• This community needs YOUR help today. We rely 100% on Supporting Memberships to fund our efforts. With the ever increasing fees of everything, we need help. We need more Supporting Members, today. Please invest back into this community. I will ship a few decals too in addition to all the account perks you get.



    Sign up here: https://www.muzzleloadingforum.com/account/upgrades

.62cal Ballistics Tables ??

Muzzleloading Forum

Help Support Muzzleloading Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

roundball

Cannon
Joined
May 15, 2003
Messages
22,964
Reaction score
90
Anybody know of a .62cal ballistics chart that has "reasonable" load data in it...something like 80-140grns or something like that?

My old Lyman manual goes up to .58cal then jumps to .75cal.

I found one .62cal chart but the powder charges start at 175grns and that's not even close to my interests.
 
I've only smoothbore data from the 1st Lyman handbook:

32" barrel, 0.622, cylinder

Remington power piston wad, Alcan thin overshot card. 1 1/8 oz #6, Gearhart-Owen FFG:

68 gr, 898 fps, 4,740 lup
75 gr , 1020 fps, 6,240 lup
82 gr , 1080 fps, 6,980 lup


Maybe we need a database of loads/velocities/pressures complied by members? I imagine many here have chronograpghs but few have means to maesure pressure. Would need some sort of binding disclaimer to keep Claude from lawsuits.
 
Thanks for the reply...and when I read it I immediately realized I wasn't clear enough with my question :redface: .

I'm interested in ballistics charts, load data charts, etc, for .62cal round ball loads...

My apologies to all...my old Lyman manual goes up to .58cal, then jumps to .75cal...doesn't cover the .60x" diameter balls at all.
 
Heck, as cheap as chronogrpahs are these days, just spring for one and write your own table. At least you'll know you can believe it! :haha:
 
Hey roundball! Did you read that?
Another reason for going out and shooting. :grin:
All you have to do is to sell one of your hundreds of TC Hawkens to get the cash, run down and buy yourself a cronograph and your all set! :thumbsup:
 
I'm embarrassed to say I bought one 2 years ago and still haven't ever used it...keep forgetting I have it...make plans to take it to the range but run off and forget it...January/February might be just the time to try it with .62cal PRB loads in that rifled bore.

But still, you'd think by now a trustworthy .62cal chart from some credible source would be circulating around...
 
I'm embarrassed to say I bought one 2 years ago and still haven't ever used it...keep forgetting I have it...make plans to take it to the range but run off and forget it...

Ah yes! The next step is taking it to the range and forgetting the batteries! :redface:

But still, you'd think by now a trustworthy .62cal chart from some credible source would be circulating around...

If you ever do remember the chrono and baterries at the same time, you can find out why none of the tables are "trustworthy"

Try the same load except with two different brands of powder!

Try a very thick patch and thinner patch with all else the same!

Try some ff vs fff!

You will see why the tables, while interesting and useful, are not very precise.

Here's a quiz question for any who want to play

Given: .50 caliber, 24 inch barrel, 80 gr goex 3f, a fairly tight patch but not too difficult to load in the field, CCI std #11 primers, alcohol/castor oil 8 to 1 lube sparingly applied.

Whats your best guess on the velocity of this load?
 
I got 1740 fps if my memory is right usig Pyrodex RS in my 24" barrel, so I will say you got 1760.
 
The Hodgdon REloading Manual says 80 grains will produce 1729 fps, but fails to say what length barrel or rifle brand was used. with that short a barrel, I think your velocity will be a little less than that published data, but 1600-1675 is nothing to be ashamed about. The deer won't know the difference. These are muzzle velocities, and not down range figures.
 
bill rememberd seeing these loads in an old book i have, test on a custom hawken was a .62 cal 32" barrel 1in72 twist depth of grove .011, the first load was 90grn ff goex .018 patch and a 322grn.600 rb mv of 1375fps me1352 ft.lbs .second load 110 grn ffgoex .018 patch 322grn.600 rb mv1495fps me1598ft.lbs there where no 100yard ballistics.hope this is some help.
bernie :thumbsup:
 
Well, here's the answer per my chrono the day it was sited in: 1425fps!! :shocked2:

That's an average of eight shots.

