curious weekend of shooting

[newkid]

I took my .54 Renegade (with TC 1/66 barrel and peep sight) to the range on Sunday afternoon. This is a new barrel that I'm trying to get set up for upcoming deer season. Shooting from a bench with a sandbag under the forearm I started with Hornady .530 ball, .018 TC pre-lubed patch and 80 grains of Goex 2F. At 50 yards group was a less then stellar 4". Ran a cleaning patch (with sparingly applied Hoppes Black Powder #9 plus) followed by a dry patch between each shot. Each succesive shot made loading tougher. After several shots was using enough force to load that I felt I was probably deforming ball face. Obviously powder fouling was building up. Recovered patches intact with very minor occaisional burns. Next tried same combo except used thinner patch (not sure of actual thickness). Easier to load. Group size doubled. Recovered patches blown, couldn't find complete intact patch.

Bottom line, felt .018 too thick since barrel had to be nearly completely clean to avoid tough loading. Thinner patches were obviously to thin since they were blown and the groups, well... weren't really groups.

Went home, cleaned gun, started again today at different range (Sunday afternoon was at private range, today was at public range. I only go to the public range if I can get there real early in the morning since by 9am on weekends it gets to busy for me.) I measured my patch thicknesses last night and found that I had a total of 4 different thicknesses, .018, .015, .013, .010 (only the .018 has stripes, all the others look alike.) Obviously I've collected various prelubed patches over the years and did a very poor job of keeping track of them. I should explain that I shot a muzzleloader many years ago and now that I'm getting back into it I've been using some of my old components. In any event, I started again with the .018 patch, but this time, between shots, I was more liberal with the bore cleaning fluid on the cleaning patch and followed it with 2 dry patches. 50 yard group improved from previous day to about 3", but after a couple shots it was very tough to load again. I think this confirms that this load only works with a completely clean bore (non fouled). Next tried .015 patch. Obviously easier to load, group shrunk to about 1 1/2".

Conclusion... obviously the private range I shot at yesterday is defective any I won't be going back. :rotf:

Sorry. To continue... I wasn't able to find any of my patches today (large gravel on range makes them hard to find and too many people to spend much time down range looking for them). Plans for next time... recover and inspect patches and vary powder load.

Thanks

 

[newkid]

I should mention, this is a percussion gun.

 

[feyx0006]

It almost sounds as though the Hoppes BP #9 doesn't have enough water in it to dissolve the fouling (a primarily water-soluble problem). Granted, I haven't used their BP #9, but regular Hoppes #9 is rather hydrophobic.

 

[Blizzard of '93]

you might consider giving the bore a polishing with J-B bore paste on a tight-fitting patch. can't hurt things.

 

[Zonie]

Just a thought but, many people have found that very old pre-lubed patches often loose their strength.
This can contribute to blown patches.

The problem seems to be that the oils some companies use causes the cotton fiber to weaken so, if your pre-lubed patches are old, you might want to think about getting some new ones.

Unlubricated patches don't break down with age so if your blue/white pillow ticking is not lubed it still should be good (even if the groups your getting when using it aren't).

Your 1 1/2 inch groups are good so I think you should stick with the .015 thick patches and start working on your powder charges.

zonie

 

[shootemup]

Hi Snuffer,
I have a Renegade with a T/C 1:66 barrel that is a pretty good shooter with 80 grains 3f Swiss under a .015 patched .530 roundball.
I think you should try it without the Hoppe's - just send a wet patch down the bore between shots and see what happens.
have fun with it -
Spot

 

[FlintlockJonny]

Conclusion... obviously the private range I shot at yesterday is defective any I won't be going back. :rotf:

yeah...must be the range. stick to public. there are witnesses there.

 

[shmrck1]

Blizzard,
I am certainly not against the J-B bore paste
idea :hmm:But I would try Hoppe's #9plus first.
IMO
snake-eyes :hmm:

 

[nchawkeye]

Three things I would suggest...Get a tarp and set it up to retrieve your patches, you need to see what they look like before you can tell what is going on.

Get away from store bought patches, buy pillow ticking or the 40 drill that these guys buy from Jo Annes...Lube with Stumpy's Moose snot...Start with the .018 and cut at the muzzle...


Clean the barrel between each shot, I use rubbing alcohol with a squirt of Murphys Oil soap, put it in a spray bottle, dampen and run 3 down, both sides and one dry patch....The best groups will come with a tight patch and a clean bore...

After you have settled on a good powder charge and are getting good groups, try loading with a .015 patch without cleaning, see how this does, so you have a load when out hunting that you don't have to clean between shots....If acceptable accuracy is seen with this method you are good to go.

I believe the proper patch is often overlooked and may be the most important part of getting good groups....

 

[redwing]

Clean the bore of the rifle. You have a rough bore its either rusted or leaded or both. Use some Butch's Black Powder bore bright and steel wool on a tight jag. You can also use JB or Scotch Bright Pads but clean the bore.