Max load for 62 cal smoothbore

[victor#0]

I have a Jackie Brown 62 smoothbore and the biggest load that I've used is 80 grains of FFG with a .600 patched ball. Was wondering what the max safe load would be?

 

[tenngun]

The gun is safe with God Awful loads. A hundred in ten grains is shot by Dualist 54 pretty regularly on his you tube
A brown bess back in the day might take any where up to two hundred grains.
It’s unlikely any more then one ten will be practical for you

 

[Brokennock]

I would be more concerned with projectile mass (or obstruction from an unseated projectile) than powder charge. Accidently load a few balls and you will probably know it quickly when the trigger is pulled. People have shot 2 balls at once without blowing up the gun,,, but they usually have negative comments about the Recoil and I may have read of a cracked stock.
I think it would be difficult to load enough black powder into a modern muzzleloader to blow it up,,, depending on projectile,,, and if working ones way up, I'm betting one will stop before the point of possibly blowing a gun up

But then,,, why?
Why beat on the gun and yourself?
If 75 to 90 grain loads with patched ball or wads and ball, or 100 to 120 or so grain loads with completely bare ball, get the job done,,,, what's the point of going higher.
Ron LeClair (RIP) took a bison with a 20 gauge smoothbore and roundball. If I recall correctly his powder charge was around 90 grains.
I don't understand the trend of cartridge shooter "magnumitis," carrying over to raditional muzzleloading.

 

[victor#0]

No magnumitis, just never new the max load. Like I said I've always used 80 grains of 2F and it shoots great with that load..........

 

[Dale Allen Raby]

Did the gun come with a manual? Max load SHOULD be in it.

 

[Steve Martin]

I can't answer as to the "max load" a smoothbore in good shape can handle but I can tell you that I once shot 80 grains of 3fg with a double load of ball (due to my not paying attention while loading) and while it didn't seem to bother the gun at all, my shoulder was blue and sore for several days afterwards.

 

[Bushfire]

I use 90gn as standard in my smoothbores but I'd have no qualms going higher if I found it worked better. As tenngun said, Mike uses 110gn in his smoothies. He used 160gn in a bess, which he said while stout wasn't world rocking.

 

[oldwood]

Had a rifled .62 weighing in at 7 lbs. , and a bit. 90 gr.FFG was my recoil limit. Good shooting rifle , accurate.

 

[Grenadier1758]

The gun is safe with God Awful loads. A hundred in ten grains is shot by Dualist 54 pretty regularly on his you tube
A brown bess back in the day might take any where up to two hundred grains.
It’s unlikely any more then one ten will be practical for you

You do have to take into account that the 200 grain powder charge for a King's Musket used about 10 grains for the priming pan and the powder was the lowest cost musket grade powder sold to the British Army. 110 grains of 2fg or 1fg today is probably more than adequate for any shooting we might do, especially if we are priming from a separate pan charger (recommended).

I limit my powder charges for my 20 gauge fowling gun to 85 grains of 2fg for ball loads and 65 to 75 grains for shot charges.

 

[tenngun]

You do have to take into account that the 200 grain powder charge for a King's Musket used about 10 grains for the priming pan and the powder was the lowest cost musket grade powder sold to the British Army. 110 grains of 2fg or 1fg today is probably more than adequate for any shooting we might do, especially if we are priming from a separate pan charger (recommended).

I limit my powder charges for my 20 gauge fowling gun to 85 grains of 2fg for ball loads and 65 to 75 grains for shot charges.

Totally agree, only pointing out his gun could take a lot more powder than he needs.
If he shot a hundred and ten grains and he double charged his gun by accident his gun would still shoot safely provided he seated the ball

 

[nkbj]

Knowing the maximum would be high on my list when working up an accuracy load.

 

[tenngun]

Sam Falada did some test where he ran just some ridicules charges and multi heavy minies. New gun barrels for sure but the only time a gun blew or ringed was an obstruction in the barrel
11 Bang Bang channel on You Tube has him shooting Indian Muskets from Loyalist arms or Discriminating General with charges I would never want to feed a gun, but he has no issues

 

[Cruzatte]

... I've always used 80 grains of 2F and it shoots great with that load..........

If you're happy with that load, stick to it. Why mess with success?

 

[Comfortably_Numb]

Depends on your breech size, and how much recoil you want to take. You can use a surprising amount of powder depending on how your gun is made. Although I was always happy with 60 to 70 grs. in my 20 bores.

 

[PK]

Not a direct answer about max safe loads but I regularly shoot PRB from my .62 smooth bores with 110 gr 2f when I’m shooting longer distances from 75-100 yds. I can say that it does beat me up a little at 110 gr if I shoot too many rounds. At 25-50 yds I’ll shoot 60-80 grains and do just fine and it’s much more enjoyable with good accuracy and doesn’t punish me.

 

[victor#0]

Thanks for all the info, I have no hesitation for using it on black bears but have considered using it on a grizzly........with a back up shooter of course. Thought the extra umph might come in handy if I do decide to try.

 

[hanshi]

I did experiment at the range with up to 100 grains of 3F. But I found nothing of benefit going up that high so stuck with 60 grns to 75 grns of 3F.

 

[brotherlloyd]

3f is not for large bore smoothbore nor is patched ball

 

[Grenadier1758]

Hmm, round ball works fine in my Brown Bess.

 

[Cruzatte]

Hmm, round ball works fine in my Brown Bess.

Wonder if he means patched as in a rifle, meaning smooth bores are to be shot with wads and ball.