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Bill-

This little rifle is really fun.
It does definitely look like it was set up for small charges of powder, but that was the powder from back then.
I'm thinking of trying FFFg Goex at a similar charge to see if I can get the groups to overlap at fifty yards.
I was handed fresh black can of Elephant Black Powder yesterday, but I'm hesitant to try anything yet that won't be available fairly easily in the future.
I'll run through more wadding experiments and Goex powder first to see if I can get what I want without using anything considered exotic.
FFFg might just do it.
More FFg just got it to shoot further apart.
I will fiddle with bullet jump too to see if that can help with bringing the groups together. Like I said about the first day out with it, I haven't really been working that angle thinking the big bore gun wouldn't give much of a hoot. I'll try the next set of rounds with the roundball at the mouth of the cases first, that'll give me plenty of jump and might just do the trick. Thinking about it, I think the first two out of the gun were seated pretty close to that and those were the closest together of the twenty or so rounds fired so far.

There isn't much written specifically on loading blackpowder cartridge sixteen bore side by side rifles. I don't think I've seen anything on that configuration in pinfire.
I've been taking what I can from other discussions I've heard or read about shooting bore rifles, some things I've heard about the sixteen bore, some things about blackpowder, some things about wadding...
As I still only have two pieces of brass for this gun and my enthusiasm in the right now time frame is firmly settled at the shooting bench and not at the engine lathe, getting sets of groups printed together is time consuming and very entertaining. I'm getting a rythm together prepping the cases and reloading the cartridges.

The little pincher mould is working out well for me for this excercise. I don't think the gun wants more bullet weight, but the balls I'm running are undersize for this gun, perfect for my Mahillon pinfire double rifle. I'm not getting leading, the wads are doing a fine job of gas sealing, and from the accuracy, it looks like I'm not stripping the rifling's engraving on the slow rifling in these barrels. I may just have lucked out with my bullet mould. I've heard that the big bores are easier to get amazinigly good accuracy out of though, and wonder if the thing would shoot ragged hole groups with balls of groove size. If I find a mould that throws .680" pure lead balls I'll cast twenty or so and see how the gun likes them.

Till then I'm gonna keep throwing the triple sixes down range and work through what I have till I get the best grouping and performance.

I don't think I have any errant chores around here today, might just get back out to the ranch and make some more noise today.

--Tinker

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--Self-Appointed Colonel, DRSS--

"It IS a dangerous game, and so named for a reason, and you can't play from the keyboard. " --Some Old Texan...

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