Final card of the winter season

Even though it had rained heavily and the range was very squelchy under foot, I managed to get to the Club and shoot the last comp card of the season; round 10 of the Kent Black Powder Winter League.

Round 10

 

It seems I saved the best till last. Not only was it the best card of the season, it was a personal best AND the first time I have ever shot over 90 [just!]. It also meant my running average exceeded 80 for the first time. A bonus on the day was the weather. Although overcast, the shooting glasses proved useful, and the wind helped blow the smoke off the range.

 

It also marked the end of my batch of 0.354 lead balls that I obtained from Pedersoli by way of Krank's and G.T. Shooting in Surrey.  The next time I'll be shooting 0.350 lead balls swaged by Hornady. I'll try these with my current 0.010 lubed patches, but may have to go to the 0.015 to get the accuracy back. This means I have to lube-up the 0.015 dry patches I have. Although I'm looking at mixing up a beeswax/tallow/lanolin combination, several members of the Club have recently switched from Wonderlube to a simple soap/water lube. I don't have the exact details but it appears they just use a liquid soap with a small amount of water added. The down side though seems to be that the patches have to be relubed before every shooting session as they dry out fairly quickly.

 

Current stats

 

Detail score: 90.1

Running average: 80.6

Personal best: 90.1

Barrel count: 209

Cards shot 16



Round 9

A late start to the shooting meant that after acting as duty RO for several details, I only managed to complete one detail. As it was near to midday, the sun was directly behind the target making it impossible to use my shooting glasses. This meant using bi-focals and a shooting hat, with the distance part of the lens being used, rather than the intermediate part.

Round 9 - 81 ex 100

Beside two flyers off to the far left, most of the group was slightly low and to the left. The load was changed slightly, with 10.3gns of Krank's fine, 0.354 ball and a 0.010 patch, to see if the group tightened up. No change seen so I'll revert back to 9gns for this ball/patch combination.

The score of 81 did not affect my running average. My shooting stats are as follows:

Stats

Detail scores: 81

Running average: 79.9

Cards shot: 15

Personal best: 88.1

Barrel count: 196

New load

For rounds 9 and 10, I plan to increase the powder load from 9gns of Krank's FFFg to 10gns to see if it tightens up the groups shot. I'll still be using .354 balls with a .010 lubed patch. Once the two cards are shot, I'll start looking at loads based around .350 balls.

As promised - current stats

After round 7 and 8 had been shot, scoring 81 and 84 ex 100, my shooting stats are as follows:

Stats

Detail scores: 81 & 84

Running average: 79.9

Cards shot: 14

Personal best: 88.1

Barrel count: 183



Round 7 and 8

Shot rounds 7 and 8 of the Kent BP league inorder to get ahead of the Christmas and new Year range closures. Using my normal loads, I added the extra component of wearing specialist shooitng glasses rather than the normal bi-focals. Although the prescription was several years out of date, the 'intermediate' lenses proved ideal for keeping the pistol foresight and rearsight sharp, while keeping the target slightly out of focus.

Round 7 - 81 ex 100

Round 7 scored only an 81 ex 100, but with a good group that was slightly low. The low flyer was due to an incorrectly seated ball. Lesson learnt!

For round 8, I tried to deliberately raise my sight picture.

Round 8 - 84 ex 100

A much better grouping in terms of elevation, but not tight. I might need to increase the powder load to try and tighten the group. Set a PB though - the first time I have managed to get all 13 shots in the black.

I'll post my new average etc once I've checked my stats book.

Round 5 & 6

It was only 6.3degC but it was a good day to shoot rounds 5 & 6 of the winter BP league cards. There was bright sunlight throughout and no breeze.

Round 5 - an 83 ex 100

On the round 5 card I managed to get 11 of the 13 shots on to the black. No 10's or V-bulls and all the scoring shots either 8's or 9's.

