tnlonghunter
40 Cal.
I finally got a chance to get out and shoot my 1858 Remmy today. It was the first time I've shot it since February (I think). If you notice that I'm in Michigan, that means the last time I shot it, it was pretty cold (around 35 degrees). Today was about 70 degrees, 95% humidity (since it had rained about 2 hours earlier).
I loaded with 25 gr. 3Fg, 3/16 felt wad lubed with Crisco, and .454 rb. Primers were RWS 1075. Now, the last time I shot that pistol, the recoil and report were quite noticeable. Not a problem or difficult to control - just very noticeable. However, this time it was almost like I had loaded with a half charge. In fact, the first shot, I thought it hadn't gone off. Not much recoil or noise.
I should mention I was on a woods walk also shooting my flinter. I'd loaded two cylinders, then waited to cap until on the firing position. That meant the adjustable measure I used was 500 yards away back at the prep area. There was already smoke in the air from my rifle, and I couldn't tell right away if smoke was from the pistol or rifle. So, I shot another with the same result.
Turns out it fired just fine, and I did quite well hitting small targets at 5-10 yards. But the whole time, I just felt like it wasn't shooting as powerfully as I remembered. I thought maybe I had just set the adjustable measure to 15 grains instead of 25 (wrong side of the 20 gr. mark). I shot all 12 shots and headed back, only to find that I did set the measure in the right place.
So here's my question. Is there any reason to believe that increased humidity and temperature (as well as more lube on my wads) would make the powder less effective? I mean, this felt like the difference between shooting a .38 special and a .22lr (maybe not that different, but close). Thoughts?
I loaded with 25 gr. 3Fg, 3/16 felt wad lubed with Crisco, and .454 rb. Primers were RWS 1075. Now, the last time I shot that pistol, the recoil and report were quite noticeable. Not a problem or difficult to control - just very noticeable. However, this time it was almost like I had loaded with a half charge. In fact, the first shot, I thought it hadn't gone off. Not much recoil or noise.
I should mention I was on a woods walk also shooting my flinter. I'd loaded two cylinders, then waited to cap until on the firing position. That meant the adjustable measure I used was 500 yards away back at the prep area. There was already smoke in the air from my rifle, and I couldn't tell right away if smoke was from the pistol or rifle. So, I shot another with the same result.
Turns out it fired just fine, and I did quite well hitting small targets at 5-10 yards. But the whole time, I just felt like it wasn't shooting as powerfully as I remembered. I thought maybe I had just set the adjustable measure to 15 grains instead of 25 (wrong side of the 20 gr. mark). I shot all 12 shots and headed back, only to find that I did set the measure in the right place.
So here's my question. Is there any reason to believe that increased humidity and temperature (as well as more lube on my wads) would make the powder less effective? I mean, this felt like the difference between shooting a .38 special and a .22lr (maybe not that different, but close). Thoughts?
