inherited 69 cal musket load ?

[justin54]

i inherited 69 cal musket percussion 37 inch barrel [made in belgium stamped elg].my uncle used it for elk and mule deer a few times and whitetail once he moved back to illinois.anyway from going through all his stuff/speed loaders it looks like his load was 80gns of 2f with a .010 patch & ball. what is the min and max powder load for this gun? cannot find any owners manual in his stuff if there was one. i guessing he bought this in the late 60's when he was in navy along with his berreta over/under shotgun they got to buy direct from factory.
other than needing a good cleaning the gun is in decent shape it did take me a little time to get the nipple out corroded in. threads looked fine a little pitting around where it goes in but i think that was just crud from the musket cap.i did shoot it a few times when he was alive at 40 yards it would do about a 2 inch group which i thought was pretty good.
thanks for any info
justin

 

[benvenuto]

80 g FFG is the load recommended in the Dixie Gun Works Catalog. I'd be very wary of going above 110grains (4 drams). There is no minimum load. If you want to find a good target load start at around 45-50 grains and slowly work your way up till you get the best accuracy. Remember, muzzleloading is not just aboout power, but placement

And if you have any doubts at all about the nipple, get it seen to professionally (we had an incident at my club with a nipple blowout a few weeks back - not pretty).

 

[justin54]

thank you for the info the nipple screws down nice and tight. the pitting is just around the shoulder where the crud had bulit up.
thanks again
justin

 

[benvenuto]

the main thing is to play around and find the most accurate load to suit you and the gun. Every gun is an individual, even in these days of mass production

 

[musketman]

anyway from going through all his stuff/speed loaders it looks like his load was 80gns of 2f with a .010 patch & ball.

What size ball is it?

I was running a .678 roundball through my .69 before I retired it...

 

[justin54]

i have to look at the mold this weekend its over at my dads that might be what size it is

 

[justin54]

its a 672 according to the mould
justin

 

[Musketeer]

I was running a .678 roundball through my .69 before I retired it...

Was your .69 an 1842 or some other model?

 

[musketman]

It is an earlier musket, made in 1838 from older parts, converted to percussion in 1849...

I didn't go over 70 grains of Fg in it because of it's age...

 

[Musketeer]

Ahhh...a true antique, just like you. :blah: :hatsoff: