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