Round 6 - an 88 ex 100

On the round 6 card I was a bit disappointed to drop 3 shots in to the white, but pleased with the two shots in the 10 ring. My positioning and sight picture was more consistant with a nice grouping of shots just below the 10 ring.

My normal setup was used: 9gns of Krank's Fine, .354 ball and Ox-Yoke 0.010 lubed patches.

Stats

Detail scores: 83 + 88

Running average: 79.4

Personal best: 88.1

Barrel count: 157

After shooting the two cards, I also tried out a new setup to see if it worked OK: 9gns of Krank's Fine, .350 ball and a 0.015 dry patch lubed with 'aqueous cream'. The cream, available in 500mg tubs from the 'Pound Shop', worked OK but seems to a bit on the thick side and needs further diluting with added water or oil. I will see what gives the right consistancy.

Trafalgar meeting

No shooting this weekend as I went to the Trafalger meeting at NRA Bisley to restock on black powder bits and pieces.

Got spotted by another Club member and ended up being roped in to help out with RO duties for the Classic [pre 1919] and Veteran [pre 1946] class Service Rifle competition [shooting tin-hat targets at 200yds]. Lots of fun, and a great chance to see rifles such as SMLE, No. IV, Long Lee, Ross, P14 and some odd calibre training rifles in action.

After a chili and chips lunch at the Army's club house, a stroll round the arms fair resulted in purchases of .015 lubed patches, No. 11 percussion caps, .350 lead balls and 1kg of Swiss No.1 powder.

Still need a few other things, so I'll generate an order to Krank's to get those.

Trafalgar Meeting at NRA Bisley

This weekend:

For shooters who prefer flintlock and percussion rifles and pistols, the Trafalgar Meeting at NRA Bisley.

http://www.nra.org.uk/common/asp/Calendar/events.asp?site=NRA&id=2887

In addition to the shooting there will be an Arms Fair held in the Bisley Pavilion.

An ideal opportunity to stock up on blackpowder, balls, percussion caps and patches.

Improved scores & consistency

Todays visit to the range was to shoot rounds 3 and 4 of the Winter season black powder league cards. Using the 'normal' load of 9gns Krank's fine, 0.010 oiled patch and .354 ball, the first card shot scored an 83 ex 100:

83 ex 100

No V-bulls this time. The group is very slightly to the left, but the overall elevation this time round is quiet good. Before the detail I raised the rearsight half a turn clockwise [the maximum permissable on the pistol]. Usual loading sequence with a wipe out between shots. After each load when finished, I checked my aim point using the closed eye method, adjusted my feet position if any left/right correction needed, then came own to the rest position before going through the aiming/firing sequence.

After shooting the card, I stepped away from the firing point during the next detail to have a rest/chat/gossip/rehydrate...

The second card shot as round 4 was completed using the same loading. aiming and firing sequence. This gave a final score of 84 ex 100 with one V-bull:

84.1 ex 100

 

This card's group is more central in both windage and elevation. A very pleasing morning's shoot, especially as both cards beat my current average!

Stats

Detail scores: 83 + 84

Running average: 78.2

Personal best: 88.1

Barrel count: 130



My thanks to Don who has given me a batch of un-lubed 0.012 plain patches to try out. Once I sort out a suitable lube to use, I'll process the patches and then give them a try with the 0.354 ball. This might make the ball starting harder [0.366 overall compared to current 0.364], but might give tighter groups.

"Targets" aimed for [1] all 13 shots in the black, [2] all shots within the 8-ring, [3] more V-bulls...

Kent County Black Powder League

The Club 'Black Powder Captain' confirmed that we can start shooting cards for the winter season on the Kent County Black Powder League. Shot over 10 rounds with the best 10 of 13 shots to count per round. Each division consists of 10 shooters, sorted by average. Every one shoots and the best shot in the round scores 10 points, the second best scores 9 points, etc. The highest possible competition score at the end of the season being 100 points.

