I found that compressing 2Fg powder in my flintlock created larger groups. Then I ran some tests over the chronograph, and I saw a much wider Standard Deviation of Veocity no matter how consistently I tried to compress my powder charge.
When I switched to "loading to a mark", set so that the PRB just begins to grind the powder granules, my SDV dropped a lot. When I then began sliding the powder charge down a tipped barrel, the SDV dropped even more. The velocity was not the same speed as I got when compressing the charge, but adding 5 grains more brought the velocity up to that old "standard" and brought the POI back up to what I had when I was trying to compress the loads. The difference was that Now my groups were about 1/2 what they had been before, and I began to see consistent groups, every time I went to the range.
Try everything. See what works.
MY rifle began its life as a percussion gun, and I did all my load development with that gun with a percussion ignition system. When I had the gun changed to a Flintlock, my gunsmith warned me that I would have to rethink everything I thought I knew when the gun was a percussion action rifle. He proved to be correct. I just didn't understand that I might have to change my entire loading technique to get the tiny groups I used to get when the gun was a percussion action. I began tilting the barrel with I pour the powder down several years later, after my brother told me about BP cartridge loaders using 24" drop tubes to compress their 3Fg powder charges in their casings, and how the target shooters with match grade ML barrels were pouring the powder in with the barrel held vertically, to achieve the same result. I realized then that pouring my 2Fg powder down my 39" barrel when it was vertical, would be compressing the powder in my barrel just as much as if I were using that 24" drop tube, or compressing my powder with my ramrod when I loaded that PRB.
The Other evil that plays hobbs with your accuracy is that leaning lots of weight on your ramrod, or Bouncing the rod on the round ball, will distort the shape of the ball. The accuracy changes won't be noticed much at 25 yards, but out at 50 yards, you will see a lot of unexplained wide impacts on the paper. At 100 yds, I have seen rod bouncers unable to put a ball on a 12" square target. Mark the ramrod, or loading rod( range rod) and load to the mark by using your fingers to move the ball down that last inch to the mark. Clean that barrel between shots, so you don't build up residue on the face of your breechplug, or shorten that powder chamber in your Nock-style breech. Shortening the barrel length changes the position of the ball, and that changes the harmonics of your barrel, sending your ball someplace ELSE! :nono: :shocked2: :idunno: :hmm: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:
