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Post by oldhoyt on Dec 8, 2009 12:31:37 GMT -5
If you can swing it, buy loose powder not pellets. You'll need a powder measure if you don't have one. Then you can vary your loads in small increments, like 10 grains. A 50 cal sidelock will usually be pretty accurate in the range of 80-110 grains of powder. For bullets I'd suggest a T/C maxiball or Hornady FPBs. I'd avoid Powerbelts (just my opinion) and sabots.
At the range, swab between shots with a patch moistened with a 50/50 mix of windex and rubbing alcohol. Then swab with a dry patch, pop a cap and reload. This way your range shots will be from a clean, dry bore, just like your first shot fired at a deer.
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Post by kevin1 on Dec 9, 2009 13:40:03 GMT -5
im by south bend but i will show my dad and if this many people dont like i think it will tell him what about the pyrodex pellets arre they any good. thanks anyway though kodiak50 this site is much more friendlier than NAHC The Bobcat has a poor reputation for accuracy, and the pellets are not designed for sidelocks, stick to loose powder. It has a 1:48 rate of twist, you're probably using too big a load for it. Try a sabot of around 230-240 grains and a powder charge of 70-75 grains for 3 shots. If your group tightens up add 5 grains more powder and try again, if that group goes wide go down to 65 and try again. Fire groups of 3 until you find what your gun likes. NEVER EXCEED THE MANUFACTURER'S RECCOMENDATION FOR POWDER!! Not all muzzleloaders can handle a 150 grain magnum charge, and the ones that can waste about as much powder as they burn. You may need to lap the rifling, run a dry patch down it and see if it leaves threads in the bore. Lapping isn't hard to do, Google "barrel lapping" and follow the directions. Above all else, don't expect tack driving accuracy from a cheap gun, you'll be disappointed.
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Post by huntingman on Dec 9, 2009 20:01:17 GMT -5
yes i got hornady 240 grains and i might try the round balls . i have a grain measurer the thing is my dad dont get homw till dark and can only shooot on weekends when we are hunting so if we do shoot we only have half hour at most. so next time i have the spped loaders at 90 grains and i will try that thanks
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Post by kevin1 on Dec 10, 2009 12:34:01 GMT -5
A 90 grain charge might be ok for a sabot or conical, but with that slower twist it may be too much for roundballs. Two of my smokepoles are 1:48, both are .54 caliber, and they both take a max charge of 120 grains. Neither likes a max charge, one shoots best at 100 grains for any load, the other takes 95-100 for a 240 grain sabot and 85 for roundball. Once you get the time to shoot you'd be well served to begin with a light load of perhaps 50-60 grains and then work up in 5 grain increments until you find what that Bobcat likes for that particular round.
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Post by huntingman on Dec 10, 2009 15:47:09 GMT -5
ok so do round balls come in diferent grains or how mnay grain round balls would you reccomend
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Post by oldhoyt on Dec 10, 2009 16:48:56 GMT -5
The use of impure lead notwithstanding, round balls for a given caliber can be of slightly different diameter. The difference will be a few thousandths of an inch and the difference in weight is inconsequential. The diameter in thousandths of an inch that a roundball is supposed to be should be marked on the box/package.
The trick to roundball shooting is finding a patch-lube/ball/powder charge combination that the gun (with it's specific bore diameter) shoots well.
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Post by kevin1 on Dec 11, 2009 6:31:29 GMT -5
A .490 ball is the one you'll encounter the most, combined with a .015 ticking patch you'll get a good fit. Have you checked the bore for burrs yet? Burrs are fairly common with low end guns and make getting accuracy very difficult unless you lap them out.
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Post by huntingman on Dec 11, 2009 7:17:28 GMT -5
wat do u mean by those i am still fairly new to muzzeloading
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Post by oldhoyt on Dec 11, 2009 7:40:48 GMT -5
If you are asking what is meant by burrs, they are what's left behind by "rough" machining.
Lapping is one way to get most them out. Another way is to fire full-bore conicals like maxiballs or perhaps FPBs or Powerbelts.
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Post by parson on Dec 11, 2009 7:51:56 GMT -5
I have a CVA mountain carbine with a 1:48 twist that will not shoot anything but round balls. I've tried different things but it's strictly a round ball shooter. With 80 gr. of loose pyrodex I get good accuracy and have taken several deer with it.
I use pillow ticking for patches.
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Post by indianahick on Dec 11, 2009 20:20:58 GMT -5
My old T/C Hawkin like something call Buffalo Balls the best. Seems to me I used 95 or 100 grms of Pyrodex to push them. Got good accuracy out of them and they did a number on deer much better than the round ball.
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Post by kevin1 on Dec 13, 2009 20:13:47 GMT -5
wat do u mean by those i am still fairly new to muzzeloading A burr is a small piece of metal that sticks out from the rest of the rifling, normally caused by sloppy machining or a dull cutter. Lapping is a process of polishing out the burrs with an abrasive. Check your bore with a patch of soft cloth like t-shirt material on a cleaning jag, if threads are left behind in the riflings then you probably have one or more burrs. Instructions for lapping can be found with a Google search. If burrs are not the problem then finding the right powder charge/projectile should solve most of your problem. A 1:48 twist is a compromise rate that allows the use of both roundballs and conicals/sabots, but don't expect it to drive tacks, especially in shorter barrels. Since you're shooting a short barrelled sidelock I'd shy away from sabots if I were you, they require the stabilization of a fast twist before leaving the bore, stick to roundballs and shorter conicals. A charge of 70 grains in a .50 caliber smokepole is usually about optimum, and will take down a deer easily, but you'll need to experiment to find what yours shoots best.
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Post by jabba on Dec 14, 2009 20:10:49 GMT -5
I am a 777 shooter. My buddies HATED the JS powder. I had a can of 777 go bad on me this year too.
Bought a new can... and it was good as new again.
Jabba
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