I broke down and went to the local indoor range. $10 per hour didn't sound too bad and the itch just had to be scratched. prb wouldn't cooperate 70 gr of 2f goex and .015 oxyoke pre lubed patches, scattered them all over the place. Loading resistance was rather light so I think i'll try .018 patches next time. Tried some hornady grt plns in 385 grain over 70 gr of 2f and put 5 in a 1 3/4 " circle at 50 yds. Much harder to push down the barrel and kick like a mule but it looks like dead deer to me. I hope I canget the prb thing worked out. Those conicals are too expensive to shoot for fun.
Gerard

Sounds like a winner, gearheart. That's a fine group with the GPs. I'm surprised you got that much kick with them and 70 grains GOEX. That's a fairly comfortable shooting load out of my New Englander.

What kind of sight were you using?

Depending on the twist and the way the barrel is made, your best bet might be (as you discovered) conicals. Some cheaper conicals to try are REAL conicals, and Bull Shop conicals. They are more cost effective for the most part. With a group like you shot at 50 yards with those conicals, very little would get by that rifle. Nice shooting.

Cotton pillow tick blue stripe at Wal Mart or other fabric stores is .018 if you want cheap patches..

I was using open sights seated elbow on a table. After the fiasco with the prbsI was rather relieved to discover that I could still shoot. I have a friend who has a load of the heavy patch material and I'll get some off him next week. Maybe try a .495 ball also.
Gerard

With that grouping with conicals I believe I'd try a few different conicals in it.
I've had good results with the Lee REALs. Both the 250 & 320 shoot well out of my 1:48 NewEnglander.

Wow, they let you shoot black powder indoors?? Must have a great ventilation system.

I always hated indoor ranges for that reason goatbrother. I'd leave there and have a sore throat and a foul taste in my mouth and a smell on me .. it would take a couple showers before I was happy again. BUT it beated standing out knee deep in snow and shooting in bitter cold..

They have an awsome vent system. The smoke was gone in 5 seconds from the shot being fired. I specifically asked them if they had any issues with shooting blk p and their response was "We do it all the time" It gets expensive though since I only got 12 shots off in that hour. At $10 / hr, that's just under 90 cents / shot.
Gerard

Well I guess my all day range sessions at the hunting camp aren't as expensive asI thought, even though they cost a half tank of gas in my old Ford Ranger. Six or seven hours of shooting followed by a steak on the barbie while sipping a cold one and listening to the yotes howl - priceless.

I shot some of those huge T/C MAXI-Ball Conicals out of my White Mtn Carbine with 120gr of Pyro P and it about ripped my shoulder out of socket....lol They were some old conicals my dad had. Either 385 oe 485grains. Something outrageous. One hell of a chunk of lead!! I ended up getting real good grouping shooting a .490 patched roundball with 70 or 80grains of Pyro-P or Pyro-RS....can't remember exact numbers, it's been a while. Anyways, I was shooting off an old car hood and put 3 shots in a 5"-6" circle @ about 60yards with iron sights and told my buddy, Don't let me touch the sights anymore!!! The next day (opening day) I went out in the a.m. and didn't see anything. That evening I got a HUGE 7pointer right at dusk about 75 yrds. Dropped him where he stood using a roundball. After the smoke cleared from the cannon blast, I didn't hear or see anything while trying to get a bearing in case I had to look for him. But when I walked up to where he had been standing....there he was. He was almost expired... Gave him another quick shot and that was that.... Roundballs can be real good up to about 75 yards.... I think I am going to set my little brother up with the TC Carbine this fall. Might get a Simms recoil pad for it though!!! A slip-on at the very least. Need a good one for my Omega too.....

chris