Your Target & Hunting loads

[Billnpatti]

I was going to list my load for my .50 cal. T/C Hawken but it is exactly the same as Cynthialee's with the exception that I have found that I like using 10 grain equivalent volume of a product called Pufflon rather than an OP card or wad. I have my peep sights set for a 75 yard zero. I have as personal policy of not shooting at animals that are over 100 yards with any muzzleloading rifle but accidently misjudged the distance to one deer and killed it at just a bit over 125 yards. I don't know the exact distance because I was shooting across a swale and stepping off the distance accurately was not possible. The shot hit directly in the boiler room and he went about 50 yards before dropping. Still, had I known the exact distance was over my set limit of 100 yards, he would not have ended up in my freezer. The fact that I have killed a deer at a distance greater than 100 yards has not changed my mind about not shooting at an animal that is greater than 100 yards away.

 

[necchi]

Lube: GoJo

:shocked2: Doesn't that contain a pretty agressive abrasive?

GoJo makes a dozen or more products, some have no abrasive at all.

 

[Okie Hog]

If you ain't tried it don't knock it. It works much better than all the stinking concoctions i tried in the 60s and 70s.

My patched round balls load hard and they ain't going to jump off the powder too soon.

BTW: Regular GoJo is not abrasive. Friends of mine use GoJo for swabbing between shots: They say nothing works better.

 

[Billnpatti]

What do you use to sift out the fines from your powder? I had considered doing that one time but after looking at the price of the laboratory devices having the calibrated screens, I gave up on the idea of sifting my powder. All of the kitchen sifting devices have holes that are too large and let a lot of good powder fall through. I want to remove only the fines, not the particles that are the correct size for the 3f grade. How do you do it?

 

[Ron_T.]

I am curious what everyone is using for their target and/or Hunting loads for 50 & 54 cal (or whatever you got , just list them is cool).

*********************************************

Target load: 47 grains of Swiss Black Powder.
Hunting load: 70 grains of Swiss Black Powder.

I have three traditional .50 caliber black powder rifles... a purchased-new (5 or 6 years ago) Traditions "Shenandoah" (33½ inch barrel - 7½ lbs) flintlock and two older CVA Hawkens cap-locks (bought used 4 years ago).

All three rifles are very accurate with my "target load" consisting of 47 grains of FFFg Swiss Black Powder. This load is extremely accurate in the 28 inch barreled, older CVA "Hunter-Hawken" cap-lock (7½ lbs) and older CVA "Hawken-Carbine" cap-lock as well as the Traditions "Shenandoah" flint-lock at 25 and 50 yards.

So far in my testing (at 25 yards), 47 grains of Goex seems to give about the same accuracy as the Swiss Black Powder. However, I haven't tried any Goex Black Powder loads in the "Hawken-Carbine" at 50 yards so far.

That is gonna happen later on this summer when I chronograph all these loads checking their muzzle velocities. I wanna determine if there is any significant difference in velocities and/or accuracy using the Swiss vs. the Goex Black Powders. If there is very little or no significant difference, then I'll be going start using Goex for all my shooting due to the great cost-difference in the two powders.

My deer hunting load, using 70 grains of FFFg Swiss, in my older CVA cap-lock "Hawken- Carbine" (24-inch barrel - 6½ lbs), is just as accurate as my "target load".

I can use the fairly light deer hunting load in the Carbine because I limit my shots on deer to 80 yards or less. In Ohio, most shots are almost always considerably less than 80 yards due to the dense cover in a good many good hunting spots.

All of these rifles are fun to shoot...! That's the "name-of-the-game", isn't it?!? :grin:


Strength & Honor...

Ron T.

 

[Okie Hog]

i use a small sifter my wife uses for rice flour. She bought it at an oriental food store. About 20 percent of 3F Goex Pinnacle passes through that sifter. It makes a more consistent powder.



These fines were removed from one pound of powder:

 

[fire-n-brimstone]

Wow thats alot of fines.


Andy

 

[azmntman]

What ya do with the fines? Use for primer?

 

[Okie Hog]

So far nothing.

 

[bpd303]

I've found sifting powder to be a waste of time & powder. Never could tell any difference between the two when fired.

 

[Billnpatti]

If you don't already have a copy, may I suggest the following. It will be an extremely valuable bit of information when searching for absolute maximum accuracy from your muzzleloading rifle.
http://blackpowderrifleaccuracy.com/

 

[mooman76]

Looks fine to me! :rotf:

 

[ChrisHarris]

TC Hawken with GM .54 barrel:
Targets
.530 round ball
.018 pillow ticking
40-50 grains Goex 2F

Hunting
same ball and patch
100 grains Goex 2F

It's actually sighted dead nuts at 100 yards with 70 grains Goex 2F.

With 100 grains 2F, it's 2" high at 100 yards and 2" low at 140 yards.

I was hit the 100 yard gong today with 70 grains 2F. Off-handed. Only missed it once. I shot at it probably 6 or 7 times. Love that sound when the lead strikes plate steel! Boom!~~~~TING!! Ya couldn't wipe the smile off my face with a 4" grinding wheel! :rotf:

 

[nkbj]

Putting together a .54 for cutting paper.
If it ever gets done I'll report.

 

[bpd303]

With my .50 cal Mowrey this will be both hunting and target loads.
Not hard to tell which are the off hand shots, although I did hit the bull with several. Once I set up the bench and settled down things began to look up. Load was 50gr fffg Goex with a .15 patched .490 round ball. She likes a lightly damp patch down the bore after about 3 shots. Distance was 32 yards.

 

[longcruise]

I shoot way more matches than hunting shots. In my .50, 45 or 50 gr o 3f for targets. Sixty or 65 in the.54. But, to hunt, the .50 gets a pre season sight in at 70 and the.54 at. 80.

 

[TLanoy]

Same as a lot of others, target/hunting load are the same for consistent accuracy! Out of my .50:

70gr Goex 2F
.490 RB
.015 patch lubed w/TOW mink oil.

This will be my first year hunting with my new rifle. :grin:

 

[shawn_c992001]

My Spanish Springfield Hawken .50 gets 70grs of Pyrodex with a pillow ticking patch lubed with Wonder Lube and a .495 Hornady round ball.

The CVA Mountain Rifle .58 gets 90grs of Pyrodex, Wonder Lubed pillow ticking patch, and a .570 Hornady round ball.

 

[Rat Trapper]

TC Hawken: 45 cal, 70 grains of triple seven 2F
with RB an ox-yoke patch

TC Hawken 50 cal 90 grains of triple seven 2F felt wad over powder 385 gr Hornady great plains bullet.

TC Hawken 54 cal 90 grains of triple seven 2F Hornady .530 RB with ox-yoke patch

TC Hawken GM 40 cal: 40 grains of Goex 3F Hornady RB ox-yoke patch.

TC Hawken GM fast twist barrel 50 cal 90 grains of triple seven 2f 240 grain modern bullet.

TC Seneca 36 cal 30 grains to 40 grains of Goex 3F, Hornady RB ox-yoke patch.

 

[Rifleman1776]

target/hunting load are the same for consistent accuracy

IMHO, that approach contains no logic. :youcrazy:
If you work up the most accurate load for targets then go heavier for hunting you will not hurt anything at all. The heavier load may be a tiny bit less accurate but, as we say, still 'minute of deer'. Dropping back to the lighter load for targets you will still be as accurate as before and you won't be wasting powder.