Mountain Stalker
32 Cal
Finally got to shoot my new Lyman Deerstalker .50 today.
Goal was 5 shot groups with 65, 70, 75 and 80 grains of powder to find accuracy. However life happened, and due to time constraints I had to reduce my goal to getting the sights on target on 50 yards. I was shooting:
75 grains by volume Goex FF / Hornady .495 roundballs / pillow ticking patches (0.018" marked on package, but compressed in a micrometer were closer to 0.012"). The patches were soaked in 7:1 water:ballistol and dried.
Ball/patch fit was very tight, but not enough to where I had to hammer it, just needed a whack on the ball starter. Prior to shooting I ran 100 passes of patches with Montana Extreme bore polish to knock off burrs from the factory. Not sure if it made a difference, but none of the recovered patches were cut (pic).
Before shooting I noticed that the caps were sitting pretty loose on the stock nipple. So I went ahead and ordered a Knight Red Hot #11 nipple. Surprise surprise, the replacement nipple was too tall to allow the lock to fully reset when lowering the hammer down after capping. Thus the half-cock did not work. When I got home I replaced the factory nipple and discovered the incredible solution of slightly crimping the cap for a more secure fit. The half-cock notch works again.
Prior to shooting, I weighed 30 of the 100 Hornady roundballs and picked out the few that were within 1 grain of the heavyest ones. Since I ended up not chasing accuracy, I shot the rejects. The heavyest ball of a sample of 30 was 184 grains and many were 182 grains or less. I'll use the good ones for figuring the most accurate charge and for hunting.
The Goex FF powder was the only real black powder that I could get locally, no HASMAT fee and good price. Looking at the cans and price stickers it looks to be 90s vintage. The Deerstalker has a short 24" barrel, but the 75 grain (by volume) charge did not leave unburnt powder on the snow.
The upside down triangle target worked well with the coarse fiber optic sights of the Deerstalker. Holding the front sight right under the downward point really helps with precision as even at 50 yards the front sight would actually cover the triangle if held over it.
The picture is the last 4 shots before it got dark.
When cleaning I found that the best I could do for the patented breech was using the patch worm with a patch hooked and twisted around it. Anybody use a loop jag and a smaller cal brush to swab/scrub the ptented breech?
Goal was 5 shot groups with 65, 70, 75 and 80 grains of powder to find accuracy. However life happened, and due to time constraints I had to reduce my goal to getting the sights on target on 50 yards. I was shooting:
75 grains by volume Goex FF / Hornady .495 roundballs / pillow ticking patches (0.018" marked on package, but compressed in a micrometer were closer to 0.012"). The patches were soaked in 7:1 water:ballistol and dried.
Ball/patch fit was very tight, but not enough to where I had to hammer it, just needed a whack on the ball starter. Prior to shooting I ran 100 passes of patches with Montana Extreme bore polish to knock off burrs from the factory. Not sure if it made a difference, but none of the recovered patches were cut (pic).
Before shooting I noticed that the caps were sitting pretty loose on the stock nipple. So I went ahead and ordered a Knight Red Hot #11 nipple. Surprise surprise, the replacement nipple was too tall to allow the lock to fully reset when lowering the hammer down after capping. Thus the half-cock did not work. When I got home I replaced the factory nipple and discovered the incredible solution of slightly crimping the cap for a more secure fit. The half-cock notch works again.
Prior to shooting, I weighed 30 of the 100 Hornady roundballs and picked out the few that were within 1 grain of the heavyest ones. Since I ended up not chasing accuracy, I shot the rejects. The heavyest ball of a sample of 30 was 184 grains and many were 182 grains or less. I'll use the good ones for figuring the most accurate charge and for hunting.
The Goex FF powder was the only real black powder that I could get locally, no HASMAT fee and good price. Looking at the cans and price stickers it looks to be 90s vintage. The Deerstalker has a short 24" barrel, but the 75 grain (by volume) charge did not leave unburnt powder on the snow.
The upside down triangle target worked well with the coarse fiber optic sights of the Deerstalker. Holding the front sight right under the downward point really helps with precision as even at 50 yards the front sight would actually cover the triangle if held over it.
The picture is the last 4 shots before it got dark.
When cleaning I found that the best I could do for the patented breech was using the patch worm with a patch hooked and twisted around it. Anybody use a loop jag and a smaller cal brush to swab/scrub the ptented breech?
