It's been one year since I took up bp. shooting and thought I would jot down some things I learned for the new shooter. Not that I am an expert but just common sense things I did not know when I took up the sport.
1. Mark the Ramrod. run it down a empty barrel and mark it. Comes in handy when you ask "Did I add the powder?" or "Is the ball all the way down against the powder?"
2. Dry ball, you will but do not panic. I remove the nipple work some powder down,RE-SEAT ball and fire, repeat as needed--always RE-SEAT the ball. Did I mention the usefullness of a marked ramrod?
3. Swabbing Too wet of a swab can end up pushing all the crud around and blocking the hole of ignition. Mis fires then occur and you question why. Traded off a good used rifle after changing the nipple and still having same problem. Learned this lesson from this forum after I traded in the rifle.
4. Heat of day may cause accuracy to fade. I have learned that on a hot summer day when I shoot the pattern expands. Since I shoot alone I shoot more quickly.when the barrel gets hot and sun is hot my pattern seems to expand. Could be the heat or the sun playing tricks on the sight but it does happen. Shooting a couple times with other bp. shooters they too had accuracy problems in mid after noon.
5. Bag of roundballs differ in size and weight. Not all the balls in the bag you buy are the same size and weight. This will have an impact on your accuracy. Seems the better quality balls are just that.
6. Sweet load, yes you need to find the load of powder that works for you. As a rule of thumb start with the grain load that equals your rifle cal. .50 cal. 50 grains and work from there.
7. Listen and learn from the guys with the experience here on the forum.
I hope these basic lessons learned helps some of you new shooters. They are just a few things that came to mind when I was pondering over the last year of shooting black powder. Sorry about the length of this rambling.
1. Mark the Ramrod. run it down a empty barrel and mark it. Comes in handy when you ask "Did I add the powder?" or "Is the ball all the way down against the powder?"
2. Dry ball, you will but do not panic. I remove the nipple work some powder down,RE-SEAT ball and fire, repeat as needed--always RE-SEAT the ball. Did I mention the usefullness of a marked ramrod?
3. Swabbing Too wet of a swab can end up pushing all the crud around and blocking the hole of ignition. Mis fires then occur and you question why. Traded off a good used rifle after changing the nipple and still having same problem. Learned this lesson from this forum after I traded in the rifle.
4. Heat of day may cause accuracy to fade. I have learned that on a hot summer day when I shoot the pattern expands. Since I shoot alone I shoot more quickly.when the barrel gets hot and sun is hot my pattern seems to expand. Could be the heat or the sun playing tricks on the sight but it does happen. Shooting a couple times with other bp. shooters they too had accuracy problems in mid after noon.
5. Bag of roundballs differ in size and weight. Not all the balls in the bag you buy are the same size and weight. This will have an impact on your accuracy. Seems the better quality balls are just that.
6. Sweet load, yes you need to find the load of powder that works for you. As a rule of thumb start with the grain load that equals your rifle cal. .50 cal. 50 grains and work from there.
7. Listen and learn from the guys with the experience here on the forum.
I hope these basic lessons learned helps some of you new shooters. They are just a few things that came to mind when I was pondering over the last year of shooting black powder. Sorry about the length of this rambling.
