.40 cal loads

[joshbayles]

Hi, kind of new to flinters. I am in the Army and one of my friends built a rifle for me but have not had that much of a chance to shoot it. A couple of ques tins?
How many rounds should you shoot before you attempt to adjust the sights?

What is a good starting load with .395 balls and .015 patching?

And what size drill bit do you use to make a loading block.

Any info would be great. Thanks

[Ohio Joe]

Hello joshbayles, welcome to the TMA.  Always nice to hear from our servicemen!

Also, when doing this bench shooting in my opinion it's not a bad idea to swab between shots so your bore will stay consistant.

Remember, you're just shooting for group size so do not adjust your sights until you have found the smallest group load and have practiced grouping with that load many times.

Also check your patches after they have left the bore to make sure they are not blowing through.  If they are blowing through you are either tearing them on loading or the load is to stout for your patch in which case you'll need heavier patching - .017 to .018, and/or lube failure?

[Minnesota Mike]

Good advice. Since you're just getting started with that smokepole, I'd have a little notebook to keep track of the number of rounds, amount of powder, patch thickness, ball size, and if you can record it - temperature. Hot days and cold days can affect performance - not much you can really do, but it helps to know so when you look back to compare how things were working, one set up versus another, you have all the relative facts for consideration.

Be advised that you will slowly build up a pantina in the barrel as you shoot more and more balls - this is a good thing, so don't use the wire brush like on modern rifles. After you've put about 100 rounds down the barrel, go back to bench and check her out again. Things may have changes as the barrel got a little tighter.

But be warned - as old codger at club told us - if you're not shooting good and bench check the rifle - it the rifle is okay, then you KNOW you're the problem, before you only suspected it . . .

Have fun with it and enjoy shooting!

r/
MM

[SquirrelHeart]

Got this from "The Muzzleloading Forum"

Loading Block Drill Bit Sizes: