How much powder

[JWeber]

I have a Thomson Center. 58 cal. I am shooting 555 grain maxiball. What do you suppose is the right amount of pyrodex to use for accuracy and the ability to bring down a elk. I also shoot round balls. Much thanks.

 

[Nutnfancy]

Here is the pic of a page out of my 'Shooting Thompson/Center Muzzleloading Firearms'manual that came with my gun. It suggest starting from the lowest charge and work your way up. Also it said you will find the best accuracy somewhere around the middle of the chart. Hope this helps.

 

[Zonie]

My Thompson Center, "SHOOTING THOMPSON/CENTER® BLACK POWDER MUZZLELOADING FIREARMS" book says the .58 caliber Big Bore shooting a 555 grain Maxi-Ball should be loaded with the following loads:

80 grs. FFG = 1093 fps, 1486 Ft. Lbs
*90 grs. FFG = 1149 fps, 1642 Ft. Lbs
100 grs. FFG = 1221 fps, 1854 Ft. Lbs
110 grs. FFG = 1282 fps, 2044 Ft. Lbs
120 grs. FFG = 1331 fps, 2203 Ft. Lbs

* This Load is Recommended For Optimum Accuracy & Performance
Load Shown in Red is Maximum - Do Not Exceed.

 

[Griz44Mag]

I have a Thomson Center. 58 cal. I am shooting 555 grain maxiball. What do you suppose is the right amount of pyrodex to use for accuracy and the ability to bring down a elk. I also shoot round balls. Much thanks.

If I were you I would just shoot round balls. The .58 is more than a match for any North American game animal. 80-90 grains will do it quite nicely. You will get a lot more velocity and therefore a lot better range out of it.

 

[SDSmlf]

If I were you I would just shoot round balls. The .58 is more than a match for any North American game animal. 80-90 grains will do it quite nicely. You will get a lot more velocity and therefore a lot better range out of it.

Completely disagree. You need to shoot those 555 grain maxiballs with a 120 grain powder charge. Then shoot them again. Maybe try again. Then one more time to be sure. Then ask yourself why. Looking forward to seeing your reply with your results and opinion on the load.

 

[tenngun]

If I were you I would just shoot round balls. The .58 is more than a match for any North American game animal. 80-90 grains will do it quite nicely. You will get a lot more velocity and therefore a lot better range out of it.

Not only will it make meat out if all American game but most Asian and African and all European Australian and where it’s legal Antarctic. And you can shoot it with out rattling your teeth or turning your shoulder to mush

 

[Tumbledown]

Completely disagree. You need to shoot those 555 grain maxiballs with a 120 grain powder charge. Then shoot them again. Maybe try again. Then one more time to be sure. Then ask yourself why. Looking forward to seeing your reply with your results and opinion on the load.

Disagree about shooting roundball? Or shooting roundball with 80-90 grains of powder, because that's what he was referring to, not maxiballs with that charge.

 

[Tom A Hawk]

My Thompson Center, "SHOOTING THOMPSON/CENTER® BLACK POWDER MUZZLELOADING FIREARMS" book says the .58 caliber Big Bore shooting a 555 grain Maxi-Ball should be loaded with the following loads:

120 grains under a 555 maxiball - Ouch!! Might be tolerable in a 12 lb. Quigley.

 

[Griz44Mag]

Completely disagree. You need to shoot those 555 grain maxiballs with a 120 grain powder charge. Then shoot them again. Maybe try again. Then one more time to be sure. Then ask yourself why. Looking forward to seeing your reply with your results and opinion on the load.

So what part do you disagree with? Your post is rambling.....????

 

[Nameless Hunter]

Completely disagree. You need to shoot those 555 grain maxiballs with a 120 grain powder charge. Then shoot them again. Maybe try again. Then one more time to be sure. Then ask yourself why. Looking forward to seeing your reply with your results and opinion on the load.

Thanks for adding a good chuckle to my morning.

 

[Rifleman1776]

120 grains under a 555 maxiball - Ouch!!

Agree.

 

[Griz44Mag]

So what part do you disagree with? Your post is rambling.....????

