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I've used real black powder with paper patched bullets in both Sharps and Rolling Block rifles. I use a grease cookie of the same mix of BW and Vas. as on grooved bullets and wiped on the patched bullt. 60:40. Paul's "The Paper Jacket" is the reason I do this. I use a wax paper disk between the compressed powder (separate step with a plunger) and the base wad of card material, then the bullet. I see in subsequent books, he switched to using bee-brood wax wafers, but I stayed with wax paper because they work and are free. I use a sharpened case to cut those wads against a ply cutting board. You can cut many layers at once, as many as you want, if using a drill press for power.

With real BP, the bullet does not have to be larger than bore size for normal rifling to about .006" depth. That-is, the patched bullet's diameter can barely engrave the rifling- barely touching, yet the accuracy will be as good as perfectly fitting bullets. This, I've done in both Sharps and Rolling Blocks - as per Paul's directions.

ie: .451" bore size, .451" to .452" patched bullet, where the patched bullet can be shoved the entire length of the bore with barely making land marks upon the patch. This was similar to the fit of original Sharps ammo in most of the rifles, although the bullet was tapered, normally, sightly larger at the base.

The bullets must be what today would be considered soft indeed. some get best results with 40:1 lead to tin, whereas I found 50/50 WW and pure lead was good - somewhat harder than 40:1. My powder charges were 85gr. in the .50rifle with 500gr. patched bullet and 122gr. in the 3 1/4" .45cal. rifle with a 580gr. PP bullet. My brothers shot identically sized bullets in his .45 3 1/4" for moa accuracy using a light 400gr.PP bullet and only 100gr. 2f - compressed with 8, I think it was, 1/10" monopoly board wads. His rifle's best accuracy was 1 1/2" at 100meters and 2 1/2" at 200 yards, slightly better in minutes of angle farther out.

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Daryl

"a gun without hammers is like a Spaniel without ears" King George V

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