube is actually contributing to the burning...............Bob

(PS.......Sorry Smokin 50 this reply was for original poster)

 

[Dave Rosenthal]

No problem!

Also noted by this writer is that the weave on his .018 pillow-ticking looks to be firm and new. A little extra bore butter on those patches would help them to slide down onto the charge a little bit better, and maybe not "stick" on the way down so much!

One more thought: Is the original poster using the gun's ramrod for the break-in or a good high-strength Range Rod?? I don't recall reading so in the original post at this point. :hmm:

Either way, using a Range Rod to break-in a new bore is a little easier! :thumbsup:

Dave

 

[robtattoo]

I'm using a very solid 3/8" fibreglass rod (let the scathing commence!) There's very little flex. The first ball down a clean barrel is fine with a .018 patch, but after a few shots (3 or 4) I'm having to punch the ball down there. With a .015 patch, it's a smooth glide al the way down.

More breaking in to go! :v

 

[J.D.]

swab the bore with an alcohol patch, then a dry one between shots to remove any fouling that makes it hard to load, or better yet, change to a wet patch lube. Try sucking on a coupla patches as you are loading, then patch that ball with the spit patch. you should be able to shoot nearly all day without wiping, if you are using the correct lube.

God bless

 

[E Poffinbarger]

Just had to throw in my 2 cents. For my .54 PBR I use an .015 lubed patch, .535 ball and 75gr of 777, I'm sorta picky so I make and lube my own patches and cast my own .535 balls.

For me an acceptable 100yd group needs to be (3)three inches or less, but I have polished the bore on my rifle and it has an old Wollensak, Ranger 4x brass tube scope.

Osage

 

[Dave Rosenthal]

My Lyman Trade Rifle needed a couple boxes of balls to "settle-in". Now I can load over a hundred balls in a single outing (I.E.: at a Boy Scout BP Demo) without cleaning between shots, and using the .018 pre-lubed pillow-ticking patches!

After your rifle settles-in, you may want to try a .020 pre-lubed patch for a cold-bore shot with a clean bore just to see where it prints. This might wind-up being a good hunting load........or you may wind-up just using a "bore-button" (a pre-lubed wad) under the patched round ball. Testing will tell, as each rifle is somewhat different.

Dave