Worse groups ever
 

Just took 4 shots with the .54 GPR and had the worse groups ever shot with a muzzle loader.

110g goex 2f with .015 tc patch and home cast ball gave me over a 12" 3 shot group @ 100 yards [:'(]

I am going back out with my powder horn and shoot 3 more shots with 90g goex and see how that does.

After those 3 shots i will switch to the .018 pillow ticking and fire 3 shots with 110 and then 3 with 90g.

I am swabbing between shots.

New shooting bench is doin great!

RE: Worse groups ever
 

Now Gander, don't go and start a "worst groups ever" contest. I can get worse than 12" at 100 yards easily. :)

Two suggestions - try different lubes & try felt wads. Was that group with the wheel weight balls? How was the wind?

RE: Worse groups ever
 

Well some days we shine and other days we are kind of shady... Bad days happen. Don't let it throw you. Try what you had working last time.

RE: Worse groups ever
 

Wind? Whats that? Im sitting in a friggin tanning bed!

Soft stick a weight wheel weights.

With 90g i didnt even show up on paper. The took 3 shots with 110g and the .015 but this time i added another patch down the bore first on top of the powder then loaded the patched ball. 2 shots were 5" low and dead center and measured 2"

Next 3 shots with .018 pillow ticking and 110g goex measured a little over 1" 3 shot group. But still 5" low and dead center.

If i were to file 1/16th" of the front sight, do you think that would put me close to dead on? I use the 6 o'clock hold.

For hunting, what i will more than likely do is load up my first shot with the .018 PT patch and the powerbelt round ball "My hunting balls" and if i shoot it at something i will load up a .015 patch "Double patch" and it will be darn close if i need another shot.

Its shooting good though. Shoulder is a little sore but nothing to cry over :D

Going to take a couple more shots and call it a day. Its just to darn hot out there right now and the heat is draining me quick.

RE: Worse groups ever
 

Ok took 3 more shots. First i went and swabbed the bore entirely clean. took 4 patches on both sides and then i ran 3 more dry patches. Wiped the frizzen,flint, pan and touch hole clean. Blew down the bore to make sure nothing got punched into the flash hole. Loaded up 110g goex, .018 PT and the stick a weight round ball. First shot hit the 2x4 " A total of 7" low from aiming point"Taped up the hole. Cleaned the entire rifle the exact same way. Down went the same load "I let the barrel and myself cool down for a few minutes. Set the rifle on the rest and ran my pick throught the vent hole and added my 4f to the pan. Instant ignition, A little pain to the shoulder, A huge smile on my face as i walked to the target and found that the ball had gone directly into the center of the last shot! I taped up ALL the holes in my target on all the previous shots and i was just amazed to find that it went into the same hole. I dont mind swabbing when it shoots like this.

I went to reload another shot and found that i only had enough powder for a 90g charge. This time i loaded the .015 patches "Double" and aimed at the top of my target and fired " did not swab the bore"

Ball hit 9" low and in the right corner of the balls circle. I think these will do fine for hunting as long as i double patch.

I wont use wads due to the price being $11 for 100 wads so thats out of the question.

Lube i use is a mixture of crisco,murphys oil soap and a very very tiny amount of extra virgin olive oil.

May do some more shooting with it tomorrow but first i am going to file down this sight a bit.

RE: Worse groups ever
 

frontier gander,It is my experance that when they act like that it needs a 535 ball instead of a 530. Lee

RE: Worse groups ever
 

.535 with the thinner .015 patch?

RE: Worse groups ever
 

Filed down the sight some, screwed the adjustment screw in 3 complete turns so i have some adjustment so i will see how that does. I need it atleast 4" high at 50.

RE: Worse groups ever
 

What do the .015 patches look like after theyare shot???

RE: Worse groups ever
 

When using the second patch as a buffer between the powder and the PRB, The PRB patch looks excellent while the buffer patch is shredded.

I took my first shot at 58 yards, 4" low and dead center. One complete turn out and it moved it up an inch. Grabbed a file and darn near took off half of the thing! Next 3 shots were exactly 4 1/2" high and center.

Not sure if this will help me at 100 yards but atleast i will have adjustment on my sights to take care of this.

One complete turn out @ 58 yards moved me 1" so i would think half a turn @ 100 should be close to 1".

Tomorrow will be another shooting day.

Where the hell is the Advil? :D My shoulder is stiff.

RE: Worse groups ever
 

No, what did the .015 patches look like before the buffer, it sounds like the original groups were poor because of thin patching and changing to .018 straighten things up...

RE: Worse groups ever
 

I couldnt find any of the .015 patches when i was just shooting those alone. My range is in thick oak brush littered with god only knows how many years worth of leaves and dead branches on the ground.

I too believe the .015's were to thin, but added the buffer patch really helped out a lot.