alemonkey
Member
I've always shot Pyrodex RS in my .50 percussion muzzleloader (an old CVA Sharpshooter - traditional style, side lock that I picked up dirt cheap about 10 years ago). I recently ordered some Swiss 1.5 for my 45-70 and decided to give it a try in my .50. My rifle shoots pretty well with 70 grains of Pyrodex, so I tried the same load of Swiss.
I went to the range today and the first thing I noticed was the ignition was almost instantaneous, just like firing a centerfire rifle. With Pyrodex it's always been more of a pop..........BANG. But with the Swiss, there is no perceivable lag.
I was very disappointed in the accuracy at first. My groups with the Swiss were 2-3 times as big, which puzzled me since I saw a huge improvement when going to Swiss with my 45-70. I was shooting a .490 round ball with a .15 patch lubed in Wonder Lube 1000. I also noticed there was very hard fouling down toward the breech, so hard that after a couple of shots it was very difficult to seat the ball on top of the powder without running a cleaning patch through first.
After a little cursing and head scratching I decided to try changing my lube. I stuck one of the patches in my mouth to moisten it while I was measuring powder for my next charge. After switching to the spit-lubed patch I noticed loading between shots was much easier. I was able to go about 10 rounds before seating the ball got difficult. But, the big improvement was in accuracy. I was able to keep 5 shots in about 3 inches shooting offhand at 50 meters, which for me is pretty good. Better than I usually shoot, anyway. I'm guessing a lot of that is due to the MUCH faster ignition time, which gives me a lot less time to stray off target after the trigger has been squeezed. Also, the Swiss is a LOT hotter, which I also saw in my 45-70. Impact is probably 3-4 inches higher.
So, I guess the point of the story is if a particular load doesn't work, try changing 1 thing at a time and you just might be pleasantly surprised. The only bad thing is I have a couple cans of Pyrodex to get rid of now, and the Swiss I was hoarding for my Sharps is going to need replaced sooner.
I went to the range today and the first thing I noticed was the ignition was almost instantaneous, just like firing a centerfire rifle. With Pyrodex it's always been more of a pop..........BANG. But with the Swiss, there is no perceivable lag.
I was very disappointed in the accuracy at first. My groups with the Swiss were 2-3 times as big, which puzzled me since I saw a huge improvement when going to Swiss with my 45-70. I was shooting a .490 round ball with a .15 patch lubed in Wonder Lube 1000. I also noticed there was very hard fouling down toward the breech, so hard that after a couple of shots it was very difficult to seat the ball on top of the powder without running a cleaning patch through first.
After a little cursing and head scratching I decided to try changing my lube. I stuck one of the patches in my mouth to moisten it while I was measuring powder for my next charge. After switching to the spit-lubed patch I noticed loading between shots was much easier. I was able to go about 10 rounds before seating the ball got difficult. But, the big improvement was in accuracy. I was able to keep 5 shots in about 3 inches shooting offhand at 50 meters, which for me is pretty good. Better than I usually shoot, anyway. I'm guessing a lot of that is due to the MUCH faster ignition time, which gives me a lot less time to stray off target after the trigger has been squeezed. Also, the Swiss is a LOT hotter, which I also saw in my 45-70. Impact is probably 3-4 inches higher.
So, I guess the point of the story is if a particular load doesn't work, try changing 1 thing at a time and you just might be pleasantly surprised. The only bad thing is I have a couple cans of Pyrodex to get rid of now, and the Swiss I was hoarding for my Sharps is going to need replaced sooner.
Apparently because of its coating it can be difficult to ignite in a flinter, but it's an outstanding reliable propellant in my percussion rifles and pistols. After a day's shooting, the only carbon on the weapon is around the nipple from the caps. I've no complaints about the accuracy of 777, either. It's worth a try.
