Neophyte Question About Powder
 

I recently was given my first blackpowder rifle as a birthday gift, a Traditions Tracker 209. Seems like a great gun and am having fun with it.

Being a beginner, I have a few questions about powder charges.

How does more or less powder effect accuracy? Aside from consistency, what are the advantages and disadvantages of smaller or larger loads?

I will be using the rifle for whitetails in West Virginia. What would some of you suggest as a powder and bullet weight combination?

I appreciate any input...Thanks!

RE: Neophyte Question About Powder
 

Springgobbler

Your shoulder will notice a big difference when shooting 150 grains with that mule-stomper 209.

That rifle likes 100 grains 777 (120 in Pyro/777pellets) with a long sabot/bullet between 250-300 grains.

I was making one big hole at 75 yards with 44 cal Precision Extremes 275 grains.

A couple of days later, two buddies were watching me getting those great patterns & they fought over buying my rifle. I sold it for $35 more than what I had invested in it -- went & bought a T/C Omega.

Put two 6" 3/8s bolts in the buttstock - fill it will Great Stuff spray foam... it will help balance it & reduce recoil.

RE: Neophyte Question About Powder
 

springgobbler.............

Powder load can definitely affect accuracy - but how it affects it, is largely dependent on the barrel twist and the bullets used.

It is entirely possible to over-propel lighter bullets, and that is exactly what many do these days (egged on by the manufacturer' s claims of " super velocities" ). 2000fps is not needed for massive kills & excellent accuracy. I' m shooting a " beginner model" .50cal Knight USAK and with loads running about 1600fps, I' ve never had an animal take more than 1 step after being hit and I have shot penny-sized groups out to 50meters.

I' m assuming that your rifle is a .50cal - so maybe my load data here will help you out. My gun likes sabot bullets of at least 300gr weight so here is what I found works the best for me:

300gr bullets (like Hornady XTP Mags, Rem 303gr Core-Lokts, Barnes MZs,295gr PowerBelts) shoot with 80gr of 2fg 777 powder or 95gr of Pyro RS.

350gr bullets (like Precision Rifle QTs, Extremes, DCs or 348gr PowerBelts) shoot with 90gr of 3fg 777 powder (2fg for the PowerBelts) or 105gr of Pyro RS.

400gr bullets (like the QTs or Extremes or 405gr PowerBelts) shoot with 100gr 3fg 777 powder (2fg for PowerBelts) or 115gr of Pyro RS.

All of these loads will hit within an inch of the same point of impact for me at 75yds. This is my rifle' s sweet spot, yours may vary - but these ought to get you in the ballpark.

The best advice I can give is not to get caught up in the " Magnum" hype and shoot reasonable loads like these - it' ll speed up your learning curve & improve accuracy tremendously.

Good Luck

RE: Neophyte Question About Powder
 

ML are like any other gun, they all seem to like some loads better than others. Go to the range and experiment with different powder/bullet combos until you find on. I agree with the previous post, don' t worry less about velocity and more about accuracey. Believe me the deer won' t notice if your shooting at 1500 fps or 2000 fps.

RE: Neophyte Question About Powder
 

I' ve got a tracker - i' m using 100 gr pellets of T7 along w/ 295 gr HP powerbelts. Accuracy is great.

I emailed traditions and they recommened 100 gr of either T7 or pyrodex for powder. I believe the bullet that tested the best for them was the 300 gr Hornady.

RE: Neophyte Question About Powder
 

RKenSpark is right...your gun is going to have its own personality. Your best bet is go the range and try different bullets and charges until you find just the right combo for your gun.