Stumped. Need some help.
 

Hi everyone, I’m very stumped right now. Here’s my situation.

I bought the following kit and built it.

https://muzzle-loaders.com/products/...ucky-rifle-kit

Now, don’t get me wrong, I love shooting it. Problem is, I’m having severe accuracy issues. I positioned my target at 100 yards. Used a round ball and pre lubed patches. 70 grains of powder is what the manual said is most accurate, which is what I’ve been using.

It seems like no matter what I do, with or without wind, the ball misses the target at least one out of three shots. The other shots have terrible grouping.

I have no idea what the problem is. I double checked my aiming. I double checked my powder measure. I’m doing everything right as far as I know.

I don’t know what the problem is and why I it’s so inaccurate, though.

Some more details. I replaced the number 11 nipple with a musket nipple. I’m using Pyrodex RS powder FFG equivalent. Twist rate of the barrel is 1:66.

I really want to take this gun in September for a deer hunt, but I need to be as accurate as possible. If it doesn’t work out with this gun, I will take my in-line.

From what I described, and the details I have given, can anybody tell me what I’m doing wrong? Why is it so inaccurate?

If you need more details, let me know, and I will post them.

I’ve been working on this for two weeks with no success. It’s a little frustrating.

Jared

First off JN just because the manual says 79 grs is the most accurate that ain't necessarily so. Also what size balls are you shooting and what thickness are your patches? I would suggest using a .490" round ball and .015" thick patches to start. Also start with 80 gr (by volume) and work up in 10 grain increments. Swab the bore between each shot. You can use regular blue Windex on a patch and follow with a dry patch. Honestly you should be getting no less than 5" groups with your rifle if you're doing your part.

Watch this video for consistent ignition:

I’m actually doing a lot of that already. Using .490 lead balls and the right patches.

I’ll try the powder increments like you said, though.

You may also need thicker patches. I use pillow ticking that I buy in Walmart by the yard. I cut it in about 1.25" strips (3 lines) and then either cut at the muzzle or cut the strips into squares. Anther thing that will improve accuracy is the type of lube. Don't overlook it. My .58s shoot really well using olive oil as a patch lube while one of my 45s like a paste type lube. Bore Butter from tc is decent patch lube also.

As stated, every gun is different. What works in one gun may not work in another gun.

First, move your target up to about 30 yards and don’t move it back until you find an accurate load. 100 yards is too far to work up a round ball load

i might start with 60 gr of powder, shoot 3 times. Then 65, skip 70 since you already did that, then try 75, 80, 85, and 90. Would not go beyond 90 and hopefully you can find accuracy with less than that

One thing to look out for is how you are shooting the gun from the bench. Full stocked guns can sometimes be touchy on where you rest the forearm. Some prefer towards the muzzle, and some over one of the middle barrel pinnings. As all of my hunting is done from "off hand" and not a bench, I usually hold the forearm with my hand with my elbow on the bench and the gun to my shoulder and not on bags. I have had guns that shot good groups from the bench with the gun rested and in bags, that would shoot to a totally different point of aim when shot off hand. Moving your target closer until you find your best load is good advice. .

Thank you all. I believe I found the problems.

First, I was not aiming with the open sight properly. I am still getting used to an open sight, and this was the key reason I was all over the place. I was not aiming with the sight properly. I tried a different way of aiming, and it worked.

Second, the grains and powder brand. I used 70 grains today successfully. It worked well. I also changed the pyrodex powder itself to a different brand, also worked well.

Finally, the patch and ball. I was forced to change the ball size to 0.495. The store was out of .490 size. I also changed my patch size to .010 patches. I had better success with these, for some reason.

I got a 1" shot group at 100 yards with these changes and a little experimentation. Attaching a picture with my thumb as a reference for size.

Thanks again for the help, Ill let you all know if any more questions come up.

Jared

You don't start at 100 yards and work your way back until you hit something.

Thank you. For the record, I actually failed to post that I started at 30 yards on my last shooting session and then worked my way up.

OK, I was wrong. Still having the problem. I do NOT know what is causing it. I photographed and documented EVERYTHING I did this shooting session. Here is the data:

Date: 05/20/2022

Weather: partly cloudy, wind front to back 7mph



Targets 1, 3 resting gun



Targets 2, 4 no rest







Set target at 25 yards



Adjusted measure to 70 grains



Measured 70 grains



Put 70 grains RS ffg Pyrodex powder in gun



Put 0.010 patch and .495 ball in gun



Put musket cap on



Fire shot 1 target 1



Measured 70 grains



Put 70 grains RS ffg Pyrodex powder in gun



Put 0.010 patch and .495 ball in gun



Put musket cap on



Fire shot 2 target 1



Measured 70 grains



Put 70 grains RS ffg Pyrodex powder in gun



Put 0.010 patch and .495 ball in gun



Put musket cap on



Fire shot 3 target 1



Photographed target 1



Measured 70 grains



Put 70 grains RS ffg Pyrodex powder in gun



Put 0.010 patch and .495 ball in gun



Put musket cap on



Fire shot 4 target 2



Measured 70 grains



Put 70 grains RS ffg Pyrodex powder in gun



Put 0.010 patch and .495 ball in gun



Put musket cap on



Fire shot 5 target 2



Measured 70 grains



Put 70 grains RS ffg Pyrodex powder in gun



Put 0.010 patch and .495 ball in gun



Put musket cap on



Fire shot 3 target 2



Photographed target 2



Moved target to 100 yards



Measured 70 grains



Put 70 grains RS ffg Pyrodex powder in gun



Put 0.010 patch and .495 ball in gun



Put musket cap on



Fire shot 7 target 3



Measured 70 grains



Put 70 grains RS ffg Pyrodex powder in gun



Put 0.010 patch and .495 ball in gun



Put musket cap on



Fire shot 8 target 3



Measured 70 grains



Put 70 grains RS ffg Pyrodex powder in gun



Put 0.010 patch and .495 ball in gun



Put musket cap on



Fire shot 9 target 3



Photographed target 3



Measured 70 grains



Put 70 grains RS ffg Pyrodex powder in gun



Put 0.010 patch and .495 ball in gun



Put musket cap on



Fire shot 10 target 4



Measured 70 grains



Put 70 grains RS ffg Pyrodex powder in gun



Put 0.010 patch and .495 ball in gun



Put musket cap on



Fire shot 11 target 4



Measured 70 grains



Put 70 grains RS ffg Pyrodex powder in gun



Put 0.010 patch and .495 ball in gun



Put musket cap on



Fire shot 12 target 4



Photographed target 4



Calling it a day.

End of documentation.

Pictures of targets are attached. Target 1 was 25 yards resting the gun. Target 2 is 25 yards without resting the gun. Target 3 is 100 yards resting the gun. Target 4 is 100 yards without resting the gun. All targets were aimed at dead center.

Any idea what the problem is?

Jared