Even at that, I didn't hesitate to take it deer hunting. No deer presented, but a coyote at 145 yards went down on the spot and a grouse lost it'shead over it! :haha:

All the guesses and estimates made above were, IMO, sensible guesses but those tables just aren't one size fits all.

Lots of shooters with a total trad view don't like the idea of using a chrono, but they do shed some light on what's going on "under the hood".
 
windwalker_au said:
bill rememberd seeing these loads in an old book i have, test on a custom hawken was a .62 cal 32" barrel 1in72 twist depth of grove .011, the first load was 90grn ff goex .018 patch and a 322grn.600 rb mv of 1375fps me1352 ft.lbs .second load 110 grn ffgoex .018 patch 322grn.600 rb mv1495fps me1598ft.lbs there where no 100yard ballistics.hope this is some help.
bernie :thumbsup:
Yes, a big help...the details help zero right in...my .62cal rifle is a 1" x 33" with .012" x 1:72" rifling, and for my medium sized 150lb deer in thick woods, I simply decided on a mid range powder charge of 100grns Goex 2F, .018" pillow ticking, and a .600/325grn ball.

With such an almost identical rifle configuration & components, a rough guess-timate for me should be around 1435fps/mv.

If I had the book & author's exact name, I'd like to search for a copy somewhere...great info, thanks for sharing!

:hatsoff:
 
Hey RB if FW comes back he'd be one to talk to as he's been shooting a .62 barrel for about a year now. I'm afraid he may be very ill as I haven't seen him in a while.

Also please post what you tried and ended up with. I've got me a .62 smoothy that has not been shot yet. It's been sitting for almost a year. I'm actually thinking it may end up strictly a fowler gun.
 
Marmotslayer: Are you using either a filler, or OP wad in your gun as part of your load? If you don't, you should expect to see an increase of up to 200 fps for that load, and a rise in the POI, when you use either the fillers or the OP wad.
 
gmww said:
Also please post what you tried and ended up with. I've got me a .62 smoothy that has not been shot yet. It's been sitting for almost a year. I'm actually thinking it may end up strictly a fowler gun.
I got excellent results out of a .62cal GM Flint smoothbore using 80grns Goex 3F + .015" patch, and Eddie May .600" balls. Didn't try 90 or 100grns and now that I have a rifled .62cal I probably won't go back and waste the powder and lead experimenting in the smoothbore barrel, but my gut says the next couple steps in powder would have the same accuracy.

Interestingly enough, I could not use an Oxyoke wonderwad over the powder as it would cause a flyer in almost every 5 shot group...would have 4 balls tearing a large ragged/cloverleaf hole at 50yds plus one sitting off to the edge of the paper plate...stopped using wads, no more flyers...tried wads again and started getting flyers again. Varied patches and powder charges and granulations all over the place but no help til I stopped using an Oxyoke wad.

They're outstanding in every high power rifle load in every caliber I have and use them all the time for hunting loads, but for some reason they were not consistent in my smoothbore.
 
RB: Before giving up totally on the Wonderwads, try putting two of them down on the powder to see if you don't get a better seal. Or, use one wonderwad and one OS card over the powder, again to get a better seal. Although they are expensive, I do like the idea of using a lubed wonderwad to help grease the barrel and keep the fouling soft.
 
Paul, did not try any over powder remedys with this gun. In my other guns they did not seem to make much difference if the patching was adequate. With this load, the fired patches looked very good.

200 fps seems like a lot! :shocked2: Next time out I'll try some wads with the same set up and shoot over the chrono to see what it does. Not expecting 200 fps though! :)
 
Back
Top