Semisane

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In my last range session with the .58 Zouave I got better groups with a .575 ball than with a .570 ball. I was using .015/.016 "table cloth" patches. I've got a lot of .570s and am about out of .575s. So I figured if I use thicker patches with the .570sI should be able to match the larger ball's groups.

Today's range session was set up to see if that's true. I brought some .018 pillow ticking andsome .021/.022 denim to try with the smaller balls. Loaded up with 70 grains GOEX - a load the gun likes -and the pillow ticking and got this group at 50 yards from the bench.




Not real great. Maybe the thicker denim will do the trick. Loaded up with 70 grains and the denim and got this group.




A little better, but not great. Also,I did change the parameters somewhat because with the first target I wiped with one damp patch between shots, and with the second targetI fully cleaned the barrel between shots. So I really don't know whether it was the denim patch or the clean barrel that made the slight difference.

Anyway,I decided to try the denim patch with a heavier load - 80 grains. Here's the result.



Well that sucks! Maybe a smaller charge. Tried 60 grains and got this.




Now I'm wondering if I'm just having abad day shooting. So I figured I would give my tried-and-true load a turn - 70 grains/.575 ball/table cloth patch. Here's the result.




YAHOO! That's more like it. Clearly the Zouave with its shallow "Minnie ball" riflingfavors a thin patch, which requires use of a larger ball.Small ball/thick patch just doesn't work (at least in this gun).

MaybeI'll be putting a .575 ball through the boiler room of my second deer this year(the first one WILL fall to the GP flintlock).

I've been using.530 balls in the flintlock. Now I'm wondering if I should try .535s.

corey012778

nice homework. mr sane.

HuntAway

Targets 17 & 18 show some promise as well.

Good report. You would think you're the teacher or soomething.

dmurphy317

Semi,
Give the 535 ball a try in the GPR mine likes it better than the 530. I can get the smaller ball to shoot with a thicker patch but the 535 does good with the .015 patch and I get the benifit of a little more weight from the bigger ball. It is also easier to load and I get good groups without swabbing. I think the patch around the ball does enough swabbing as the load goes down to give consistent enough bore conditions if the gun likes the load. Give it a try and see if yours likes it.

Semisane

I will do that dmurphy. I noticed the same loading change with the Zouave. The larger ball / thin patch loaded much more easily than the small ball / thick patch.

arcticap

The first shot out of a reallycold, cleanbarrel is the one that I'm the most interested in seeing. I do wonder if a warm barrel starts to affect the group size, and shooting out of a cold, clean one is the only way to determine if the load will fly true.
Even shooting in thesummer vs. thewinter can affect POI here in New England, soa hunting load can'treally be tested for until the cold weatherreturns. Our ML deer hunting season is in December and barrels canget icy cold. I guessthat you don't experiencethatshootingphenomenon in Louisianaveryoften, eh?

Semisane

What the heck are you talking about artticap? When our ML season opens it can easily be all the way down in the mid-40's - though it's usually not that cold.

cayugad

That one table cloth patch looks like the keeper to me... nice shooting and good testing there.

And yes, there is a difference between summer and winter shooting when you live in a part of the country that actually have seasons...

Semisane

WHATCHATALKINGBOUT Cayugad ??? We've got seasons- hunting season, crawfish* season, frogging season, alligator season,etc. Heck, we've even got seasoning that makes all of that stuff taste real good.

(No, they're not CRAYFISH, they're crawfish, dammit.http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&gfns=1&ie=UTF-8&&q=crawfish )

CZ2506

Here in Michigan we're down to just two seasons-- frost laws and road repair[:@][:@]