May have cured my flintlock's accuracy problem

[Maven]

Years ago I had Waksupi (Ric Carter) build a Chambers Isaac Haines .54cal. rifle for me.  (He did a very nice job, btw.)  However, I had to work hard to find a ball diameter and patch thickness combination that would produce the accuracy I was looking for: 1" groups @ 50 yd. My Lyman/Investarms .50cal. Great Plains rifle will generally do that if I use a .490 Lyman RB (.488" in fact) with a .018" pillow ticking patch, but not the Isaac Haines.  Trust me, I've tried, usually varying the patch thickness from .017" -> .024" using either a Jeff Tanner or RCBS .530" - .531" RB mould as their droppings are identical.  Varying the powder charge didn't have much effect either:  I never found the "sweet spot."

I've also been using the IH in Ohio Joe's 50 yd. postal matches on another forum (5 offhand shots + 5 from a chunk at 50 yd. at a target measuring 11" x 14", with an 8" square central black section, and a 3" square bullseye), but I've never scored more than 37- out of a possible 50 points.  In fact, my last two match scores were only 32/50.  Having had enough of such nonsense, I thought I had nothing to lose by trying a larger, .535" RB with various patch combinations.  

Today I put the above .535" RB (.537" in fact; Lee Precision mould) theory to the test.  The load, incidentally, was the same as I've been using in Ohio Joe's postal matches, namely 80gr. Diamondback FFg.  Patches, as always, were lubed with 1 Ballistol : 6 water and were just shy of dripping wet.  All shooting was done @ 50 yd. with front and rear rests.  First up were .014" thick pillow ticking patches, which loaded easily, but which produced only a 3/4" (i.e., 2 touching) x 3 3/4" 7-shot group.  I next tried .018" pillow ticking and was pleased to see some progress:  7 shots went into a 1/2" x 3" group with 3 in a 1/2" x 3/4" cluster.  Both patch thicknesses allowed easy starting and seating.  Lastly, I tried what I think is muslin fabric @ .021", which works OK with the .530" RB's, but was much more difficult to start and seat than the other material.  Accuracy wasn't all that good either with 5 shots landing in a 1/2" x 5" group.  Why only 5 shots?  Because the sun was on my sights and in my face and I had difficulty seeing the target.

All in all, it was a good range day as there was little wind, low humidity, and pleasant (58 deg.) temperatures.  However, our range is arranged so that we must shoot to the southeast, which means that the sun will be on your sights from early to late afternoon.  It also means I'm not sure whether the poor results on my last target were due to sun-induced sighting errors, a poor RB - patch combination, or both  In all likelihood I'll retest this, but I'm not sure I'll get to it before our range closes for deer season in mid-November.  (It closes only for CF deer season, not for ML's, bowhunters, or turkey hunters.  Go figure!)

[Uncle Russ]

Great range report Maven!

I found out, several years back, that when it comes to shooting Muzzleloaders there seems, at times, to be no end to the number of different small changes, and some of those changes are really small, that you need to make when you are seriously looking for that "sweet-spot"...it's been that way in every muzzleloader I've ever owned, and some required a lot more 'tweaking' than others.

I have found the most help finding that sweet-spot came in me keeping detailed notes on 5 shot groups...a real pain, but for me, that was the key that finally helped me more than anything else.

Uncle Russ.

[Ohio Joe]

Maven, I'm sure glad to hear this! You stayed right with it and found a combination that is working for you, that my friend is fantastic!  :lt th

[Maven]

Thanks, Russ & Joe!   You know when the rifle was still being built I was told there was a narrow spot ~3/4 down the bbl.  I.e., it would need a .526" ball, but I found that not to be so:  I could roll a .530" RB in, and out of the bore with ease, but not a ,535" one, which stopped about 1/2 way down and then rolled out.  Early testing @ 50 yd.with a .530" RB and patches between .017" - .021" (compressed) was erratic, with some excellent, and some poor groups.  However, the .021" patch + a .530" RB did well enough for the NMLRA's postal matches and some of "Jethro's" postal matches over on the ML forum.  Yesterday's results were surprising though, as I expected the thickest patch + the .535" ball to -> the tightest group.  It didn't but that's OK, since a number of my ML's seem to favor the .018" patch and that thickness is pretty easy to find.  I guess the conclusion I drew is that patches + powder residue are abrasive enough to lap the bbl. enough to require a large ball in fairly short order, and that was a surprise.  I also found that, at least for my eyes, a wider/thicker front sight such as those found on the Lyman GPR and T/C Renegade, are much easier to see than the thin, nickel silver blade that came with the Chambers kit.

[Ohio Joe]

Maven, every new barrel has a period that it will take to be "shot in" and there's really no set amount of shots, it just happens. At the same time the "shooting in of the barrel" process is taking place - many are trying to zero that muzzle loader for tightest center group rather then just aiming center and letting the groupings take place anywhere on the target that they're hitting. Once a consistently tight group is being shot - then it's time to go to work on the sight adjustments. In your case (and mine, and I'm sure many more of us) that thin silver blade just isn't our friend for sight picture.

I like a thick brass blade front sight myself at this point in my life with my aging eyesight and I also like a nice wide v sight.

Whichever road we take to sighting in, it's getting there that can be the most trying for all of us,,, but as trying as it may be - when we get there the rewards are great.  

[RobD]

+1 what joe just posted.  a new gun needs a "break in" period that might take a dozen or 5 dozen shots (or more!).  i like to go easy and wipe 'tween these shots, keeping the barrel clean for each new lubed patched ball.  don't matter whether rifle or smoothbore, either.  i'd say yer doin' great, mav!

[waksupi]

I'm glad you got it figured out, Paul. Part of the fun is hunting the Gremlins!

[Rocklock]

Don't over look FFg powder.
TC

[Maven]

Actually, I typically use FFg in my ML rifles & smoothbores, but I'm soon going to switch to FFFg since I can also use it to prime.