Round 1 card = 76

 

The round 1 card scored a 76, with a reasonable group but about three inches too low. No 10's or V bulls. The flier at 8 o'clock was a loading mistake by me. With cold fingers, I could not tell by feel that I was using three patches instead of the normal one. Otherwise the detail went well with no hiccups other than the heavy 'fog' caused by a lack of breeze to clear away the smoke.

Round 2 card = 80



The round card also started to form a low grouping, so I tried to compensate by manually adjusting the sight picture, hence the higher shots on the card. This gave a better score of 80 ex 100, with 1 V-bull. I will now look at raising the rearsight which should result in the raising of the barrel to compensate, which should then give a higher grouping on the card.

Set-up was 9 grains of Henry Krank's fine[FFFg], 0.015 lubed Ox-Yoke patch, .354 Pedersoli ball and Dynamit Nobel 1075 percussion cap.

Stats

Detail scores: 76 + 80

Running average: 76.9

Personal best: 88.1

Barrel count: 104

Cleaning

The downside of shooting blackpowder pistol, the cleaning afterwards.

 

Twenty-six shots later and it is time to clean the pistol. The tools for the job include: a can of WD-40 to spray down the barrel and a .36 nylon brush wrapped in a 2by4 to swap out, some non-scented baby wipes to clean off the outside of the barrel, especially around the nipple, a .36 mop and some 2by4 pieces to apply a light film of gun oil.

Revised layout

I have now replaced the glass tubes for the measured loads of black powder, with smaller plastic vials. Although slightly harder to open, they take up a lot less space so I can carry more measures with me.

 

I'm currently getting a woodworking friend to make me a wooden block that will have two rows of 13 holes, suitable for the vials of black powder. That way I can keep track of how far I am through the detail sequence of 13 shots.

Also new to the shooting bench layout, are thicker 0.015 lubed patches from Ox-Yoke that I'm now using, and the ball seating mallet [which has already proved very useful].

Thicker patch gives better groups

With the mallet at the ready, today's single card was shot using a .354 ball with a 0.010 oiled patch and 9 grains of Krank's FFFg. After each shot was loaded, the sight picture was checked and the feet moved to compensate for any errors. The pistol was then fully cocked and the trigger set. The result was a new personal best with consistant shots and a tighter group.

 

 

Only one V-bull but lots in the 9 ring. Using usual scoring the worst three shots are dropped. That meant two of the 7's, plus a very low shot at 6 o'clock in the 3 ring [thanks to a 'visitor' deciding to stand behind me and starting talking, just as I squeezed the trigger - the duty RO 'had a word']. The tally of 1 x 7, 1 x 8, 7 x 9 and 1 x 10 gives a PB of 88 !!!

 

Lesson 1 - on the short starter I am going to use some emery cloth to take a few thou off the diameter off the short aluminium rod. This combined with the mallet should make ball starting a whole lot easier.

 

Lesson 2 - the Ox-Yoke 0.010 oiled patches are very oily! Keep a clean dry cloth on the shooting bench to dry the fingers before picking up and loading the ball.

 

Stats

 

Detail score = 88

Current average = 76.5

Personal best = 88.1

Barrel count = 77



New addition in shooting box

I've been thinking about the problems with starting the ball in the muzzle, especially when a thicker patch is being used. The first step has been to buy a small wooden mallet. I was going for a rubber one initially, but they are so expensive!

 

The answer was a cook's 'meat tenderiser mallet'. It cost a few pounds, and the only work needed doing on it was for me to sand off the 'teeth' from the tenderising side. It works well!

Smaller ball - thicker patch

For the second card of the session, I started off the first six shots using .350 ball and .010 oiled patch, again with 9 grains of Krank's FFFg. The ball/patch combination proved a lot harder to load. The ball proved very difficult to start, and I almost ended up using a rubber mallet. The recoil and the noise of this load was a lot louder.

