Xcellerator I went to Wal Mart and bought a yard of 100% cotton pillow tick. From what I measure it is .015 thickness. I cut that into 2" strips, and use Crisco or spit to lube it. Just keep playing with it. Swab between shots. Take your time loading, and try to get everything the same each time. My .50 cal Traditions Hawkins loves 65 grains, a patch and a .490 ball, but even at 50 yards, I am not cutting one hole. Friends of mine who started BP hunting asked me about distance to shoot also, and I advised them to think of bow hunting more then rifle hunting. Let the animals get in close. (I prefer 80 yards or under, and my standard shots are 35 to 50 yards.) Some people claim their black powder rifle needed a break in period. They had to shoot about 50 rounds or more until is smoothed out. I was lucky, that was not my case. If you have a set trigger on the rifle, that will help too. As many will tell you, keep shooting, and practice. As you say, your a good shot, so I am sure this will all come to you once you figure out the sweet load for the rifle....