pedersoli 50 cal frontier

[Zonie]

Adding fuel to the fire, as they say, I note that the Pedersoli loads for the Kodiak are talking about using Swiss powder.

It is felt by many (including me) that Swiss powder is more powerful than black powder. (Note, I didn't say more powerful than 777.)
Anyway, to hit the same point of aim with my flinters, I found I needed to reduce my Swiss loads about 15% as compared with the black powder load I was using before.

If they were writing their book and thinking about Swiss powder, that could explain the wimpy load they listed. It would already have that reduction built into it.

An old rule of thumb for a starting load is a grain per every .010 of the caliber. That means 45 grains for a .45 caliber, 50 grains for a .50 caliber etc.

This usually ends up being about the minimum load for good target accuracy out to 50 yards.

 

[brpc]

fatman:

Not since I learned to turn the rifle more or less horizontal with the nipple facing down and smack the stock a couple of times. Supposed to shake powder into the nipple channel(?) I believe this works.

I am also using musket caps. Not #10 or #11. This may be a factor.

Jim

 

[roundball]

brpc,
.....I hate to go back to bp but if the delay continues I will.....

Was wondering what the reluctance is to go back to blackpowder...usually once someone trys a BP like Goex, the BP subs start gathering dust on the shelf...is it hard to come by where you live, or did you have a bad experience with it or something...just curious
::

 

[aragorn]

Great advice rebel, thanks a lot. I've got Lyman's BP Manual in front of me and can see that 50-60 gr 3f makes a lot of sense for target shooting, basically about 10 gr less for equivalent muzzle velocity than 2f. I've also found another thread on the forum devoted to this very question and saw that you'd contributed to that too - sorry if I've asked you to repeat yourself!
Generally I've had good ignition, filling the pan a third to half full and keeping it away from the hole to avoid the wick effect. But I've had problems after about ten rounds with fouling in the hole, so your advice about drilling is bang on (ho ho ho). I expect this would become a real issue with a long shooting session, but I haven't gone more than 15 or 20 rounds per session yet because its been so damn cold here since I bought the gun - regularly minus 15 C or more with windchill, and frostbitten fingers a real possibility. The things we do for fun.
I've got lots of other queries but really need to spend a few evenings researching the forum to make sure I'm not repeating others - but you seem to be a fund of wisdom so I hope you'll be replying to my naive questions again!

 

[Rebel]

Strider, anything i can do to help, just let me know. I don't know how much of a wealth of info i am, but i can sure try. :: Take care, and good shooting.

 

[fatman]

Roundball,
I can get plenty of bp, I was looking for something cleaner. I can tell you this, nothing ignites better than bp, and the smoke ,well I don't have to tell you.I guess that I will find the best load for hunting with the bp but when it comes to target I will use 777 until it's gone.Has anyone ever blended 777 with bp? I mean mixing a pound of each together real well and finding a load that way? I have heard of using pb at the nipple for fast ignition but what about a blend?

 

[aragorn]

Rebel, I just poked a 1/16" drill bit through my vent hole, so I guess Pedersoli must have cottoned on to the problem (funnily enough, someone else mentioned it to me after your comment, so maybe it was a problem with earlier Pedersolis which has now been rectified).