Blackpowder accuracy (or lack of) with slugs

[tailchaser]

Occasionally when I can draw a good tag with muzzloaders I shoot a conical but with a little less powder (110 gr) and a little smaller lead. If you think about it 350-450 grs is a lot to push out the barrel for a .50 cal. You're putting a lot of pressure on your system to throw that big boy out and it probably won't spin or take for to the grooves quite as well. Thus, not having the correct spin coming out of the barrel will produce a knuckleball.

Try shooting a 325 gr. with 110 gr. of powder and see what that does. Also experiment with different powders. That could be the problem more than the bullet. Basically you're doing the right thing to experiment until one fits the gun.

tc

[James in Idaho]

Radke:

I shoot a .54 with 1/48 twist, and usually shoot roundballs, but the best shooting conical in mine is the T/C Maxi ball. I use a wonderwad under the slug, and usually 80 grns of 3f blackpowder. Have a friend who's son shoots a .50, uses 80 grns of 2f out of a T/C Scout, which is a fast twist like yours, and that kid is deadly with it. Sounds like you are overloading (remember you get higher pressure with some of the fake powders). Try dropping down to 70 grns, and use the maxi ball. Work up from there until you start loosing your group. Pretty sure that a .50 with a maxi and 80 to 90 grns has more than enough stuff for an elk. If you are using pellets, try loose powder. I don't shoot the fake stuff, but from watching other shooters use it, it seems a little more tempermental than good old blackpowder.

If you can't tell, I'm somewhat of a traditionalist, except for my peep on my Hawkin, but that is for bad eyes! :grin:

[Radke]

Thank you both for your reply! My spousal unit probably won't draw a tag this year so I have additional time to experiment. I'll try dropping the charge down a bit. I'm shooting Pyrodex RS, and have hung in there at 120 grains. I also have an older traditional gun in .54 cal. with a 1-48 twist. The cheapest gun Cabela's sold at the time. Yet I love shooting that thing with a patched round-ball. I get better accuracy than I'm getting with the .50, but at only 215 grains of weight (the ball), I have a concern about the knock down power. But yet I have read many a story of people killing buffalo with this gun.
thanks again for taking the time to reply.

[Radke]

Do any of you I-Hunters have any tips on improving accuracy shooting blackpowder with slugs? I shoot (or I should say my wife shoots) a MK-85 in 50 cal. Barrel twist 1-28. It does extremely well with sabot's, but as you probably know, can't hunt with dem babies no mo. I've tried buffalo bullets, Colorado Conicals, several others, hollow-based, flat-based, used wonder wads, no wonder wads. I have a hard time keeping it within a 12 inch pattern at 100 yards. I even mounted a scope on it to try and eliminate the human factor as much as I could so I could concentrate on variations in the slug/powder combinations. The primary quarry is elk, so I try and keep the powder charge up at 120 gr., and the slug in the 350-450 gr. range. I swab the barrel between shots to try and eliminate fouling as a variable.

Anyone out there with any tips on what works for you in terms of obtaining better than a 12 inch 100 yard pattern? I should note that when we did shoot sabot's, a 4 inch pattern was the norm.

[Lured In]

Radke...I agree with the above about backing down your charge. I shoot a Cabela's Hawken .54 (1:48) for both deer and elk. My dad shoots the same in 50 cal. Keep in mind the differences in grains of blackpowder. 120 grains of FFg is probably about equal to 100 grains (or less) of FFFg from a charge standpoint.

With the 1:28 in twist you are probably stripping the round through the grooves at 120 grains. Good luck.

[James in Idaho]

Radke:

My .54 is an Investarms that I built from a kit, same gun as your Cabelas. With 80 grns of 3f black, I can get a 2" group at 75 yards with the T/C maxi's. I usually shoot roundballs, and have killed a couple of Wyoming antelope with 90 grns of 3f and a roundball. The .54 will shoot those maxi's, use a bore button under it. Really have not found another conical that shoots as well. It is a short range deal, the drop between 75 and 100 yards is pretty dramatic. I look at my .54 like a big bow, and getting close is what it is all about. Like you, I am a little leery of using a roundball on elk out of the .54, that's why I think I need a .62!!!! Too bad all of my "fun tickets" are needed for stuff like a drift boat and a rebuild on my White's.

[tailchaser]

Honestly, if you're worried about shooting a 325 gr piece of lead at an elk your overconcerning yourself. If you're within a reasonable range 110-115 yards and in it's going to smack the bigeezus out the critter. Try freezing a gallon jug and shooting it at 100 yards. My point will be proven.

tc

[Radke]

You guys are a wealth of information, which I greatly appreciate. I probably am a bit too concerned about knockdown power, but part of the problem is that it is my wife who is doing the hunting. She practices enough, is accurate enough, but if she ever hit an animal and we didn't recover it, she would never hunt again. I just want to put the odds as much in our favor as I can, and also be as respectful to the animals we chose to hunt.