Kent Black Powder League - Winter 2012/2013

Finally got the results of the "Kent Black Powder League - Winter 2012/2013". I actually managed to win division 2, beating Richard in the 2nd place.

I ended up scoring 107 out of a possible 120 points  and scored a competition average of 82.9

The down side is that for the "Kent Black Powder League - Summer 2013" competition I have been promoted to division 1 (along with Richard and two others from the club!).



Water:Ballistol 1:1 lube

For round 8 I shot the card using the homemade 1:1 Ballistol:Water lube. This resulted in a 77.1 ex 100 being scored.

Round 8



The group appears to be a lot bigger than round 7, but the loading was a lot easier. Both the short starter and the long starter were very easy to use and the ball seated fully every time.

This time the lube was applied at the range. I made up a small batch of 1:1 Ballistol:Water lube in a plastic container, then when at the range, I placed 13 patches in an old .22 ammo box and added enough lube to fully wet them. They were then seperated out ready for use.

1:1 Ballistol:Water lube swabs

Although I though it was was issue at first, the swabs (again after 5, 9 and 13 shots), were dirtier than the round 7 Wonderlube patches. What it actually means is that after each shot the soot is remaining soft and being easily removed by the swab, hence the ball seating easily every time.

It might mean that I need to try a slightly higher powder load to see if the groups tightens back up when using this lube. I might also try the Wonderlube again but using a thinner patch such as 0.012 or 0.010

Stats
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Detail score: 77.1
Running average: 80.06

Barrel count: 366
Cards: 28

Managed to get the average back over 80!

Ox-Yoke Wonderlube 1000+

Shot round 7 of the Kent Black Powder League using the normal setup with 0.015 patches lubed with "Ox-Yoke Wonderlube 1000+". Very pleased to shoot an 89.1 ex 100.

Round 7

As a PB, managed to get 4 scoring shots in the 10 ring. Called both of the high flyers. As you can see, the group though was fairly good, but I did notice some loading difficulties.

On at least three of the shots, the loading with the long starter showed that the ball was not seating fully down the barrel. It was only a matter of millimetres, but it was noticeable. I put this down to the 'soot' being 'harder' than expected and not being fully cleaned by the swabbing out between shots.

Swabs

These were the swabs after 5, 9 and 13 shots. They are sooty but not excessively so. This may be the compromise lube to be used in future. I might try the same lube but with a thinner patch, perhaps 0.012 or even 0.010

Stats
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Detail score: 89.1
Barrel count: 353

Cards: 27





Urgent action needed

Another terrible shoot confirmed the need to resolve the issue with the lube recipe currently being used. Another shooter on the range confirmed that I am 'smoking' more than I used to. The patches being used to swab the barrels between shots are very after dirty after only two shots. I even tried swabbing out first with a mop damp with WD-40, before swabbing with a plain patch. No difference was noticed. I also wiped off the excess lube from the patches.

Kent round 6 - only the good shots!

The plan for the next shoot is as follows:

1. Geoff has given me some of his 'Ox-Yoke Wonderlube 1000+'. I have prepared some 0.015 patches with this lube.
2. Don has given me some thinner 0.012 patches to try. I'll prepare these with a 1:1 Aqueous cream:Water lube.
3. I have some 0.010 patches that I'll prepare with a 1:1 Aqueous cream:Water lube.
4. I have some 0.005 patches that I'll prepare with a 1:1 Aqueous cream:Water lube.

So the next shoot will be using lube step 1 - I will keep the first swab after 4 shots cleaned to see what they look like. I will also try to collect shot patches to see if they are retaining their shape or are being cut.

Stats
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Detail score: 67.1
Running average: 79.83
Barrel count: 340
Cards: 26

Very disappointing to drop the average below 80. MUST TRY HARDER !!!

Much tighter group.

Kent Black Powder League card for round 5 gave one of the tightest groups I have ever shot. It was also fairly well placed on the target. It seems that with practise, I have finally sorted out a consistant sight picture. The group is almost horizontally central on the card, having drifted the foresight slightly to the left after the last shoot.