 

For the second six shots I kept with the .350 ball and 9 grains of Krank's FFFg, but changed to a .005 oiled patch. The ball was a lot easier to start and to load. The noise also reduced slightly. Overall score for this card was 70. The magpie shot at 5 o'clock gauged out to a 6.

Given the difficulty [only one source] and price [high] of the .354 balls, I will probably stay with .350 balls [readily available and cheaper] with 0.005 oiled patches.

Next month is the Trafalgar Meeting and Arms Fair at NRA Bisley, so I will be looking to stock up on balls, powder and patches!

Stats

 

Detail scores: 74 + 70
Average score: 74.2
Personal best: 83
Barrel count:  64

Lower load

The first card shot in this session was done using a reduced powder load. Instead of the 10 grain of Krank's FFFg, I used 9 grains instead. The same .354 ball and .005 patch was used. The results obtained were:

 

If you look closely, my first ever V-bull! The score was 74, just below my current average. There was no noticeable difference in the recoil or the noise.

I did have a problem at the start of this card. After running a cleaning 2by4 through the barrel, I capped off and then loaded for the first shot. Although the percussion cap fired, the main load failed to ignite. A second cap gave the same results. I removed the nipple and checked it wasn't blocked. I also removed the percussion tube side screw and checked that that wasn't blocked either. Noticed that no powder came out! Reassembled the pistol.

Got the ball puller from the box and proceeded to remove the ball. Capped off but still no powder ignition. Ran a clean dry 2by4 through the barrel and what came out of the muzzle was so very damp looking clumps of powder.

Suspect the initial cleaning failed to remove all the oil left in the barrel as protection during storage. Ran through another cleaning 2by4 which came out clean and dry. Reloaded from scratch and successfully fired the first of thirteen shots.

Firing point layout

At the range yesterday to shot two cards while trying out a new powder load, a different ball size and a thicker patch. He is the firing point layout that I seem to have settled on:



From left to right:

# .36 Mortimer black powder muzzle-loading percussion pistol
# ear plugs
# cleaning rod fitted with a nylon brush wrapped in a 2by4
# brass powder drop funnel
# home-made rammer with palm saver [length of 9mm softwood dowel]
# tray of .354 balls [13 counted out ready for next detail]
# tin of Dynamit Nobel 1075 percussion caps
# bag of .005 oiled patches
# ball starter/short rammer
# tray of phials containing 9 grains of Krank's FFFg [in blocks of 13]
# 2by4 patches
# pieces of dry baby wipes

The spent percussion caps go in the groove along the bottom of the bench, ready to be collected up at the end of the session and put my the copper recycling bin.

In the box behind the firing point at baby wet wipes, more 2by4 and dry baby wipes, assorted jags, brushes and mops, spanners and screwdrivers, WD-40, gun oil, ball extractor, digital scales and spare nipples.

I am sure to add more over time!

Lessons learnt

Visited the range to get cards two and three shot, in order to determine my starting average. As before, I am using the same loading setup of 10gns of black powder, a 0.354 ball and a 0.005 oiled patch. No changes made to the pistol.

*** Lesson 1 - being right handed, place all the loading tools and materials on the right hand side of the firing point bench. This makes loading a lot easier and helps you maintain a steady rhythm, preventing mistakes in the loading process.

After wiping down the pistol on the outside and then running through a patch to clean out the oil film left from the previous cleaning, started the session by 'capping off'.

Then started to work my way through the 13 shots needed to make up the detail, the best 10 shots to count.

*** Lesson 2 - try not to be on the firing point downwind of a blackpowder revolver shooter. These shooters tend to use 'fillers' between their powder load and the ball, to bring the ball towards the front of the revolver cylinder. This is supposed to make them more accurate but it does lead to very large clouds of thick smoke that slowly drifts downwind. [FYI the 'filler' is usually something like ground semolina].

*** Lesson 3 - keep the balls in a tray so that you can count how many you have fired in the detail. It should tally with the number of empty phials of blackpowder .

