best accuracy for sidelock conicals

[shotgunmessenger96]

tested some different combinations of patches and grease with hand casted pure lead conicals for an upcoming elk hunt and none of them could give me groups. the best one was 100gr-3f>patch>conical which hit 16in.low. also tried bore butter on the bullet then throughout the bore which missed the target by feet. all shooting was done at 100 yards,24in barrel 1-48twist. I am new to molding and shooting conicals and have now idea how to squeeze accuracy out of them. I would like some advice on the proper loading of conicals- is grease needed on the bullet-in the bore?- is a patch needed?-need less powder?-stick with patch and ball?
-thanks

 

[Chawbaccer]

Fill the grooves on the bullet with your lube, Crisco, bee's was, Bore Butter, what ever you like. Do not use a patch, the bullets work by being engraved with the rifling at loading, the ignition of the powder upsets the bullet so it will fill the bore. I will use a milk carton disc as an over powder card, but not really necessary. For a 50 cal. I would use 75-80 grains of Goex, 2 or 3 f.

 

[lonewolf5347]

I think you are pushing the charge with your short barrel: I would back down to 75Gr. 3F to start.
I shoot 80 grains out of my older t/c flinter and at the 100 yd on a good day I would say I could place 3 shots in a 2" group with peep sights

 

[zimmerstutzen]

Patches???? or wads?? Patches are not normally used with conicals.

Are the hollow based, and soft lead?

A buddy of mine couldn't get any accuracy out of his, because I forget to tell him, pure lead and he used some hard old fishing sinkers. Once we used sof lead, the groups shrank. I also agree about the powder.

 

[dbm]

If you're rifling is designed for patched round ball, then you may not get good accuracy from conicals. If the rifling is deep, the bullet may not fully expand to fill it: barrels for shooting conicals generally have shallow rifling.

Your charge is high, especially with 3f. Beware that the nipple flash hole does not get burnt out and enlarged as you may encounter some gas blow back lifting the hammer. This will again affect accuarcy.

Incidently I only use 90 grains of 2f when shooting my .45 match rifle at 1000 yards. I'm only punching holes in paper though so your requirements may vary.

David

 

[Joshua M. Smith]

Hello,

This is a .50, right?

If you're using the rifle I think you are, your limit is 100gns of FFg, do not use FFFG in it.

A pure lead patched round ball should do fine. If you insist on conicals, you'll want to use some Mini or Maxi balls (300gn weight limit) with lube on the outside of the bullet. 70gns FFG should be plenty; you have in effect a .50-70.

The highest charge does not usually bring about the best accuracy.

Josh

 

[Smilin Jack]

Well now, what 50 cal rifle are we talking about? My Lyman 50cal Great Plains is designed to shoot patched round balls, and does a great job with around 70 grains of 3FFF. The owners book said to shoot 2FF powder, but from what I read here and there, it's OK to use 3FFF by cutting back the amount for the same pressures. Look in an old Lyman black powder handbook for more info.

People told me that my rifle wouldn't shoot slugs worth a darn. They were right with several different types of 50 cal slugs. Then a friend gave me a hand full of Thompson/Center Maxi-hunter slugs in 350 grain. Those shoot well from my Great Plains with 90 grains of 2FF, but they shot left about 16" at 100 yards. Fixed that by moving the rear sight to adjust things. It's a good shooter now with greased slugs as they come from the box. A little expensive for a box of 20, but they will work great on deer, elk, even black bears and cougar.

Give these a try in your rifle, but start with 60 to 70 grains of 2FF powder and see how things go. You can increase powder by 5 or 10 grains and try again until good groups happen. DON'T use more powder than the book says is maximum. We don't want any injuries.

Good luck on your elk hunt, and be sure to use pure lead... it's softer than alloys.

Dave

 

[Jefferson Herb]

I use a wad over powder,bore butter,w/bees wax in warm weather,have .50 and .54 maxi molds.