Loading manual excludes .62 data?

[mark davidson]

I ordered a new Lyman black powder manual from TOW the other day. Much to my dismay, there is no .62 cal. loading data in it!! It goes up to .58 and then skips to .75. I do not remember about .69 but I can find NO .62 loading data in it. I went to Barnes and Noble and picked up another thick book on black powder with lots of load data and information, again NO .62 data!  What is up with this phenomenon???  Where can I find some printed and reliable data on .62 caliber? Any ideas??

[Voyageur]

Frankly Mark I wouldn't contemplate suicide over that fact. The thing is to "interpolate" the data presented---kind of split the difference sorta. You will not, I repeat NOT blow yourself to kingdom come nor destroy your gun in the process. If you are shooting 50 grains ffg for a .60 than certainly 55 grains of ffg for a .69 would be a good beginning guestimation---not so? JMHO    "Doc"

[Bigsmoke]

Mark, You are in no man's land there, pal.  Save your time and quit looking, you won't find much, if anything.
You have two choices here.
1)  Invest in a good chronograph and do your own.
2) Go to the Beartooth Bullets web site and work out some on their ballistic calculators.  But, you need reliable velocities to do that with, so back to option 1.
Chrony isn't a bad choice, but I was not terribly impressed with it, so got an Oehler.  The thing about them is that you will find it needs to be set up a bit further away that specified, as the muzzle blast from large charges really screws them up.  I think they specify 10', but I found 10 yards worked better.  Making a blast shield for them helps, too.
Enjoy!!

[mark davidson]

Voyager,  :-)  Suicide was never an option; I would miss the spring smallmouth bite and the fall hunting season! ;-)  Seriously, I am doing fine without the data, I already got some from the good folks on here. I already own a chronograph from many years of shooting. Yes, Bigsmoke I learned long ago the value of a blast shield: black powder smoke is very corrosive to the front of a chronograph and the blast does not help the internals much from close range either which is why I am on my "second" chronograph.  I just thought it would be nice to have some printed data to consult from time to time and to use to establish a true and tested maximum load so I do not venture too far into no-man's land. I do like to push the envelope some so I kinda wanted to know what the upper end of the envelope for .62 cal. was. It never occurred to me that .62 data would be excluded. No big deal really; mostly curiosity on my part. Anybody know where there really is any printed data on .62 cal?

[swampman]

Start at 60 grains of 3F, and work your way up.  It works for anything between .45 & .72.

[mark davidson]

60 grains might make a good squirrel load. :-)  I started at 140grains of 2F and worked my way up. :-)

[IMRasputin]

I've been hunting with a pacific rifle underhammer in 62 cal. round ball for quite a few years now. I usually practice with 120 grains of pyrodex and hunt deer with the same. I step up to 150-160  grains for elk and hog and have never recovered a ball in any of the animals. I have shot up to 175 grains in this rifle but was not happy with the accumulated bruising.( 7 shots on the bench ) My 300 lb. hog took 2 shots thru the chest at 40 yards using 150 grains. the guide was impressed by the 1" holes thru the lungs and out the other side.

[mark davidson]

IMR, Now that is a cool story!  Thanks for the confidence builder. It sounds like your performance on game is exactly what I am looking for so maybe I am on the right track for me at least.