Rice-62 cal round radius rifling-loads

[dbutch]

week 3 of 12 wait on ordered Rice 62 cal 31 inch round radius rifled barrel.--looking for pet Roundball hunting loads for this barrel..Will be used for whitetails with Elk in it's future..Thanks in advance...Dan

 

[gmww]

I'm using Lee's RB mold which is .60. I'm using it with .18 patch for a tight fit. I've also used .61 from Lyman's RB's a buddy let me have. It was with .10 patch both did well. Unfortunately, I'm cheap and ordered the $15.00 lee mold over the $70 Lyman mold.

 

[dbutch]

what type and how much powder? thanks..Dan

 

[gmww]

I started with 80 grns with the .61 and it held a pretty good group. But I ran out of RB's and cast the .60 ones. The group that worked with the .60 was 65 grns. I'm talking Pyrodex RS BTW. I like black but it's become very scarce.

The 65 grns passed through a whitetail doe standing 35 yards away quartering.

 

[Dphar]

week 3 of 12 wait on ordered Rice 62 cal 31 inch round radius rifled barrel.--looking for pet Roundball hunting loads for this barrel..Will be used for whitetails with Elk in it's future..Thanks in advance...Dan

In the west you will want 110-120 grains of FF or a little more. I shoot 150 in my 16 bore rifle (.662 ball) produces 1650 fps.
If you can get 1600+ fps then sight it on at 120 yards for elk hunting. This will allow a center hold from 0 to 130 yards on elk, maybe even deer.
In the east where the ranges are short 80 grains is likely enough.
I shoot Swiss and unless over loaded it fouls far less than anything else and gives better velocity for charge weight. The 62 will likely shoot more than 120 but recoil will be a factor with most American style stock designs.

Dan

 

[dbutch]

Dan..what was the difference using Swiss between 2 f and 3f in your loads? Less fouling? ease of second loading ? do you attribute less fowling to the Swiss powder or grain size? Just wondering what type of impression does the 62 cal rb leave on an elk at 130 yards?...and 1600 fps is what I should be shooting for ? ..Thank you for sharing your loads....Dan

 

[dbutch]

Thank you for your load info I will start at 80 gr. but will be using BP..I find it easiest to mail order it to my door.

 

[BillinOregon]

Dan: Sure would admire to see a photo of your 16-bore rifle.

 

[texcl]

I always used a 80-90grn. charge of 3f in my .62's for hunting, but I set my shots up to within 50 yards. With 80grns. you will get a pass through every time, if I were going to shoot at over 100yards I'd definetly use at least 120grn. charge of 2f to flatten things out abit, but you know the .62 is not going to shoot flat until you get up into the mega charge range, and I dislike all that recoil.

 

[Dphar]

Dan..what was the difference using Swiss between 2 f and 3f in your loads? Less fouling? ease of second loading ? do you attribute less fowling to the Swiss powder or grain size? Just wondering what type of impression does the 62 cal rb leave on an elk at 130 yards?...and 1600 fps is what I should be shooting for ? ..Thank you for sharing your loads....Dan

1600 for larger ball sizes will give the necessary trajectory. 50-54 needs 1700-1750.
There is no lack of killing power if the shot is placed right. A friend killed a deer last year at 120 with 45 rb. I have killed deer to 140 with
Swiss fouls less unless the load is too heavy and produces the hard fouling. When the flame temperature of any blackpowder reaches a certain point the fouling is converted to a much harder substance and it adheres to the bore. Swiss is a hotter powder and will reach this sooner than some powders which may not get there at all. This is the reason that in some instances fff granulation will produce harder fouling than FF.
A friend just did some shooting with Swiss in a 54 he just bought and found that once the load was dropped low enough, under 100 grains, that the fouling for the most part disappears at the muzzle altogether. He uses 1.5f Swiss in many rifles down to at least 45 caliber.

The finer grades will make more velocity but may or may not shoot as well. But Swiss will produce 100-150 fps more per charge weight than the run of the mill GOEX and is also faster than Schuetzen or Wano.
My standard load of the 54 was 100 gr of FFFg Goex for years. When Swiss came on the scene I reduced the charge weight to 90 and actually gained some velocity 50 fps or so. It also loads easier.

Swiss is a long milled, hard pressed, well polished powder as were the better powders of the 19th century by C&H, Laflin & Rand etc. It requires no graphite to shine. Graphite, while carbon, is not consumed in the burning process since it burns at a much higher temp. As a result the graphite simply adds to the fouling.
BP making is a very much more complex than some might think and seemingly minor differences in ingredients or process can produce significantly different results.

Dan

 

[gmww]

Thank you for your load info I will start at 80 gr. but will be using BP..I find it easiest to mail order it to my door.

Oh yes if you can go black stick with it. 80 grns would be a great place to be. Unfortunately for my rifle 65 is where I got a good group with Pyrodex. Fortunately, I was only hunting whitetail and my shots in this area is under 50 yards with 25-30 being the average.

 

[dbutch]

Dan..You make some great points on the plus side for Swiss..I thank you for the knowlagde shared..looks like I'll be pulling the chrono out and testing some swiss. Thank you...Dan

 

[dbutch]

Texcl.. Thanks for the load data and the real world round ball load history..I hunt game and shoot paper to prepare only.I have used comical's in the past and will be using round ball from here forward. With my eye sight (getting new prescription this week) and primitive sights I'll beholding around 75 yards. My thought is to hit them with a large lead ball for effect! Thank you ..Dan

 

[jmac]

Dan,
You always give excellent info with out seeming superior, thanks :applause: .

How does Swiss perform in a Flint Lock? Does it have ignition problems? I've always used FFF Goex with FFFF Goex for prime and have no experience with Swiss powders.

John

 

[dbutch]

Barrel arrived from Rice- 12 weeks right on time!....32" with breach plug installed. slugged barrel... lands .615... groves .638 round radius 1 -66..testing patches with .600 round ball 40 cotton duct fits perfect. just a whack on the short starter... duct measures .024. now off to the machine shop for a patent breach and T/C flint vent liner-under lugs sights under rib and ramrod pipes...hope to have it shooting by Christmas.