The Jeager Speaks again.

[Rat]

The poor Jeager has been sitting, loaded, since last November. Been dying to try out my wax biscuits in it. So...I did. She was loaded last year with two wonder wads under the ball, it did indeed positively weaken the powder charge. first shot went low and left. I think it would have still been on the deer, bear or Elk, but usually it goes right where it should. And it missed the plate. Not by much, but I'd call that a miss for sure.

I think this is the longest I've left it loaded. Recoil was noticeably light. When I shot it the second time with a fresh charge, recoil was much heavier and normal. And, dead center of the paper plate at 80 yards. The load had absolutely "gone soft".

Can't say the biscuits made a difference, but I'm pretty sure pure bee's wax will not contaminate the powder, so I will be using them in the Jeager from now on. They were very easy to load with my coned muzzle. However, going back to my baseline load, patched .600" ball, wonder lube, 40 grains of Goex 1fg under 70 grains of 2f Swiss, but with the wax wad over the powder, and a wonder wad between the wax wad and the ball, I got very good accuracy. 3-4" group in center of plate, and almost no vertical dispersion. Forgot to black my front sight (silver) and I tend to throw shots horizontally with anything I shoot. Accuracy had dropped off last year when I last tried some different lubes.I feel much better now.

Okay, next shooting session will be with Bessie, will try some wax biscuits with her, and my chewed .690" balls which were showing great promise last time I was shooting her.

 

[Rifleman1776]

That's an interesting discourse that I don't believe proves anything. Your load is, to say the least, strange. Why the duplex and why the wads is a puzzlement, indeed. A straight charge of one kind of bp and a patched round ball in a clean barrel can set centuries and not go bad. Yer witches brew of different powders, wax, wads, etc. makes a strange combo. Wat are you needing to kill with that cannon?

 

[Zonie]

Rat: Your post was confusing. Are you using a .600 diameter or a .690 diameter ball? That's a lot of difference in size.

 

[jbwilliams3]

Two types of powder in one load? I've heard of people doing that to get rid of Pyrodex, but with blackpowder? Seems strange.

 

[Col. Batguano]

Swiss will have a hotter, faster, more powerful burn rate than Goex. It's sort of like having a multi-stage rocket. You want the most power at the beginning, when lift off weights are the highest. You don't need as much later on after the lower stages separate.

With a gun I would think you would want the slower burning powder on the bottom, in order to keep pressures down, and you have the most barrel left in which to burn it. Later on, with less barrel left, you would want faster powder so it gets burned in the more limited space that is left.

 

[Britsmoothy]

Swiss will have a hotter, faster, more powerful burn rate than Goex. It's sort of like having a multi-stage rocket. You want the most power at the beginning, when lift off weights are the highest. You don't need as much later on after the lower stages separate.

With a gun I would think you would want the slower burning powder on the bottom, in order to keep pressures down, and you have the most barrel left in which to burn it. Later on, with less barrel left, you would want faster powder so it gets burned in the more limited space that is left.

Yeah...like your gonna tell the difference right

 

[Rat]

Wow...I have totally confused the people!

Z, I mentioned that my next shooting session would be with my Brown Bess, "Bessie", which would be with the .690" ball. The Jeager is indeed a .62, which has a tight bore. (Colerain Barrel) The .600" ball is a good tight fit. I didn't mean my next shooting session with the Jeager, but I see the confusion.

The reason I use a duplex load, which I only use when I load the gun at the beginning of hunting season, is not for any reason pertaining to rate of burn, or anything like that, but rather because the 1fg lays/packs up against the touch hole, and stays put. The 2fg I use for the bulk of the charge, if I use it alone, will once in a while tend to dribble out the touch hole, from the main charge. Indeed Brit, I can't actually tell a difference between having some 1fg under the Swiss, or any other powder charge. That is not the reason

I have been in the field, and looked in my pan to find way more powder in it, then it was primed with. My problem with that is, that would indicate to me that there is then a empty "pocket" in the main charge, next to the touch hole, and that can't be good for ignition. It's never caused me a miss-fire, but still....I don't like it.

The other reason is that it "seems" that I get faster ignition with 1fg against the touch hole. Maybe it does not, but it makes me feel better psychologically. I did state clearly, that the 1fg rests under the main charge of 2fg, and not visa-versa. And again, I don't do it for any purpose of burn rate, I just like the way the 1fg packs up against the inside of the touch hole. It does not dribble out. I don't have an unusually large touch hole either, it is a "White Lightning" liner.

Now, when I'm in the field, and I fire a shot at game, I don't reload with the duplex load. I tear open a paper cartridge of Swiss 2fg, pour her down, ram in a patched ball from the loading block, prime and ready to go, for a second, close up shot if needed.

On the two wads, one wax and one wonder wad, I have found that, or I believe that the wax wad will act as a barrier between the wonder wad and lubed patch and ball, keeping the powder dry. Two wads keep my patches from burning (The difference being from burnt/torn to use again fresh) with my heavy charge. I have found that wonder wads do absolutely contaminate the powder, and I leave my rifle loaded for long periods of time.

Rifleman, as I mention quite frequently, I hunt in a grizzly recovery area, and that is why I use a "cannon" load. (which I really don't find that excessive) I don't actually "expect" to ever have a confrontation with an angry grizz, but a heavy load does keep me feeling warm and fuzzy, in case the unexpected ever happens. I've shot two deer with that load, and damage is really no different than with a light load. This area I hunt is also pretty remote, and if I shoot something late in the day, I might have to spend the night with it. In that case, sleeping with a bloody gut-pile, in grizz country, again, the heavy load would allow me to sleep better, if I slept at all. And, I was not trying to prove anything, just reporting the results I got with that load combination. ?

Okay, hope that clears things up, and that I am only half as insane as you might think I am.

 

[Britsmoothy]

That must be a huge flash hole brother!
My Bess had a huge hole so I put a liner in there and it's way more potent for it.

 

[Rat]

No, not huge, standard Chambers vent liner. 2f Swiss, which to my eye is almost the same granulation as 3f Goex, will dribble out, once in a great while. But not always. And of course I could pack it back in there, or pack it with prime, but I just like how 1fg packs up right against the hole, and stays put. Again, I think ignition is faster....but that's just me.

 

[hanshi]

Your post was a little confusing to me, too. On occasion I get a few "fines", from the 3F I normally use, dribbling into the pan but only barely noticeable. A vent hole of 1/16" works for all my guns without any "filling up" of the pan. The idea of using two powders in a duplex load strikes me as puzzling. Now, I don't use Swiss, just mostly Goex, and have never had problems with just 1 powder in the bore.

 

[Loyalist Dave]

The idea of using two powders in a duplex load strikes me as puzzling.

You sort of "default" with it when using "reenactment" grade powder, which is simply not well controlled during screening. It goes bang, and is a lot less expensive especially when buying a large lot for a group, the savings add up. However it can vary quite a bit on muzzle velocity, which at 50 yards or less won't matter to the deer, and when plinking at the range, also doesn't matter. When serious about a score or going out closer to 100 yards, an unaccustomed drop of MV might make an undesired difference. So I simply use one size that's well controlled, and leave "duplex" loads either on purpose or defaulted to blanks.

LD