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round balls don't do well

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I’m gonna go out on a limb here and maybe make a few people upset. Many people that tell you that they shoot 1 inch groups at 100 yards with a muzzleloader are lying. I’ve been shooting matches for 20+ years. Even the best shooters have a great day when all holes are in the black on an NRA target at 100 yards. I can nail 1 inch or maybe clover leaf rounds at 50 most days but I’ve never gotten better than a four inch group at 100 yards. Some matches I’ll have a phenomenal 100 yard target. The next match I’ll be all over the place. That’s with numerous rifles. Wind, sun, humidity, rain. All those affect the outcome. Sometimes we assume our loads just aren’t right and keep experimenting to no success. Sometimes it’s just that we aren’t that good, our sights aren’t up to par, the sun is shining in the wrong direction and let us not forget the wind. The range where I shoot matches is always windy. My eyes aren’t the best either using iron sights. Focus on getting better groups at 50 before you even consider shooting at 100. If your sights hinder you at 50 then they are gonna kill ya at 100. Keep practicing and working on those loads. Let a better shooter have a go with your rifle at 50 also. See what those results are. Sometimes it’s just not the rifle or the load. Sometimes we just have a bad day or aren’t as great of a shooter as those folks claiming scoped bolt action accuracy at 100 with an iron sighted muzzleloader. Do those phenomenal 10x 100 yard 1inch targets exist? Yes. Can they be duplicated on a regular basis? Probably not.
This!!
 
I have had the same experiences as you. All the .50 cal. rifles with 1:48 twist rifling that I have shot all performed best with 60 grains of powder when using a round ball. As soon as I started increasing the charge accuracy started to wain. Why some people say they can shoot 90 plus grains may be their idea of accuracy isn't as tight as some others will accept?
There's a reason Thompson Center never sold TC roundballs for the Hawkens. They only sold Tc maxi balls for the Hawken rifles.
 
Lol that's a soft ball sized group?? You're nuts! Those are 3 .570" round balls. 2 of which are touching.

I'll have to search for pics, but I'm not worried buddy. I know what my rifles do 😘
If you had done that on a clean target you might have some credibility. Who put the other holes in the target?
 
200 yards. First shot, clean bore, the lowest shot. Swabbed between each shot with plain water. 90gr 3fg, .030 patches, .530 round balls. NRA Whittington Center.

Red bullseye is 4" diameter for size comparison.
 

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200 yards. First shot, clean bore, the lowest shot. Swabbed between each shot with plain water. 90gr 3fg, .030 patches, .530 round balls. NRA Whittington Center.

Red bullseye is 4" diameter for size comparison.
I am not a troll. I made a simple answer to a post and pretty much get called a liar for what I posted. If your gun shoots well with heavy charges, your a lucky man. Most fast twist barrels don't do well with heavy charges. Call any barrel maker in the country and ask the. What they would recommend for a twist to shoot roundballs.
 
200 yards. First shot, clean bore, the lowest shot. Swabbed between each shot with plain water. 90gr 3fg, .030 patches, .530 round balls. NRA Whittington Center.

Red bullseye is 4" diameter for size comparison.
Who put all those shots below the target? I see 2 holes in the target. Have a nice day.
 
Who put all those shots below the target? I see 2 holes in the target. Have a nice day.
In the red and orange, that's my nephew with his .270 sighting in for a hunt.

My shots, 4 total, are 36" below in the white.

Point of aim at the very top of the black and letting them down down into the clean white background.

You're not very good at judging bullet hole sizes it seems. Especially on my 58cal video.
 
In the red and orange, that's my nephew with his .270 sighting in for a hunt.

My shots, 4 total, are 36" below in the white.

Point of aim at the very top of the black and letting them down down into the clean white background.

You're not very good at judging bullet hole sizes it seems. Especially on my 58cal video.
That's a basketball size group deadeye.
 
He states that the barrels had a fast twist. Faster than what they would use for patched roundballs. Thank you.
Reading comprehension not your strong point I see. Have somebody read and explain the meaning to you.

"The twist of the rifling is usually fast, faster than what we use for batched round balls, usually between 1 turn in 30 to 40 inches."

I was going to recommend that you read Ned Roberts' book, but I see that may be a waste of time.
 
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