Making progress!

[Oregononeshot]

Over the last couple months I've been in the process of breaking in my GPR barrel so I could start load developing for this year's hunting seasons. I have asked a few questions and gotten great help, so I thought I'd post about my progress.

I posted about my patches being torn and ripped. The majority thought the rifling was sharp where it met the crown of the barrel, causing cuts when short starting. I smoothed them down just a little and shot, but still got a few torn patches. So I did it again to where they are obviously smooth, and haven't had a torn patch since!

I tried real black powder for the first time, and WOW! You guys aren't kidding when you say how much nicer it is! Immediate ignition every time, no slight delay like with my pyrodex. My groups shrunk by half at 50 yards, now my 5 shot groups are 2-3 inches. I'm sure the patches not being torn are helping, but I will definitely shoot goex from now on.

I decided to try casting my own balls. I bought a Lee 2-ball mold. I have a huge chunk of lead given to me by a friend so I used that. After a little learning curve I cast 5 balls and went and shot them. The first 3 were almost touching, dry-balled the fourth, and the 5th was 4 inches low and 2 inches left. Not sure what happened on the 5th shot. Balls weighed out a little low at 217-220 grains so I'm guessing it's not pure lead. I have a melting pot in the mail and plan to cast a bunch and use only the ones that make weight. A plumber friend is keeping lead he finds for me so hopefully I'll have some pure lead coming shortly.

I'm gonna buy a peep sight shortly and then I will finish my load development. Very excited to use a ball I cast myself to hopefully kill an elk and deer this year!

 

[Britsmoothy]

Glad to hear it buddy.

 

[Pete G]

Sounds like the hook is set.

 

[Dr5x]

Another reason patches are ripped apart is because the material is too thin or tqq weak to hold togeether during the enormous pressures involved in firing your GPR
.
The Lyman m
ML57 rear peep sight is magnificent. Firing the rifle does not change the settings.. If you get the front Globe sight that goes with it you will really tighten things up.
The 2 to 3 inch groups you are now getting might be reduced further if you use slightly thicker shooting patch material.
It is amazing how very slight changes in ball size or patch thickness can make to the soups you produce.
If you are really becoming a nit picker you may find that the two balls produced from the double mould are not exactly the same and if weighing them out always gives you the same weight for all the balls, you will be OK. But if one mold produces a slightly lighter ball, I would suggest using only balls from the mould that produces he heavier ball. It may sound silly but it CAN make a difference

Dutch

Over the last couple months I've been in the process of breaking in my GPR barrel so I could start load developing for this year's hunting seasons. I have asked a few questions and gotten great help, so I thought I'd post about my progress.

I posted about my patches being torn and ripped. The majority thought the rifling was sharp where it met the crown of the barrel, causing cuts when short starting. I smoothed them down just a little and shot, but still got a few torn patches. So I did it again to where they are obviously smooth, and haven't had a torn patch since!

I tried real black powder for the first time, and WOW! You guys aren't kidding when you say how much nicer it is! Immediate ignition every time, no slight delay like with my pyrodex. My groups shrunk by half at 50 yards, now my 5 shot groups are 2-3 inches. I'm sure the patches not being torn are helping, but I will definitely shoot goex from now on.

I decided to try casting my own balls. I bought a Lee 2-ball mold. I have a huge chunk of lead given to me by a friend so I used that. After a little learning curve I cast 5 balls and went and shot them. The first 3 were almost touching, dry-balled the fourth, and the 5th was 4 inches low and 2 inches left. Not sure what happened on the 5th shot. Balls weighed out a little low at 217-220 grains so I'm guessing it's not pure lead. I have a melting pot in the mail and plan to cast a bunch and use only the ones that make weight. A plumber friend is keeping lead he finds for me so hopefully I'll have some pure lead coming shortly.

I'm gonna buy a peep sight shortly and then I will finish my load development. Very excited to use a ball I cast myself to hopefully kill an elk and deer this year!

 

[Oregononeshot]

Dutch, I do have some slightly thicker patch material I'm going to try on Tuesday. The lyman peep sight you mentioned is the one im going to get. I'll try it with my blade sight before I buy a front globe. I'll check the weight on each mold cavity and see if there is a big difference, thanks!

Another reason patches are ripped apart is because the material is too thin or tqq weak to hold togeether during the enormous pressures involved in firing your GPR
.
The Lyman m
ML57 rear peep sight is magnificent. Firing the rifle does not change the settings.. If you get the front Globe sight that goes with it you will really tighten things up.
The 2 to 3 inch groups you are now getting might be reduced further if you use slightly thicker shooting patch material.
It is amazing how very slight changes in ball size or patch thickness can make to the soups you produce.
If you are really becoming a nit picker you may find that the two balls produced from the double mould are not exactly the same and if weighing them out always gives you the same weight for all the balls, you will be OK. But if one mold produces a slightly lighter ball, I would suggest using only balls from the mould that produces he heavier ball. It may sound silly but it CAN make a difference

Dutch

 

[Patrick Thomas]

Over the last couple months I've been in the process of breaking in my GPR barrel so I could start load developing for this year's hunting seasons. I have asked a few questions and gotten great help, so I thought I'd post about my progress.

I posted about my patches being torn and ripped. The majority thought the rifling was sharp where it met the crown of the barrel, causing cuts when short starting. I smoothed them down just a little and shot, but still got a few torn patches. So I did it again to where they are obviously smooth, and haven't had a torn patch since!

I tried real black powder for the first time, and WOW! You guys aren't kidding when you say how much nicer it is! Immediate ignition every time, no slight delay like with my pyrodex. My groups shrunk by half at 50 yards, now my 5 shot groups are 2-3 inches. I'm sure the patches not being torn are helping, but I will definitely shoot goex from now on.

I decided to try casting my own balls. I bought a Lee 2-ball mold. I have a huge chunk of lead given to me by a friend so I used that. After a little learning curve I cast 5 balls and went and shot them. The first 3 were almost touching, dry-balled the fourth, and the 5th was 4 inches low and 2 inches left. Not sure what happened on the 5th shot. Balls weighed out a little low at 217-220 grains so I'm guessing it's not pure lead. I have a melting pot in the mail and plan to cast a bunch and use only the ones that make weight. A plumber friend is keeping lead he finds for me so hopefully I'll have some pure lead coming shortly.

I'm gonna buy a peep sight shortly and then I will finish my load development. Very excited to use a ball I cast myself to hopefully kill an elk and deer this year!

What did you use to smooth the entry into the rifling?

 

[Oregononeshot]

What did you use to smooth the entry into the rifling?

180 grit wet/dry sandpaper, as suggested by a few members

 

[Britsmoothy]

Personally I would finish off with 600-800 grit to polish it all up.