ballistics of 8" .44 cal

[brain]

short story:
picked a '58 new model army by pietta up.
thought i'd do some shooting @25 yrds. was hitting low....without thinking about, i started filing the front sight till it was hitting where i wanted.
powder load is something like 24grns of 3f.


groups great at that range. but did i hose myself for any other ranges...either closer or farther?
but the question is how flat is it shooting?

 

[Zonie]

Assuming you are shooting roundballs, the Lyman BLACK POWDER HANDBOOK & LOADING MANUAL says a 22.5 grain load of Goex 3Fg will give a velocity of about 664 FPS.
A 25.0 grain load of Goex 3Fg will give a velocity of about 727 FPS.
That would put the velocity of your load at about 700 FPS.

My roundball ballistics calculator says that if the gun is sighted in at 25 yards it will be hitting:
15 yards = +0.5
20 = +0.3
25 = 0.0
30 = -0.5
35 = -1.3
40 = -2.4
50 = -5.2

 

[Dave Rosenthal]

You could always try putting 30 grains in it for the shots at 35-50 yards to see where it will print, or if the groups really open-up. You could find a happy medium at 27 or 28 grains, so don't be affraid to try. Shoot from a rest if possible, to eliminate the variable of shaking and all of the other human faults, to check to see if the groups open-up or not for a specific charge at a specific range.

Your mileage may vary...and good luck!

Dave

 

[brain]

thanks. that's what i was looking for.
i had shot some of those 25 yd shots from rest, and actually sighted in off a rest.
the first six will hold a pretty nice group, after that it starts to open up.

 

[Jim/OH]

Well I see Zonie's chart says a 5" drop at fifty yards for a zero at 25. But my experience in the "real world" of one handed off hand shooting is somewhat different. I have a half a dozen pistols that I shoot regularly in competition, and most of them shoot to nearly the same point of impact at 25 and 50 yds. using as little as 15 grains of powder in some of them. Not sure why, maybe there is some muzzle rise while the bullet is still in the barrel when shooting off hand or something like that. The most I usually have to move the sights is 2-4 clicks up (maybe a 2" move). I do know the point of impact changes from shooting off sandbags and shooting off hand.

Hope this helps, Jim/OH :thumbsup:

 

[R.M.]

Jim, your experience could be that with lighter charges, the ball is in the barrel longer, thus with the recoil raising the barrel, the ball has a higher tragectory arc.