Black powder

[phantom101]

I have a thompson center 50 cal that I finally get to shoot,problem is I'm not sure of the powder load. I have been doing research and they say 700-900 grains is good but to me that seem like way to much,any advice.

 

[damoc]

UH not 700 to 900 grains

thats my advice

70-90 maybee

 

[phantom101]

that's what I was thinking but everyone I talked to said more...confusing.

 

[damoc]

that's what I was thinking but everyone I talked to said more...confusing.

maybee the people you were talking to were wrong or maybee you misuderstood
maybee im wrong?

who knows

but 700-900 grains is head over heals above what anyone here is shooting

Im pretty sure i could take a deer with 50 grains and at 150 grains i would have
a fire breathing dragon killer.

 

[splattergun]

70 to 90 grains. maybe 100. maybe. but 1/10th of a pound? I don' thin' so, Lucy.

 

[4v50 Gary]

No way 700 plus grains. That's way too much powder. Perhaps they meant a 700 grain bullet (which would be very heavy too).

 

[phantom101]

Pretty sure I misunderstood them.

 

[Panzerschwein]

Whatever you decide please do some research before you shoot the gun. It sounds like you may be inexperienced and it might be a good idea to take a professional gun safety class before shooting as well.

 

[Rattus58]

I have a thompson center 50 cal that I finally get to shoot,problem is I'm not sure of the powder load. I have been doing research and they say 700-900 grains is good but to me that seem like way to much,any advice.

That's clearly a misprint. First of all, you couldn't burn that much powder, and that plus a conical would be a 1200 grain load and a certainly sore shoulder, assuming nothing else gave up first.

70 to 90 gains is the range that you want to experiment with if you're shooting a a conical, and maybe up to 110 grains if you're shooting a round ball in a long twist bore... such as 1-60 or 1-70. If you're shooting a 1-48 twist, 70-90 is probably good. This is if you're shooting a caplock.

If you're shooting an inline 50 caliber with sabots, you definitely don't want to go over 100 grains till you get your gun figured out. Sabots can build dramatic pressure even with lightweight bullets, so again, I'd still start my load experimentation's at 70 and work up for accuracy from there. If it's an inline you're shooting, I'd consider maxing out your load at 100 to 120 with light weight bullets, 100 with heavier bullets.. meaning over 350 grains or so.

Aloha..

 

[Malachi Leviticus Blue]

Phantom for peace of mind...

The user manual gives you some recommendations from the manufacturer.

Thompson/Center manuals can be found at this link.

http://www.tcarms.com/owners-manuals

 

[phantom101]

To be honest buying that rifle used and not knowing anything about black powder it scares me,I plan on looking for black powder clubs in my area and getting real advice before shooting it.

 

[230RN]

700 to 900 grains of black powder sounds like a one-pounder cannon load, 1-1/2 to 2 ounces.

NOT one pound of powder, but the projectile is one pound. <For emphasis.)

One-pounder cannon:
http://www.ima-usa.com/english-1lb-...winter-carriage-marked-liverpool-england.html

Just to give you some perspective on relative weights of powder versus projectile. Two-pounder mountain gun, with loading data. Fun stuff, and I wonder where they got all that 100+ year old BP from:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ov5O47iSsqo

Terry, 230RN

 

[Ron T.]

I have and shoot 3 different .50 caliber muzzle-loaders, 2 older CVA percussion-cap Hawkens, one with a 28-inch barrel (7½ lbs.) for target shooting and one with a 24-inch barrel (6½ lbs.) for deer hunting and a Traditions "Shenandoah" flint-lock (1:66 twist). All of 'em are very accurate with the following loads.

All of 'em "love" a 47 grain (by volume) load of either Swiss or Goex FFFg black powder for target shooting and my hunting CVA Hawken-Hunter Carbine is just as accurate (3 overlaping shots in the bullseye) using 70 grains of Swiss Black Powder for deer hunting.

This 70 grain load is capable of shooting THROUGH a deer with a shot through the "boiler room" at 80 yards or less (my self-imposed range limit on live game)... so no heavier load is really necessary. Always use the most accurate load when hunting as long as that load is capable of fully penetrating or shooting through the game you're hunting.

