Max Load

[camoloc]

have a MH sea service smooth bore .62 cal flintlock flintlock pistol



35 gr. of 2FG has no recoil whatsoever. so what is the max load you would push this pistol.



I personally think 50 gr. of 2FG would be okay.



any thoughts on this?



thanks.......just wanting to hear what an upper boundary might be.



camo

 

[64Springer]

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[earlwb]

Likely 60 grains or thereabouts would be maximum. But optimum maybe would be less though. The problem is with the short barrel a lot of the propellant gets blown out before it can burn to provide more push to the bullet. If you have a chronograph you could increase the charge until it doesn’t increase anymore or even starts to decrease. Then you know your optimum max charge.

 

[SDSmlf]

have a MH sea service smooth bore .62 cal flintlock flintlock pistol



35 gr. of 2FG has no recoil whatsoever. so what is the max load you would push this pistol.



I personally think 50 gr. of 2FG would be okay.



any thoughts on this?



thanks.......just wanting to hear what an upper boundary might be.



camo

What is the size of the breech end of the barrel? A one inch or greater, no reason a 100 grain charge wouldn’t be safe for the barrel, though the muzzle flash will likely be blinding, and accuracy, who knows until you try. Now the stock and your wrist may not be happy….

I was always told the rule of thumb for roundball shooting with pistols or handguns was about half the caliber in grains of powder as a good place to start (62 caliber divided by 2 would suggest starting charge of 31 grains for example). Then one would work up and down from there in small increments to find the most accurate load, although the starting load of half the caliber worked pretty good without any adjustment in many guns for me.

Are you interested in accuracy or shock and awe? Two different paths.

 

[camoloc]

have a MH sea service smooth bore .62 cal flintlock flintlock pistol


sorry for the spaces. phone app not working right

35 gr. of 2FG has no recoil whatsoever. so what is the max load you would push this pistol.































































































































I personally think 50 gr. of 2FG would be okay.































































































































any thoughts on this?































































































































thanks.......just wanting tos hear what an upper boundary might be.































































camo

 

[Johnny Tremain]

change .50 to .62 for your caliber

.50 divided by 2 = .25

.25 x .25 = .0625

.0625 times Pi( 3.1416)= 0.19635

.19635 x 11.5 = 2.2580

2.2580 x 28 inches( barrel length)= 63.22 grains of powder.

This is figured for a 50 cal with a 28 in barrel.

 

[Andrewmtnman]

change .50 to .62 for your caliber

.50 divided by 2 = .25

.25 x .25 = .0625

.0625 times Pi( 3.1416)= 0.19635

.19635 x 11.5 = 2.2580

2.2580 x 28 inches( barrel length)= 63.22 grains of powder.

This is figured for a 50 cal with a 28 in barrel.

Does the grade of powder matter (fff)?

 

[SDSmlf]

change .50 to .62 for your caliber

.50 divided by 2 = .25

.25 x .25 = .0625

.0625 times Pi( 3.1416)= 0.19635

.19635 x 11.5 = 2.2580

2.2580 x 28 inches( barrel length)= 63.22 grains of powder.

This is figured for a 50 cal with a 28 in barrel.

Wonder if the OP’s pistol has a 28” barrel?

 

[camoloc]

Wonder if the OP’s pistol has a 28” barrel?

9" smoothbore barrel

camo

 

[Johnny Tremain]

Does the grade of powder matter (fff)?

Dunno this was figured for 3f.



.62 divided by 2 = .31

.31 x .31 = .0961

.0625 times Pi( 3.1416)= 0.30190776

.30190776 x 11.5 = 3.47193924

3.471924 x 9 inches( barrel length)= 31.3 grains of powder.

There with the OPs numbers

 

[SDSmlf]

Dunno this was figured for 3f.



.62 divided by 2 = .31

.31 x .31 = .0961

.0625 times Pi( 3.1416)= 0.30190776

.30190776 x 11.5 = 3.47193924

3.471924 x 9 inches( barrel length)= 31.3 grains of powder.

There with the OPs numbers

I guess the old ‘rule of thumb’ of ‘half the caliber in grains of powder’ (31 grains) for a handgun and the ‘caliber in grains’ (62 grains) for a rifle starting load hold up to the formula you are using. Rule of thumb ‘calculation’ just seems easier for most to use.

 

[Shiloh]

Dunno this was figured for 3f.



.62 divided by 2 = .31

.31 x .31 = .0961

.0625 times Pi( 3.1416)= 0.30190776

.30190776 x 11.5 = 3.47193924

3.471924 x 9 inches( barrel length)= 31.3 grains of powder.

There with the OPs numbers

I had to smile a little at this. After doing all the math you still ended up with essentially half the bore diameter.