Inconsistency

[reloader4410]

I always used a lube cookie, with a cereal box wad on the powder, then a beeswax/olive oil lube cookie over that, then ball & patch, never had to clean between shots was shooting cowboy side matches so shots were close. happy trails

 

[CapPopper]

I'd say you need to revisit your "bench" technique first. Techniques used with modern rifles quite often don't play nice with our guns.

Longrifles can be quite sensitive to how they're benched and held. Try this- hold the rifle as you would offhand. Transfer to the bench using the same hold points. Rest ONLY the back of your forward hand on the rest. Grip the rifle barrel with your forward hand as you would offhand. Do not "crush" grip the wrist of the stick and be sure that your trigger hand placement is consistent. What you're after is to replicate the same recoil dynamic as offhand but with the aid of a bench to steady the aim a bit. Rifle barrels move under recoil in a harmonic wave. Where you put that front hand and how you grip the rifle will absolutely change how your gun groups. Where you rest that long rifle barrel on a rest will dramatically change how a longrifle will group.

Following is a proof picture. Rifle was brand new Kibler kit custom built by one of our forum members. He was having issues getting it to group. The picture is my first 4 shots from the gun using the exact same load but with the technique I just described. Pathfinder was getting inconsistent and sometimes large groups. He has since changed to my method and his groups are now similar to this one.

Kibler Colonial 54cal flintlock at 50yd. Diameter of the ball is incorrect.

View attachment 110054

I'll give it a try though I try to be real consistent in my rest I could've easily ignored it.... Cast about 250 balls tonight and sorted them by weight within .3 grs and I've got some patches drying right now with 7:1 water:ballistol mix. Figured I'd start there since dutch says about 80% of people settle on that ratio. Not a match gun so I'm not hunting for every tiny improvement I can (yet). Hopefully this helps rectify some stringing. Tomorrow is the last day of our gun season so I don't know that I'll find time to shoot any but I'll come back with a farther report as soon as I get the chance.

 

[deerstalkert]

i purely doubt you will have a stringing group on a deer. those groups look fantastic to me.

 

[dave951]

I'll give it a try though I try to be real consistent in my rest I could've easily ignored it.... Cast about 250 balls tonight and sorted them by weight within .3 grs and I've got some patches drying right now with 7:1 water:ballistol mix. Figured I'd start there since dutch says about 80% of people settle on that ratio. Not a match gun so I'm not hunting for every tiny improvement I can (yet). Hopefully this helps rectify some stringing. Tomorrow is the last day of our gun season so I don't know that I'll find time to shoot any but I'll come back with a farther report as soon as I get the chance.

I haven't had good luck with the ballistol mix on my patches. What I did find that worked rather well was mink oil on the patch and a cork over powder wad.

 

[CapPopper]

Let's visit the idea of environmental factors and not paying enough attention..... So I shot some more today though I didn't have much time. First group sucked and was all me but my windage stayed real consistent..... Second group would've been amazing but I didn't have the foresight to hood my rear sight as well as front..... Light moved across the target on my 4th shot and I couldn't see cause of the glare on the rear. So I blocked the light and fired cause that was the only way I could see the front sight against my target. Wiped and loaded and in that time the sun had gone off the target but was coming across me slightly different. On the last shot I really noticed the glare on the rear sight was much worse than the first three shots. I fired and checked my target...... Next time I will hood the rear as well since the last time I was shooting my windage was dead on.

The one on the right dead center was with no light on the rear sight and the far left one had a noticably increased glare..... Such a silly way to ruin a stellar group. Think I've found my load. If the other two had been centered it would've been around a 1/4 inch group at 25 (M.O.A.) .011 cotton duck patch .311 round ball from a Lee mold 40grs of fffg goex (44 mag case of powder) and 1:7 ballistol dry patch lube. So I reckon I solved my problem and know exactly what caused the issue this time. Thanks for the help.