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Post by brokennock on May 14, 2023 5:08:12 GMT -7
What are your best performing roundball loads from your smoothbore?
Please include gauge/caliber, maximum distance tested, and some reference for what you are considering "good" or "best" so that we can create a database for new smoothbore shooters to work off of.
This should be with an understanding on the part of that shooter that each gun and situation is slightly different and some tweaking may be needed. The loads that ended up being our load seeking destination are starting points for someone else's search, hopefully creating some shortcuts.
The number one rule in load development for shooting rounball from a smoothbore,
Throw away and forget all the conventional "rules" related to load development for a rifle. Tighter is not always better.
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Post by brokennock on May 14, 2023 5:24:11 GMT -7
20 gauge, .615 bore, TVM Early Virginia Smoothrifle.
Original best load:
80 grains 3f Goex blackpowder, thin overshot card, lubed felt wad (lube is a whole separate topic but can greatly effect results), .610 pure lead ball, two thin overshot cards.
I'm getting 3 to 4 inch groups off the bench at 50 yards, occasionally just under 3 inches.
Notes. I had previously tried patched ball loads starting with the load recommend for the smoothbore I had before this one. I was not satisfied with any patched ball load, always feeling it could shoot better. Based on the writings of Spence and a few others about shooting ball with wads and no patch, I tried a smaller ball and thinner patch and saw immediate improvement (remember the "rule" mentioned previously). So I went all in and tried wads.... this was all done in the 75 to 90 grain powder charge spectrum I thought necessary.
More recent accurate loads.
Now the "rules really fly out the window.
I needed a load using less than 80 grains powder to meet a club's rules for their woodswalk. Much fiddling, trial and tribulation was gine through.
Result? At 65 grains 3f Goex black powder, almost any ball delivery method works. .595 ball with a lubed .010 patch, .595 ball in a paper cartridge (powder poured from bottom of cartridge and paper then forming wadding below the ball, paper thick enough to be tight in the bore but not difficult to load), the aforementioned powder/card/lubed wad/ball/two cards method with balls of .595, .600, and .610,,,, all produced groups 4 inches or less at 50 yards. Some minor changes in POI (point of impact) based on ball weight.
Next entry will be for my Fusil des Chase
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Post by brokennock on May 14, 2023 5:43:14 GMT -7
Centermark Fusil des Chase. 20 gauge .620 bore. This was actually my first flintlock and first muzzleloading smoothbore. Bought used from a gentleman in Arizona, at some point before that owned by a man in Oklahoma (based on a paper with a name and address I found under the buttplate).
The owner I got it from (Mike Shea if I recall correctly) said he loaded 85 grains powder under a .600 ball patched with .010 pocket drill or ticking. This did shoot pretty well... Then I got my smoothrifle and put this gun aside for a few years....
Last year I started working on some of this gun's bugs and seeking a more historical non-patched load. I started with the 80 grain load using wads and cards that worked for the smoothrifle,,, it shot okay but not as well as I demand, and kicked like heck shooting from a bench.
Current load (still hope to tweak it a bit more) is:
75 grains 2f Goex black powder, unlubed felt wad, lubed nest of faux-tow wadding, .610 ball, 2 thin overshot cards.
Notes.
In load testing I found that this gun does not seem to respond well to anything hard or stiff, such as overshot cards or nitro cards, between powder and ball. I can't explain this. I do hope to test this load over the summer using paper in place of the dry felt wad and maybe in place of the overshot card that holds the load in place.
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Post by Black Hand on May 14, 2023 6:20:23 GMT -7
NSW Early English in 20 ga. 75gr FFFg, Egyptian cotton 0.10 lubed with Bear grease, 0.600 RB.
My metric for efficacy is whether or not it puts meat in the pot - squirrel, rabbit and a deer have come home (shot with rabbit & squirrel, RB with the deer).
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Post by spence on May 14, 2023 8:12:16 GMT -7
I've been able to develop accurate and reliable smoothbore loads using both modern and period systems, and I think I've learned one important thing. You need a good tight gas seal. With rifles we agree that tighter patch and ball combinations work best, and I think that's because it gives a better seal. For smoothbores I don't worry about the ball being tight, they can be significantly smaller than the bore, but I work hard on getting a good tight barrier between powder and ball, whatever type of wads I'm using. An example...this target was shot at 25 yards, the black bull is one inch. The load was powder, a double layer of brown paper, a wad of tow, the bare ball, .600" in a .615" bore, then a smaller wad of tow so the ball won't roll out.  Spence |
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