What you must do is try various powder loads and choose THE most accurate powder load. I use 3-shot groups to determine the load's accuracy. Of course, with a muzzle-loader, you'll rarely get more than a single shot at game so a 3-shot group is all one needs to determine the "most accurate" load(s).

Try to find a "mentor"... someone who is experienced in shooting traditional muzzle loaders (flintlocks or cap-locks) and willing to give you advice and helpful knowledge.

Beware of those who thinks they "know-it-all". Their advice is often questionable. You should also buy Lyman's Manual on Black Powder Shooting and read it front-to-back TWICE. It will give you excellent and valuable information on black powder shooting.

Good luck and have fun... that's the "name-of-the-game" in muzzle-loader shooting.


Strength & Honor...

Ron T.

 

[Crawdad1]

Pretty sure I misunderstood them.

I agree there. I mean that load is in the stratosphere.

But learn and have fun, you got yourself a good rifle.

 

[JamesKelly]

You might want to consider not talking to "everyone"

 

[mykeal]

Beware of those who thinks they "know-it-all". Their advice is often questionable.

Good advice.

But, how does a newbie tell a "know-it-all" from a genuine helpful soul? They don't come with brands, as far as I know.

 

[mec]

Phantom for peace of mind...

The user manual gives you some recommendations from the manufacturer.

Thompson/Center manuals can be found at this link.

http://www.tcarms.com/owners-manuals

=Malachi Leviticus

Genuine Helpful guy. He posts a very useful link with no bombast

 

[Sunray]

Go buy a copy of the Lyman BP Handbook and Reloading Guide. Good read and full of info for FNG's. Still trying to get my head around 'in grains by volume'. $21.50 direct from Lyman.
Whoever 'they' are lied to you. The TC manual's have loads in 'em. None go over 150 grains.

 

[mec]

"Grain by Volume is quite useful" I find that most of my flasks and measures are very accurate an in accord with their stated weight when I use Goex. Swiss weighs a few grains more when tossed from a measure set for goex. The black powder substitutes are designed to use in the same measures that throw appropriate charges of goex or other black powder.\
If you use your 22 grain spout to charge your 36 with goex, it will weigh 22 grains. The same spout throws a charge of pyrodex p that doesn't weigh anything close to 22 grains but performs about the same.Takes up the same space, weighs someting different (and unimportant)
(actually when I checked, Pyrodex P performed more like Swiss fffg)

It's a lot easier for me than grasping metrics

 

[Ron T.]

Ahhhhhhhhhhhh, MEC...

An excellent and very interesting post.

Thank you for your research and post.

 

[Ron T.]

Mykeal wrote: Good advice.

But, how does a newbie tell a "know-it-all" from a genuine helpful soul? They don't come with brands, as far as I know.

***************************************


Excellent question... let me know when you figure it out.

 

[mec]

Ahhhhhhhhhhhh, MEC...

An excellent and very interesting post.

Thank you for your research and post"

Oh,Good. That thing about weight vs volume throws a lot of people and it's hard to find the right words to clear it up.

But, how does a newbie tell a "know-it-all" from a genuine helpful soul? They don't come with brands, as far as I know.

***************************************


Excellent question... let me know when you figure it out.

There are red flags such as :
1. Frequent use of the personal pronoun'
2. The leitmotif," Well, I've been a (fill in the blank) for ..... years AND...";
3. The question " How do you know it's a shad and not a varigated Mullet?" ;
4. Any variation on the Internet Expert!/ Foremost! Authority theme again, with frequent use of the personal pronoun and occasional name-dropping.

 

[phantom101]

Wow info overload but thank you all.

 

[dagger dog]

The rule of thumb for starting loads for a blackpowder muzzle loader RIFLE is 1 grain volume for every 1 caliber of ball=50 caliber=50 grains of powder.

Up to 45 caliber using FFFg 45 caliber and up using FFg.

 

[phantom101]

Finally got to go shooting with the 50 cal. 70 grains and it shot like a dream,almost no recoil and dead on.