Thirty minutes later and the detail is over. Replace the shot card with a new card and retire to the firing point to look at groupings and scores. Brag or wail aloud depending on results.

First card scores a 76 ex 100 with no V bulls. Have managed to centralised the group by more careful aiming, but it is below the center line. Also found a .44 cross shot on the left hand edge of the target, thanks to the upwind revolver shooter!

*** Lesson 4 - don't shoot the following detail! Take a break for 30 minutes. Perhaps doing a short clean on the barrel, or to see what the other shooters are doing. And sit down. The reason? Thirty minutes is a long time to be standing on the firing point. Your arm gets tired and the small of your back starts to ache. It's called getting old!!

Having not followed lession 4, my second card of the day was a disappointing 68 ex 100 with no grouping. The tiredness had caused several flyers in to the white. At least I now have an average to supply to the Match Secretary.

Stats

 

Detail scores: 76 + 68

Average: 75.7

Barrel count: 39

With the days shooting completed, the cleaning begins. Having done the 'water method' last time, today I used the 'WD-40 method' instead. After removing the nipple and side chamber screw, WD-40 is sprayed liberally down the barrel. After using a nylon brush, the barrel is swabbed with patches until they come out clean. The outside is cleaned with baby wipes and a pipe cleaner for those fiddly places. Once clean, the whole gun, inside and out, is given a thin coat of oil to dispel the water from the WD-40 and to prevent rusting while in storage.

More information

 

Blackpowder basics

WD-40

First shot card

Yesterday was the first time I managed to get to the range to shoot the Mortimer muzzle-loading percussion pistol. Using the load details blogged previously, I shot a single card at 25m using an NSRA UIT Precision Pistol Target [PL7].

 

The final score was 83 ex 100 [17 off], with a reasonable group just high of center. The point of aim was at 6 o'clock, just below the black. Later on I might adjust the windage by drifting the foresight to the right.

 

In competitions the detail duration is 30 minutes, with the best 10 shots scoring from 13 shots fired. 50% of shot hole to be over the line for the higher score to count [hence only two x 10 scores and not three as hoped for]. This is to allow for different calibres being shot.

 

Stats

 

Detail scores: 83

Average score: 83.0

Personal best: 83

Barrel count: 13

More information:

National Smallbore Rifle Association
 



Loading

Having researched all the available information on the loading recommendations for the Mortimer muzzle-loading black powder pistol, I finally managed to get to the range and to try out some different loads.

 

I found that the following combination gave good groupings, low recoil/noise and reasonable scores [for a first attempt]:

 

Black Powder make: Henry Krank's Fine [FFFg]

Black Powder Load: 10.0 grains

Ball make: Pedersoli

Ball size: 0.354

Patch make: Henry Krank's

Patch size: 0.005 oiled

Percussion cap make: Dynamit Nobel

Percussion cap type: 1075

 

I also tried 0.010 oiled patches, but found that the balls were a lot harder to seat, and that pieces of the patch were being torn off. I also tried 12.0 grains of black powder, but found the recoil was worse, the noise louder, and the shots went low/right.

 

Plans for the future include trying out combinations of Hornady 0.350 balls, 0.015 oiled patches, 8.0 grains of black powder and CCI No.11 percussion caps.

 

I am also hoping to try some Swiss No.1 powder.

 

More information:

 

Henry Krank

Dynamit Nobel
Swiss blackpowders

Mortimer percussion pistol

This is my new muzzle-loading black powder pistol

 

It is a modern Pedersoli copy of a P. Mortimer percussion pistol, circa 1800.

 

The technical specifications are: .36 calibre with a 10 1/16 inch 1:18twist 7-groove barrel.

 

Full details at www.davide-pedersoli.com

Greetings!

Welcome to the "Charcoal Burner" blog.

 

It is devoted to my loading and shooting of a muzzle-loading black powder pistol. As time goes on, I will blog details of loads used, procedures being followed, competitions entered and even scores obtained.

 

Graeme