Little Help Needed Please

[jay3]

Shot my new Kibler Woodswalker in .50 for first time today.
Used Hornady .490 balls, Ox-Yoke .015 patches lubed w/Mr. Flintlock.
Tried 3 shot groups of 50, 60, and 70gr. of 1.5 Swiss, all primed w/4F. I swabbed after each 3 shot group.
Ignition was not instant, had a slight delay, was picking vent after each shot.
Groups were all shot at 50 yards. Smallest group I had was 3", others were 4-5".
Pic of some of the fired patches I found.
Looking for some help reading patches and suggestions for better ignition and accuracey.
Thanks in advance!
Jay

 

[rchas]

Looks like your patches are being cut by the rifling, which would definitely contribute to poor accuracy. The barrel needs some break in.

You can do this by simply continuing to shoot it, or speed things up by some judicious bore polishing with a scotchbrite pad. There are lots of videos on the web about this; in short; use an well undersized jag to scrub the bore with a piece cut from a pad.

If you really want to get serious, another possibility is to lap the bore by pouring a lead lap in the barrel. This takes more time and skill but is the best way to polish a bore.

 

[rafterob]

Insert your pick in the touch hole while loading and then remove it before you prime. That will give you the best channel into your powder. Watch out though, you can blow the pick out while ramming down the ball. Picking after you shoot is not really doing anything to help ignition. As rchas said, practice and barrel break in will resolve your grouping and accuracy.

 

[ZUG]

I would do a rchas first suggested and use eith a 4/0 steel wool "patch" or a "Scotch-Brite "patch" worked up and down the bore 15 or 20 times then clean out the bore and try it. I would not do this too many times as 20 times would be enough to knock any machine burrs off the rifling. After that I would just shoot it to break it in.

 

[garypl]

Might want to adjust your flint to ensure you are generating maximum amount of sparks to the pan. My Kibler rifles generally go off instantly with no discernible delay when I have a good flint that is properly positioned in the **** jaws.

I had a problem with cutting patches but it was caused by the rifling at the muzzle. I took some 220 sandpaper and used my thumb to polish the mouth of the barrel and it eliminated the patch tearing. You can check by using a strip of patch material and seating the ball maybe 1/2" into the barrel, then pull it back out and check for cuts. Might be difficult to do this with precut patches, but if you go to the fabric store and buy some ticking the same thickness as your Ox Yoke patches it will still show you where the cutting is happening.

 

[64Springer]

3 inches or 4-5 inches at 50 yards, with a slight delay, is nothing to hang your head in shame over.

That's dead Bambi all day long.

Get that delay ironed out and those groups will automatically shrink.

Hoping you wrote down the load for that three inch group.


PS: Ditch that 1.5F Swiss. I had some of that. Too course in a .50 in my opinion. Too much air between kernels. Ground mine into 3F. Much mo betta.

 

[Rancocas]

PS: Ditch that 1.5F Swiss. I had some of that. Too course in a .50 in my opinion. Too much air in between kernels. Ground mine into 3F. Much mo betta.

I'll second that. Ditch the 1.5 powder. Try 2F and 3F. Personally, I use 3F for everything; loading and priming.

 

[ord sgt]

Here is my guess. Try lowering your powder charge.
My newest build has a Colerain .50 calibre barrel with deep rifling. I started with 50 grs FFFg but I was not happy with the groups. Then I dropped the powder charge to 40 grs FFFg and now I get better groups. This using a .490 roundball and a .010 lubricated cloth patch. Less recoil and the rifle shoots to point of aim. Many women have shot the rifle and where comfortable with the load.
The rifle was built for showing new shooters the joy of shooting black powder.

 

[#BPBReloadingFFL]

Is this your first time shooting a muzzleloader? (Of your own)
Who recommended 1.5f ? SMH
Get a BP book any will do.
Shoot more type less.

 

[64Springer]

At 40 grains the ball would bounce off an animal and hit the OP.

Safety First.

Grab some 3F and work up from 50 to 70 grains.

Go with 5 grain jumps until you find the sweet spot in that barrel. 5 to 7 shots per jump. 25 to 35 balls. 3 shots does not a group make.

Keep a log book and document everything.

 

[Flintandsteel]

Agree with the 3f, start at 50g, and work up in 5g increments.
The patches are torn, and burned.
Mine works great, no wiping between shots, .495 ball, .020” patches, moos milk lube, using rod under the barrel.

 

[smo]

Jay,
Does your rifle have a Green Mountain barrel on it?

If so, it take a little shooting or scotch brite patches too smooth out the rifling..

I would give them a little more lube as well..some appear a little scorched..

 

[Terrier]

When I got my 40 cal Kibler SMR it was mutilating the .010 and .015 patches I tried with the .0389 balls I bought with the kit. I only shot a few before I realized that was not the way to go.

When I tried the .018 pillow ticking patches from Ox-Yoke, they worked perfectly and loading wasn’t difficult. No more mangled patches and really accurate.

 

[Zutt-man]

Break the barrel in and switch to 3F for everything

Report back on your next range visit!

 

[jay3]

Lots of great advice here.
To answer your question smo, I don't know what barrels Kibler uses, maybe someone else here might?
Point taken on using more lube, I was using it sparingly as I was worried about too much liquid causing a misfire.
I will try the following:
Polish the bore lightly with Scotch Brite.
Try 3F powder, start at 50g, and work up in increments, 5 shot groups.
Try .018 pillow ticking patches.
Check Flint position/condition.
Starting a logbook.
Appreciate everyone's input.
Thanks all!

 

[Zutt-man]

Lots of great advice here.
To answer your question smo, I don't know what barrels Kibler uses, maybe someone else here might?
Point taken on using more lube, I was using it sparingly as I was worried about too much liquid causing a misfire.
I will try the following:
Polish the bore lightly with Scotch Brite.
Try 3F powder, start at 50g, and work up in increments, 5 shot groups.
Try .018 pillow ticking patches.
Check Flint position/condition.
Starting a logbook.
Appreciate everyone's input.
Thanks all!

I’m quite certain Jim uses Rice barrels for SMR and GM for colonial & woodsrunner barrels

 

[TDM]

Agree with @garypl. Do a thumb pressure muzzle polish with 220, 320, 400 grit. Ditch the 1.5 for some 3F and try some well lubed .020 patches. Keep experimenting until you find the sweet spot. You might also take a a 1/16” bit and chase out your touch hole by hand. There might be a little flash hiding there.

 

[morehops52]

Do all of the above as suggested and you will get it right. First, start by polishing the bore. You will notice the difference in loading immediately. I did mine 50 push me pull you's and it was smoooooth.

 

[IanH]

I’m quite certain Jim uses Rice barrels for SMR and GM for colonial & woodsrunner barrels

He has used both. My SMR .45 has a GM and so dies my WR .54.

Here goes the broken record.....

3F in everything, start at 50 and work up in 5 grain ticks, get a much tighter ball/patch combo, like .495 and .018". The barrel will smooth itself out from shooting except for the crown if it's really sharp.

 

[TDM]

Yep, I believe the Rice barrels are for the .36 and .32 SMR.