OK, I was still nursing my first cup-o-joe this morning.
I get it now.......
Don't be so coy this early in the morning, wait 'til I get woke up good.....

 

[tsmgguy]

There's a very old rule of thumb which says that the black powder charge should be equal to 1/4 of the weight of the lead ball used. For a .596 lead ball weighing 318 grs. used in a .62 rifle, that would be about 80 grs. of black powder. Seems like a good place to start for working up loads?

Pyrodex is used by volume IIRC, not weight, so the correct Pyrodex charge would be of the same volume as the corresponding black powder charge, right?

 

[Loyalist Dave]

I've heard that one starts with grains = the caliber of the barrel and rounds to the nearest 5, as a starting load. The load is then increased by 5 until one finds a very accurate load. So for a .58 that would be 60 grains as a starting point.

I've heard that the caliber multiplied by 1.5 with the results rounded to the nearest 5 will give you a load close to the "sweet spot" for accuracy and lethality. So that would be 58 x1.5 = 87, rounded then is 90 grains. Then check the load by decreasing by 5 and increasing by 5 to see which of them is most accurate.


LD

 

[EC121]

I have one of those .58 Navy Arms(or maybe Zoli) Buffalo Hunter rifles. I shot two Minis balls in it and went back to round balls. Recoil isn't worth it to me. No elephants or cape buffalo around here.

 

[Shooter1]

My 58 starts to close it's group at 100 gr and does quite well with 110-115 gr of powder. Half the group size of a 80 gr load.

 

[SDSmlf]

So what part do you disagree with? Your post is rambling.....????

Apologies that you didn’t get my tongue in cheek comment (tongue in cheek refers to a humorous or sarcastic statement expressed in a mock serious manner). Unfortunately when I replied to the OP’s and your post, the OP you quoted was omitted, although some followed along and understood. Figured everyone also read the references to the 120 grain loads that were posted. My mistake. Also note than when I replied to your post above, your quoted post does not include my post you were quoting. Hope you can follow along. So to clear things up, read the posts in sequence below. Everything except the posted references to 120 grains of powder. I can provide if necessary for you to understand. Remember, my post was done tongue in cheek. I, unlike others, am not perfect and make typos and mistakes in my posts. Again apologies for my failed attempt at humor.

I have a Thomson Center. 58 cal. I am shooting 555 grain maxiball. What do you suppose is the right amount of pyrodex to use for accuracy and the ability to bring down a elk. I also shoot round balls. Much thanks.

If I were you I would just shoot round balls. The .58 is more than a match for any North American game animal. 80-90 grains will do it quite nicely. You will get a lot more velocity and therefore a lot better range out of it.

Completely disagree. You need to shoot those 555 grain maxiballs with a 120 grain powder charge. Then shoot them again. Maybe try again. Then one more time to be sure. Then ask yourself why. Looking forward to seeing your reply with your results and opinion on the load.

 

[Chuckster60]

Brings to mind the old H&H Black powder Rifles such as , the 8-bore, which fired a 1,250-grain conical bullet at about 1500 fps. For the recoil to be survivable, such a gun had to weigh at least 12 pounds, and many examples went as high as 18. Sorry if I am off topic I remember reading about them in the 70's... good times for me it was. would I shoot one? maybe just once so I could Brag.

 

[Eterry]

I have one of those .58 Navy Arms(or maybe Zoli) Buffalo Hunter rifles. I shot two Minis balls in it and went back to round balls. Recoil isn't worth it to me. No elephants or cape buffalo around here.

My Buffalo hunter likes the 500 gr minie and 60grs fffg. My Navy Arms Musketoon LOVES that load, shooting 3moa at 100yards and as issue sights.

I shot 40rds of that load off the bench at a match and was certainly getting tired of them by the last relay.

I've gone as high as 100grs fffg, but couldn't find any Cape Buff on the Red River.

If I was hunting Elk with my 58 I'd load the 500 grain minie.

 

[EC121]

Only whitetails and the occasioinal hog in Alabama. Mostly 50yd. shots. A big deer is 150lbs. Average kill is probably 70-100lbs. We don't have to register them so it is hard to tell the weights.