Sighting in?

[Mtman725]

So today is a beautiful winter day here, cold but no wind, out to the range early 8:30 warned up a bit, this is the second CVA MT rifle 50 that I call Frank, he was a bit high and right at the start, the sheet patches look go after shooting and he's hit about 2" high at 50 yds. What do you use as a sight in? Dead on at 50, I went with a bit high figuring that at 100 they would drop in,it 65 grs. of FFG, unknown brand of caps, My moose milk mix for lube, all worked well no miss fire's or hang fires. I don't think one could ask for better, input welcome.

 

[Celt5494]

Very nice shootin there!!

 

[dave951]

Before answering your question, what sight picture are you using? 6oclock? What are you planning to do with "Frank"?

 

[Mtman725]

Center hold, hunting.

 

[dave951]

Center hold, hunting.

I'd be sure of the windage. Center hold and 2in high impact at 50yd will allow you to center hold out to 75yd and a tad high at 100yd and be confident of a solid hit.

 

[Mtman725]

Yes needs to go a bit to the right, how much does cross wind matter ? I've been told it FX a lot on round balls, is this true?

 

[dave951]

Yes needs to go a bit to the right, how much does cross wind matter ? I've been told it FX a lot on round balls, is this true?

Yup, round ball are the least efficient projectile shape and are easily affected by cross wind. Weight, velocity, and caliber all figure in, so best to practice once you get the sights set in calm conditions.

 

[Mtman725]

I pulled 5 balls out of the 400 or so I was bestowed they ran 174.6-178.4 is this normal? And do you load by volume or weight, just a simple brass adjustable,is all I am using, and loading out of the bag. Still slow, missed a powder charge this am, and lost a swab patch, all easily fixed. Just tiring to get my mechanics down.

 

[nchawkeye]

Yep, I sight my deer rifle in 2 inches high at 50, dead on at 75, a couple of inches low at 100...

 

[dave951]

I pulled 5 balls out of the 400 or so I was bestowed they ran 174.6-178.4 is this normal? And do you load by volume or weight, just a simple brass adjustable,is all I am using, and loading out of the bag. Still slow, missed a powder charge this am, and lost a swab patch, all easily fixed. Just tiring to get my mechanics down.

Loading volume v weight, that's a "loaded" subject. I'm a competition shooter. When I'm developing loads, I weigh each and every charge. Once the "best" is found, I'll set the powder measure and start making my match ammo. I use a Lyman 55 and a Lee to make ammo. I'll check every 10th round to see if it's in an acceptable tolerance.

Now the dirty little secret. ALL powder is measured by weight and dispensed by volume and that includes the new stuff for suppository guns. Your handy powder measure is "marked" in gr, but it's dispensing in volume. Mike Beliveau did a Utoob video on this very subject about a week back and he's spot on.

 

[Grenadier1758]

The weight markings on your adjustable powder measure are calibrated to represent the weight of 2fg black powder by volume. My adjustable measures will throw a weight of 2fg black powder very close to the markings on my measure.

The substitutes are less dense than black powder. They are meant to be used on an equal volume basis to black powder. All substitute loadings are to be measured by volume.

 

[oldwood]

Good idea to check the actual wt. of powder your measure is throwing. I collected 6 old adjustable powder measures from flea markets , I checked each one with a powder scale . Out of 6 , two were 5 + gr.off. Lets say a friend told you to try a certain load. You have problems with accuracy and try to adjust the powder volume using the register marks on the existing adjustable measure. Frustration.....oldwood

 

[Grenadier1758]

@oldwood, many years ago, I measured the black powder charges thrown by all my adjustable powder measures on a weight scale. All were slightly different. Most were within 2 grains and one was 8 grains off.

The table on the following link is the results of my 3fg measurements.

Weight of powder | Page 3 | The Muzzleloading Forum

The lesson learned was for consistent shooting, once a load is developed always use the same measure. The volume to weight relationship for black powder is very good. Substitutes weigh considerably less than real black powder, so use a volume measure only when shooting with a substitute powder.

 

[Widows Son]

This is a convenient thread to latch onto. This morning I was checking my point of aim with my .45 round ball. 50 grains of fffg.
I prefer to centre hold on everything but at 50 metres my centre hold was hitting about 4 inches high. In order to keep the hits in the black I had to use a 6’oclock hold (or pumpkin on a post) just under the 7.
I understand that sight-in as to impact an inch or so high at 50m (using a centre hold) will equate to dead-on or just a bit low at 100. Is this correct?

Thanks

 

[Mtman725]

WS yes that's what I did as well. But I hold center.

 

[Artificer]

Widows Son

Hello Brother,

What nchawkeye posted earlier is a good general rule of thumb, I.E.

Yep, I sight my deer rifle in 2 inches high at 50, dead on at 75, a couple of inches low at 100...

Of course, that being a general rule of thumb, it would be wise to confirm it for your rifle and load at 75 and 100 yards using the same hold as you did at 50 yards for the further distances.

Fraternally yours,
Gus

 

[Mtman725]

Ya always have to shoot it to make sure.

 

[Headhunter]

I, like you, sight in 2" high at 50. That seems to work really well for hunting. I don't know if it's just me or what, but when hunting, I like to hold just below where I want to hit. Instead of "hold over" at 100 yards, I favor the front sight higher than normal, this will drop that ball right in there. Give it a try.

HH

 

[dave951]

Those figures might work, but that depends on your velocity. Try it to confirm it before going into the woods and missing or worse, wounding an animal.

 

[Widows Son]

Thank you for the help.
I meant to say that I prefer to centre hold instead of 6’oclock. When I centre hold at the moment I hit 4” high at 50 metres.
So I should need to file down my front sight until it hits a couple inches high on instead of the 4” it currently is.