Round 5 - 87.1 ex 100

The low shots were due to me holding on aim too long and then starting to get tired. I need to either shoot within a few seconds of coming up on aim, or drop the arm, rest and then re-aim.

The main set-up changes from the last session were in the lube and percussion caps used. I took recipe 13 and made it thinner: recipe '14' was 6:1 Olive oil:Tallow. This did seem to cleaner easier between shots, but the patch was getting dirty fairly quickly and you could see 'flakes' rather than soot. I suspect it is the hydrocarbon in the olive oil burning off. I also changed the percussion caps from CCI number 11's, to Remington number 11's. No difference seen between them.

Set-up used

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Mortimer pistol in .36
0.015 patch [from JT Tanner]
6:1 olive oil:tallow lube [homemade - recipe 14]
0.350 lead balls [from Hornady]
9 grains Swiss Number 1 [from Starley]
Number 11 percussion caps [from Remington]

I did notice that the thinner patch lube meant that when I seated the ball in the end of the barrel with the mallet, it tended to splatter olive oil, making everything greasy to handle. I might add a small shaving of beeswax to thicken up the lube slightly.

Stats

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Detail score: 87.1

Running average: 80.34

Barrel count: 327

Cards: 25

On the plus side, I did find an easier way to store the lubed patches that made handling them on the firing point easier - I now use an empty air-pellet tin. It's an ideal size for about 100 lubed patches.

Time to save some money

Having just got back from a work-party day at the local Club range, managed to combine tidying up the black-powder butts with some money saving! Took along a sieve and a small trowel. Once I located the impact point on the butt sand for the five firing points, I got to work. After any stones were removed, and any plants/grass uprooted, I started to dig down to about 6 inches, sieving every time the sieve was full. After two hours, the five butt locations had been cleared, dug, sieved, refilled and reprofiled, I had a bucket of bullet heads and lead balls:

Bucket o'lead



Once suitably washed and then completely dried, the heads and balls will be melted down, fluxed and then poured in to ingot moulds [I'll be using a 9-hole deep-fill muffin tray]. Then when I need to, I'll remelt the lead ingots, flux the melt again, then use a dipper ladle and my Lee .354 mould to cast some lead balls for the Mortimer.

A poor day's shooting

Started off the day planning to shoot 2 cards, but ended up shooting 3 cards, rather badly. Card 2 of the Kent Black Powder summer season league was a 82 ex 100.

Round 2 - 82 ex 100



The entire group was about an inch to the left. Swabbing between shots, the patches were quite dirty. The shooting setup used was:

Mortimer pistol in .36

0.015 patch [from JT Tanner]

2:1 olive oil:tallow lube [homemade]

0.350 lead balls [from Hornady]

9 grains Swiss Number 1 [from Starley]

Number 11 percussion caps {from CCI]

For the second card [round 3], I switched to Ox-Yoke pre-lubed patches. Again the entire group was to the left. This time it was nearer 2 inches, and also about an inch high. The card scored as a 77 ex 100.

At this point I SHOULD have stopped as I was getting tired eyes and a sore lower back. Due to time constraints and range availability, I pushed on and did a third card. This round 4 card scored a very disappointing 68 ex 100. The group was even further left and even higher.

Using the same setup as the previous card, I found problems with the loading this time around. With the long rammer, I found it wasn't seating the ball as far down the barrel as it should have done. It needed several more 'rams' to get to seated correctly.

Half way through the card, stopped to clean out the barrel with WD-40, a nylon brush and several cleaning swaps. OK afterwards for several shots, but then the same issues again.

After the session, found that during the cleaning, the nipple felt 'stickier', the barrel by the nipple was dirtier than usual, and the residue from the bottom of the barrel was 'flaky pieces' rather than the usual fine soot.

Next time out I'll do the following:

# shoot a maximum of two cards in any single session

# try Remington number 11 percussion caps instead of CCI

# try Dynamit Nobel 1075 percussion caps instead of CCI

# use the aqueous creme and water mix patch lubricant

Stats
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Running average: 80.06

Detail score 82.0 + 77.0 + 68.0
Barrel count: 314

Cards: 24