Another Powder Question

Muzzleloading Forum

Help Support Muzzleloading Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

George C

40 Cal.
Joined
Dec 2, 2017
Messages
118
Reaction score
5
If one is using 70 grains of powder in ffg then switches to FFFg will this affect the velocity of the shot. From what I read FFFg burns faster than ffg so I am thinking it would fire a round at a little faster velocity. Any thoughts on this?
 
70gr FFFg is about 10-15% more than 70gr FFg...

FFFg is also a smaller granulation, so more powder will fit into the 70gr volume.
 
Generally, yes. But, depending on brands of powder maybe not much. That is a good reason to spend time at the bench testing and working up your loads. In this game not much is clear cut or the same for everyone.
 
I have Goex ffg and fffg for some reason I do not know why I decide to use fffg powder started at 50 gr. and went up to 60 grains in small increments it started shooting in a 1 1/2 square constantly so I stopped there. Now I was just wondering about the velocity of the two powders. Maybe next time on the range I will use ffg to check its accuracy in my rifle.
 
They are different.
Each will affect your rifle differently within the same variables of the Patched Round Ball combination you choose.
There really is no direct comparison to the velocity of a load as it applies to powder charge type or volume without considering the other variables of ball size, patch and lube.
Will velocity change with a powder grade change? Yes.
But so will many other characteristics of your load as it compares to accuracy.

Changing nothing but your powder grade will change velocity.
Changing powder grade in itself can effect accuracy,
Is changing the powder grade alone the thing that changes your accuracy? Very likely. But the ultimate goal is to improve accuracy right?
Changing powder grade is not a single variable that will improve accuracy.
 
Changing powder grade is not a single variable that will improve accuracy.

:hmm: One of my Investarms .58 Cabelas Hawkins shoot much better with 2f than 3f? The second doesn't care (shoots about 2" higher at 90 yds with 3f though). :idunno:
 
I'm a bit curious how much difference there'd be changing from standard Goex to Goex Olde Eynsford. There's a tremendous velocity difference in small charges found in revolvers which you'd assume continues in rifle charges. In a .44 cal revolver with about 30 grns there's typically no less than 200 fps difference. I'm a bit curious how that relates to say triple that charge in a rifle. I can't say I've seen much rifle data and as I recall it compared energetic powders only. Guess I'll dig around so I can compare.
 
According to Hodgdon's site 90 grns of 2F T7 with a .490" ball from a 24" barrel creates 1925 fps. At 100 yds where I zeroed this (900' alt) it's at 1104 fps with 479 ft/lbs. At 50 yds its 1.8" high and at 125 yds its -3.4" and 15.5" to the side in a 10 mph crosswind.

According to my 2nd edition Lyman handbook 90 grns of 2F Goex in a 24" barrel with a .490" ball is traveling at 1580 fps. At 100 yds its traveling at 982 fps with 379 ft/lbs. At 50 yds it is 2.7" high and at 125 yds it is -4.5" with a wind drift of 16.3".

Not quite as much as I expected. Roughly an inch difference all the way around. Naturally I'd prefer the tighter trajectory and reduced wind drift. Not to mention less fouling (comparing Olde E) as my PRB gets hard to load between the 3rd and 5th round, which could well be due to the tight fit and crappy patch lube (grape seed oil) I've used that I intend on changing as my rifle is about broken in now making it time to work on an accurate load.
 
I have mostly shot Pyrodex P and RS through my Lyman's Deerhunter as I hate the powder and was merely breaking it in. I haven't tried sorting through patch thickness, powder charges, or lubes yet. But as I really like 3F Olde E in my two revolvers I will certainly be trying it through my rifle. I would really prefer to keep things as simple as possible having to stock and carry just one powder. As Olde E gives much higher velocities even 2F would outdo standard Goex 3F and keep my revolvers in what I feel is a useful hunting worthy category. And if it's not to my liking I can always try Swiss or go back to Triple 7.
 

Latest posts

Back
Top