Powder?

[old pard]

What type of powder are yall useing in your .62 smoothbores 3f or 2f and why?

 

[redneck]

i have used 3f both charge and primimg. cut back 10 per cent from 2f lited charge

 

[Grandpa Ron]

The short story is 3f burns cleaner, uses less powder, has higher breach pressure and more velocity than 2f. Also some use it in the pan to eliminate the need for 4f.

The longer story is that some brands of 2f burn cleaner than other brands of 3f, the recoil jolt from 2f is different from 3f, and more importantly some guns will shoot a more consistent group with 2f.

My 12 ga. likes 2f under a 1 oz. load of shot. The jury is still out my 28 ga. with patched round ball; 3f or 2f, it does not seem to care but I am still tweaking the load.

With modern steel barrels there is less concern about breach pressures but the old rule of thumb switched from 3f to 2f at about 45 or 50 cal. or larger.

I am sure other can give you details on their results with both types.

 

[hanshi]

I use 3F for everything from .32 to .62 and prime with 4F. I sometimes do use 2F for very specific reasons.

 

[satwel]

I use 2F in my 20 ga trade gun. Used 3F when I first started shooting it then decided to experiment with 2F and never went back.

 

[old pard]

when treewing a load how much do yall drop or gain with each testing?

 

[Many Klatch]

I go up or down 5 grains at a time. Some guns like two or three different charges. My .54 rifle shoots to the same point of aim at 25 yards with 55 and 75 grains of 3F so I only shoot 55 grains at close targets.

I believe that it takes about a year of regular shooting before you can really learn what load a front stuffer shoots best with.

Many Klatch

 

[Pete G]

I agree. It takes about a year of shooting, cleaning and adjusting before a gun truly becomes yours.

I use 2F because that is closer to the traditional rifle powder. 3F was traditionally considered pistol powder.

 

[old pard]

Thanks guys

 

[Rifleman1776]

I orginally tried 1 1/2 Fg. Swiss only because I had it. Ignition was near impossible. :cursing:
Now use 3Fg Schuetzen almost exclusively although I can't tell difference in performance between it and 2 Fg.

 

[Dave K]

I have both powders, so I let the gun choose. As a whole though, I seem to get better patterns with 2F over 3F in a shotgun. I have both 2F and 3F in Goex, Swiss and Schuetzen.

 

[Flash Pan Dan]

I agree with Dave K, my patterns with shot are much more even and consistent with 2Fg than with 3Fg. I have a load for 2Fg and 3Fg for shooting PRB in my smoothbores just in case I am wingshooting and have need of to use a PRB I use my 2Fg load. If I’m going to go shoot a lot of PRB than I use the 3Fg load.

 

[majg1234]

2f seems to pattern better in my 12 and 20ga smoothys My 56 smoothy doesn't seem to care

 

[Dphar]

I orginally tried 1 1/2 Fg. Swiss only because I had it. Ignition was near impossible. :cursing:
Now use 3Fg Schuetzen almost exclusively although I can't tell difference in performance between it and 2 Fg.

If 1.5F will not light there is a problem with the gun.
Its very little different than FF.

Dan

 

[Grandpa Ron]

My 28 ga. in not fussy about 2f or 3f, but at this point it seems that 2f has a slight edge. I am running a fairly heavy load of 85 grs for 50 yards off hand. I shoot 60 grains at 25 yards. I have tried lighter loads at 50 yards but at this point the gun seems to prefer the stouter loads and I prefer the recoil from the 2F at these loads.

As for tweaking the load, I super glued a rear sight on then posted a six bull target at 25 yards. I shot one shot at each bull of 55, 60, 65, 70, 75 and 80 grs. from a bench rest. Then I repeated the process for five shots. Beyond 60 or 65 grains there was not much improvement in group size.
I removed the rear sight and switched to off hand and have been working on hold and sight picture out to 50 yards. It is still work in progress.

 

[buzz]

I just get a nicer patern with 2f and 1f in my bess with shot

 

[Carl Fowler III]

Glad I caught this thread cause I was thinking of going to 2f from 3f for my .56 cal S.B., I would much rather keep my powder supply simple by using only 3f for all my ML shoot'n....thank you all! :thumbsup:

 

[Rifleman1776]

I orginally tried 1 1/2 Fg. Swiss only because I had it. Ignition was near impossible. :cursing:
Now use 3Fg Schuetzen almost exclusively although I can't tell difference in performance between it and 2 Fg.

If 1.5F will not light there is a problem with the gun.
Its very little different than FF.

Dan

In size and color it is quite different than 2Fg Swiss. The no ignition thing is a puzzlement. With 2 or 3Fg ignition is excellent. With the 1 1/2Fg I might as well be using sand.

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