Shooting the Fusil. Finally.

[rickevans]

Last winter, I traded this and that for a used Centermark Fusil. It is a pretty plain jane model, .62 cal with a 36" barrel. Not quite a fowler, not quite a canoe gun. Anyway, I have been gathering the accouterments and finally got to shoot 'er the past weekend. I was very happy with the results. I used a .600 rb and some pillow ticking patch. It was a bugger to start! Should things be that tight?
I'll be looking for some .595 rb to do more testing.  The load I used was 70gr FFFg.  Aiming off hand at a knot on a tree at 25 yards, I hit just about an inch right at 3:00.  That looks like minute-of-deer to me.  

I do have a couple of questions.  Do ya'all use a short starter on these smoothbores? Is 70 gr FFFg an ok deer load?

[tg]

70 gr will do fine at the range one can effectively use a smoothbore. I used to use .600 bals with a thin cotton patch, no patch and exchnaging the ball  for the shot in a shot column works well also, younwill probably find a .575 ball with a thick patch works well also,thses guns are very forgiving with load combos and still be deer worthy out to 40-50 yds, I have used .535,.550, .562 and .570 in my .58 with good results with a variety of patches, wadding, bareball with overshot card, try them all and see what you like the best.

[rickevans]

Thanks fellas.  I am pretty geeked about hunting with the fusil this year. I am headed to the range next week to do some serious shooting with the RB that I have and various patching and powder combos. Wyosmith, I agree on the pass through concept. Two great big holes to let the air in and the blood out is perfect!

[Flint62Smoothie]

As 'tg' offered, I too use a thin patch in my flint smoothie.

I use a homespun ($2/yard @ Wally-World ) cotten patch, lubed with Track's Mink Oil, under a 0.600" cast roundball from Eddie May, over 70grs of FFFg and I'm am thrilled with the accuracy and performance.

[chuckpa]

Here is something else you might want to try. Get some shot cushion wads and split them then punch a hole in them and use them as over the powder wads followed by your patched round ball. It might increase your accuracy. I have one gun that it works really well in and another one and it does not make any difference at all.

[Flint62Smoothie]

Here is something else you might want to try. Get some shot cushion wads and split them then punch a hole in them and use them as over the powder wads followed by your patched round ball. It might increase your accuracy. I have one gun that it works really well in and another one and it does not make any difference at all.

Lubed or not lubed?  I hear the pre-lubed ones are supposed to be really good for shotgun loads and have a great lube, but only on the OD of the cushion.  Would appreciate some more details, cheers!

[Bigsmoke]

I have been using Ox Yoke pre lubed cushion wads on all my sporting rifles for years and wouldn't load them without, especially when shooting heavier loads.
I guess Chuck/PA is punching a hole in them to act as an air bleed?  Might or might not be necessary.  I have never had a problem with air build up as long as the hammer was on half cock and no spent cap was on the nipple.  With a flinter, that would not really seem to be an issue.
I find the cushion wads wipe the bore when loading, create a better seal when the rifle goes off, keeps the patch from burning up, and lastly increases somewhat the velocity, sometimes up to 50 fps, if I recall correctly.  Been a while since I chronographed the guns.
Also, I don't cut them in half, I load the entire wad.  It doesn't seem to want to tip that way.  And I load the PRB and the wad as a unit.  Maybe that is why Chuck wants to punch a hole, to allow compressed air to escape through the wad when pushing the PRB down the bore.
As always, YMMV

[Captchee]

probably what you will find if you mic the bore is that its not .620
 my Tulle is that way . its actually a .613  which make patching rather fun with a .600 ball  unless the patch is thin .
 through the years i have gotten to the point , i dont use a patch at all , NONE , nodda , zip  when it comes to my tulle.
 the accuracy even improved  over the thinner patches I used .
 What I do is load a soft wad  lubed with soft bee’s wax  over the powder “ powder being 80 grains of 3F Goex“. I then drop the ball down the bore and hold it in place with an over the shot card .
 My tulle will clover leaf at 15 yards with that load .
At 50 she is holding about a 6 inch pattern. Well when I do my part  and line things up right LOL . I have found that with the elk I have taken with my 62 ,At 35-40 years that ball goes all the way through  and keeps right on trucking

 Your 70 grain load is more then enough  for the ranges you should be taking shots at .

 Now penetration ??  There are a lot of different thoughts on that .
Some folks want complete pass through . Others don’t .
 With complete pass through you get the benefit of two wounds  and a better blood trail .
 But at the same time  less penetration means that  all the energy is  expelled within the animal . Thus a somewhat larger primary wound channel . .
 My take is that a perfect situation would be where one  gets only enough complete pass through for the ball just to drop out the off side of the target . Thus giving  a better blood trail and expelling all the projectile energy within the animal .

 Personally myself  , the only thing I worry about is shot placement  and if my load has enough juice to at least get through the hart and lungs .
 If  the projectile gets all the way through , great , so much the better . If it only goes through and sticks under the skin on the off side NP  either . The deed is  still done.

[tg]

I soak the dry wads in a mix of half beeswax and half olive oil or bear oil, then cut them in half they cut better when lubed.