velocity question

[flaming canvas]

Being bereft of a chronograph, I will call on the cumulative wisdom that I know is out there.

I am shooting 40 gr 3f in a .36 with a 42 inch barrel and am more than a little curious how fast the little 65 grain pills are coming out the front end. I know they have to be moving pretty good by the 5/8 diameter crater they leave in my pig clanger at 35 yards. Even leaves a small bulge on the backside of the 3/8 mild steel.

Your best guesses please, gents.

 

[Stumpkiller]

1,820 fps at the muzzle, give or take 75 fps.

That's just a wild arse guess, by the way.

 

[d50russ]

I have a .36 that I shoot 15 grains in for 25 and 50yd and 35 grains for 100yd. Sights are dead on at those ranges.

The 15 grain load sounds like a .22 rimfire. Quite fun, low recoil, noise, fouling.

 

[roundball]

Per Lyman's BP Handbook, 1970's vintage:

.36cal
40grns 3F G-O powder (early Goex)
43" barrel
.360" ball
Caplock
1913 MV
576 ME

 

[Dphar]

Being bereft of a chronograph, I will call on the cumulative wisdom that I know is out there.

I am shooting 40 gr 3f in a .36 with a 42 inch barrel and am more than a little curious how fast the little 65 grain pills are coming out the front end. I know they have to be moving pretty good by the 5/8 diameter crater they leave in my pig clanger at 35 yards. Even leaves a small bulge on the backside of the 3/8 mild steel.

Your best guesses please, gents.

40 gives enough velocity to cut fox squirrels in 2.
25-30 is plenty for most uses.
15 will do good for rabbits etc with no serious damage.
Dan

 

[paulvallandigham]

An old Hodgdon reloading manual give 1767 Fps. for 40 grains of FFFg. powder and a .65 grain RB. It does not list the barrel length.

you don't need that much velocity for the kind of game you are likely to take with that caliber. 30 grains is more than enough. A RB is ballistically so poor a projectile, that it looses a lot of that velocity in the first 50 yards. After that, the energy of the ball is so low that it may not cleaning kill an animal, even if you can hit it. Consider a .36 a .50 yard max. varmint and squirrel caliber. If you want to hunt at further distances, go up to the .40 or .45 caliber rifles. I have known men who killed coyotes at 100 yards with a .40 caliber rifle. And the .45 is used to kill deer sized animals.

 

[flaming canvas]

40 grains is grouping better off the bench than the lighter charges, 25 or 30 grains. They didn't quite make minute of squirrel.

I didn't try 15, but that seems awfully light, even for tree rats.

 

[Dphar]

40 grains is grouping better off the bench than the lighter charges, 25 or 30 grains. They didn't quite make minute of squirrel.

I didn't try 15, but that seems awfully light, even for tree rats.

Might try different patch lubes and such. It *should* shoot with less powder. But its up to the rifle.

Dan

 

[paulvallandigham]

YOu haven't told us the thickness of the patch, the lube you use, whether you use an OP wad, how you lube the barrel, and other details that would help us tell you why the gun is not shooting with the lighter charges. I suspect the patch you are using is too thin. With the higher powder charge, the ball is upsetting enough to produce a seal. With the lighter charges, it isn't and the patches are being being blown by blow by gases, or are being burned. Check the fired patches. They will diagnose the problems.

I don't know of any reason why YOUR gun should require such a heavy powder charge to shoot well. Most do just fine with 30 grains of FFFg powder. How are you cleaning the barrel, and what are you using to clean it?

 

[Herb]

Lyman's Black Powder Handbook and Loading Manual, 2nd edition, lists loads for a .36, 28" barrel and 1-48" twist. With a .350 roundball and 40 grains of Goex 3F, they show 1894 fps muzzle velocity. Their maximum load shown is 70 grains at 2211 fps. And 70 grains of Goex 2F gives 2177. I built a Samuel Fairies .36 Ohio flintlock, but only got to shoot it about two dozen times to regulate the sights before it was bought out of my hands. Never did get to chronograph it nor any other .36.

You have a 42" barrel, but a longer barrel may actually give less velocity.

 

[Blizzard of '93]

I guess that the Redcoats that got shot with .36's Andy Jackson's men carried to New Orleans would tell ya it is shooting plenty fast enough.

 

[Trench]

I have similar results with my Blue Ridge .36. I've been using .018 pillow ticking lubed with Bore Butter. I get half-inch groups at 25 yds with 40gr FFFg. Anything less and the group opens up two inches.
I haven't started playing around with combinations yet, but I'll start this spring to see if I can get an improvement with less of a charge.