Working up a load

[Pogo57]

I've been handloading for over 30 years for smokeless firearms but new to all of this.

What's the best way to work up a good load for a percussion rifle?

 

[Zonie]

For a starting place the general guidelines suggest that bores smaller than .50 caliber should use 3Fg powder while bores .50 caliber or larger should use 2Fg powder.

The amount of powder for starting to see how well the gun will shoot is the caliber X 100 so, in the case of a .50 caliber it would be 50 grains of 2Fg powder.

Most folks find that shooting a 5 shot group and then increasing the powder volume by 5 grain increments, shooting 5 shot groups at each stage gives them a good idea of the best load.

While doing all of this shooting, be sure to collect the spent patches. As long as they don't have rips or tares and are not burned thru where the ball meets the bore then keep on going with the powder increases.

Each gun is different and some powder loads work noticeably better than others.

Many find that a load of about 70 grains in a .50 and 60 grains in a .45 gives very good accuracy.

Any minute now someone will jump in and say that the best powder granulation to use in anything less than a .62 is 3Fg powder.
It usually gives less fouling but it does develop higher breech pressures.
These higher pressures have led most of us to believe that the 3Fg powder is safe to use but if your using it you should reduce the loads about 10 percent below what the 2Fg load is.

Black powder is much more forgiving than any smokeless powder so don't worry about 1 or 2 grain differences. Using a volumetric powder measure is recommended and the slight variation usually will not effect the groups.

If your into precision shooting then worry about the 1 grain variation but for now just have fun.

 

[ghostdncr]

One old method I've heard from multiple sources is to begin at bore size. That is 45 grains of powder for a .45 caliber rifle, 54 grains for a .54, and so on.

Keep increasing the charge by a few grains until the shot begins to "crack" and that will indicate your ball is breaking the sound barrier.

I've always found my best groups backed down off that supersonic charge a bit.

 

[paulvallandigham]

I will catch it from some people here, but you can start out with a caliber amount of powder, either FFg or FFFg powder. Only your gun can tell you what it likes by way of powder. I have had large bore guns prefer using FFFg, and I have had small bore guns prefer using FFg. It really depends on the gun.

It will help if you buy Dutch Schoultz Black Powder Accuracy System. For $15.00, he will teach you how to work up a load for any gun, and how to " read " the spent patches.
http://www.blackpowderrifleaccuracy.com/

In addition, you need to know that the Maximum Efficient load of powder your barrel will burn is 11.5 grains of powder per cubic inch of bore. You can put more powder in the barrel, but it will begin burning outside the muzzle of the gun. You can get more velocity with more powder, but its hard on the action, and stock, the barrel harmonics make it more difficult to find a load that will shoot consistently well with the greater charges of powder, and its harder to NOT burn your patches with heavy powder charges. I won't mention the increased recoil you have to deal with.

You have to deal with the sound barrier, much more so than when shooting modern bullets in cartridge guns. If shooting a PRB, it usually doesn't make much sense to get it leaving the muzzle at much over the Speed of sound( 1135-1150 fps) because the ball loses about 25% of its velocity in the first 50 yards.( 40% in the first 100 yds.)

Match shooters, shooting short matches, will either use a very small bore gun and fire a small caliber ball at near 2,000 fps., to reach the target before it drops down into the transonic zone, Or they use a large caliber ball and keep the velocity close to but under the Sound Barrier. Those are not generally concerns for modern smokeless powder reloaders.

See if you can pick up a copy of the Lyman Black Powder Manual, Second Edition. It contains a lot of loading data that is missing from the first edition. It should prove invaluable to you.

If and when you decide on a particular caliber, we can give you more detailed advice on load development for that gun and caliber. :thumbsup:

 

[longcruise]

3f or 2f, take your choice. I believe in starting a bit lower than some of the posts here suggest. I like to start at about 30 grains for a .45, 40 grains for a .50 and .50 grains for a .54.

Like Zonie says, watch your patch condition. If they are not holding up, you are just wasting powder until you resolve the problem.

I like to shoot ten shot groups with 10 grain powder increases and once the accuracy point is found try shooting a few more groups five grains to each side of the accuracy load.

 

[richl]

Pogo, I was in the same boat as you: modern firearms and handloading for thirty years.

Now that I have finally seen the light, I am really enjoying black powder, and I spent the $15 on Dutch Schoultz's booklets, and there is a TON of useful info. (it's a steal at $15)

I have not digested all of it, but it sure got me on the right path.

Honestly, with that system, and this website and these helpful guys, it's all you will need.

Good luck,
Rich

 

[Pogo57]

It's a Traditions Kentucky Rifle .50 cal with 33" 1:66" twist barrel.

 

[longcruise]

It's a Traditions Kentucky Rifle .50 cal with 33" 1:66" twist barrel.

You should have no problem arriving at a good load for that rifle. If you plan to hunt big game with it you might want to stay in the 70 grains or more range.

My own view on it is that a hunting load needs to have *adequate* accuracy and power for the job, whereas the most accurate load might not be adequate power wise.

 

[Tom Compton]

My preference for a 1:66 twist .50 cal is .495 ball, .015 patch cut at the muzzle over 60-90 gr FFg.

TC

 

[Pogo57]

So, should I find the most accurate load with the current ball using one type of patch and then start playing with patches to see if it improves?

Does the patch lube used effect accuracy?

Thanks for all the help!

 

[Zonie]

IMO, most roundball shooting guns like fairly tight patches, the blue/white or red/white cotton pillow "ticking" being very popular.

Of course you can use any other thickness, as you desire as long as it is made from pure cotton or linen. Under no circumstances should you use any cloth with modern man made synthetics like nylon, rayon, polyester etc. as those materials will melt from the heat of combustion.

That said, I would only change one thing at a time.
If the patches are not showing signs of burn thru I would not change their material or thickness until I had found the best powder load.

As with all experiments it is best to change only one variable at a time to find its effects.

Once a good powder load is found then sure, go ahead and change the patch material/thickness and see what happens. It may improve things.

The ball size and patch lubes are also variables that can have an effect so, sure, try changing them.

If I were to guess at the things that will change accuracy in their order of importance I think I would list them as follows, starting with the biggest and ending with the least effect:
Powder charge (pretty obvious)
Powder type (real black powder vs synthetic BP)
Powder granulation (fast vs slow burning)
Brand of Percussion Cap (RWS, CCI, Remington, ???)
Ball size
Patch thickness
Patch lube

 

[Pogo57]

Thanks Zonie. That list is a big help.

 

[paulvallandigham]

Pogo: If you will buy Dutch Schoultz BP Accuracy System, it will answer all these questions, and more. More important, he gives you pictures of targets shot with various problems, and then what the gun shoots like after he has corrected them.

The Lube you use can be a major factor in how accurate a particular load shoots. Read Dutch's materials on that, too.

There are few " tools " available to a BP shooters to work up a load. Obviously, the acid test is what a load does at a given range, on the target. But, if you are not a well trained and disciplined shooter, you may never find a group that satisfies you. I am going to assume that you are well-trained, as you have been reloading modern cartridges for so long. The other tools available to you are the 1. Chronograph; and 2, the spent patches fired out of your barrel.

Before we had chronographs that anyone could afford, we only had the Spent patches and targets to help us analyze what is a good load and what isn't. "Reading " the patches is still a terrific source of information to learn what is working inside the barrel, and what is NOT! That is an advantage that BP rifle shooters have over Modern cartridge rifle shooters, and should NEVER be overlooked or discounted as unimportant. Dutch's material will teach you HOW TO READ YOUR PATCHES, and that is why its so worthwhile to spend that money for his system.