Building supply place was out of stucco so I had no choice but to go out shooting today :: Usually, there are only one or two good ol' boys at the range on a weekday, shooting some sort of modern semi-auto pistol or maybe gettin' their deer rifles scoped in, but never any black powder burners. Today was different! There were only three people on the range and we were all making smoke! One fella was shooting an 1850ish (original) target rifle that was only a little older than he was. It had been freshed out to .45 at some point in its history. Big heavy barrel - thing must have weighed 12 lbs.
The other guy was using a Sharps to ring metal targets at 150 yards shooting offhand. Then he switched to paper targets and was getting 2" groups. Tough company to keep.
All the targets had been freshly redone - nice crisp cardboard resulting in nice clean holes.
Little bit of overcast following a light rain - nice temp and tolerable humidity.
Upped my .40's load from the usual 25 to 30 grains and really liked the results. POI just a tad higher than the aiming point at 50 yards, but not so much higher that it kept me from mailing the card to General Claude :thumbsup:
Must have fired about 40 rounds today, all on one flint and with only two pan flashes (nearly empty primer was not dispensing enough), and with no swabbing of the bore. Good shooting up to about 75 yards, but a bit problematic beyond that. Tried shooting an 18" metal target hanging at 150 yards. Aimed about a foot above the target and watched the ball hit the dirt about 4' short :shocking: Finally quit trying when I ran out of balls (the lead kind, thankyou).
Anybody got a recommended max load for 3f in a .40 cal with a 7/8" barrel?
The other guy was using a Sharps to ring metal targets at 150 yards shooting offhand. Then he switched to paper targets and was getting 2" groups. Tough company to keep.
All the targets had been freshly redone - nice crisp cardboard resulting in nice clean holes.
Little bit of overcast following a light rain - nice temp and tolerable humidity.
Upped my .40's load from the usual 25 to 30 grains and really liked the results. POI just a tad higher than the aiming point at 50 yards, but not so much higher that it kept me from mailing the card to General Claude :thumbsup:
Must have fired about 40 rounds today, all on one flint and with only two pan flashes (nearly empty primer was not dispensing enough), and with no swabbing of the bore. Good shooting up to about 75 yards, but a bit problematic beyond that. Tried shooting an 18" metal target hanging at 150 yards. Aimed about a foot above the target and watched the ball hit the dirt about 4' short :shocking: Finally quit trying when I ran out of balls (the lead kind, thankyou).
Anybody got a recommended max load for 3f in a .40 cal with a 7/8" barrel?
