I found one load, where is the other?

I keep reading about "two loads" for every rifle. In other words, a light or target load and a heavy or hunting load.

I have a .54 cal (rifled). I worked up from 70 grains and found the best accuracy at 100 grains. On the way to this conclusion I tried different powder and patches and lube. This 100 gr load is obviously the "heavy" or "hunting" load.

So there was less accuracy at 70 grains. How do I find the "light" load? Do I just keep backing off the powder in 5 grain increments? How low do I go? Do I need to start experimenting with the powder, patch and lube again? Does EVERY rifle have this "light" and "heavy" sweet spot? Will this "light" low shoot to point of aim at some distance?

Thanks

I would personally back off in 5gr. increments like you’d mentioned. As for the distance? Squirrel hunting head shot distance! I have a .54 that I exclusively shoot 60gr. out of. Seems to be what that rifle really likes! Deadly accurate.

I really don’t know what you’re wanting to use the light charge for? Maybe range, or plinking, or maybe just out of curiosity?

What ever your intentions are with the light load, I personally wouldn’t go below 50gr. with your .54. Just my opinion and thought’s my friend.

Make a lot of smoke and have fun!!

Respectfully, Cowboy

Does EVERY rifle have this "light" and "heavy" sweet spot?

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Saying "every" is like never saying never. Almost all rifles have one 'sweet spot'. But most will shoot fairly accurately with other charges, higher or lower. There are historical references to various frontiersmen loading with "half charges". This, presumably to save powder. For example, a .45 cal. rifle with a sweet spot of 70 gr. will kill a deer just as ded with a 35 gr. charge provided placement is where it should be. What works for your rifle can only be discovered by yourself testing loads in your rifle.

I know my Lyman GPR shoots great with 35gr and 75gr of 3f. 35gr shoots pretty flat out to about 50 yards.

I have one load.
I want to know exactly how my rifle will perform when I am hunting, so EVERY other shot is practice for hunting. The load does not vary whether the target is paper, steel or meat...

Not so sure about every rifle having two, but with my .54 Renegade I used a 84 & 42 gr of FFg. The 42 gr being a good small game load. The added perc was that the sights were on at 25 yards with the 42 and at 85 yards with the 84 gr load.

Black Hand said:

I have one load.
I want to know exactly how my rifle will perform when I am hunting, so EVERY other shot is practice for hunting. The load does not vary whether the target is paper, steel or meat...

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I played with lighter loads and ultimately adopted the strategy above....one load for all, the most accurate load. shoots targets in the X, deer in the heart and squirrels in the head.... :thumbsup:

You don't say what the twist of the barrel is. If it's a RB barrel, with say a 1:70 twist and round bottomed rifling, it may not have a target load sweet spot. Faster than that, and / or with square-bottomed rifling, it may.

Round bottom rifling generally takes a bit more oomf to obdurate the ball in to the rifling grooves to get you a good spin on it. It's just as accurate as square rifling, but it generally takes a bit more experimentation to find the sweet spot.

I shoot the same load for practice I hunt with.

Exceptions to the rule. You may find that your hunting load is ultimately the load that groups tightest in your particular rifle. But as suggested keep reducing by 5 grains and see what eventually develops. I have a .40 that shoots best with 35 grains, but doubling the charge to 70 grains works fine for my longer shots. Just that particular rifle.

Sparkitoff said:

I worked up from 70 grains and found the best accuracy at 100 grains.

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If you believe the most accurate load combination you could find for your rifle uses 100grns of powder,, you will never be able to find another accurate load.
:idunno:

I found "2 loads" for one of my 50 cal. hunting rifles, and enjoy it. :thumbsup: I have a buddy shooting 60 gns in his 54 cal. rifle, and finds it quite pleasant.
I don't hunt enough to consider "Every shot is practice for hunting"...not even close. In my case...it's a lot more realistic to consider Every Shot is Practice for finding the X-ring"
My best 50 cal. Hunting load is a bit more than I care to shoot 30 (or more) rds of everytime I go to the range.
I happened to hit on a mild 60 gn PRB load that hits 2" clay discs offhand, reliably @ 25 yds without changing sights or "hold on the target". That load allows me to enjoy shooting my hunting rifle a lot in advance of the season, without using so much powder, or taking so much recoil.

I keep reading about "two loads" for every rifle. In other words, a light or target load and a heavy or hunting load.

I have a .54 cal (rifled). I worked up from 70 grains and found the best accuracy at 100 grains. On the way to this conclusion I tried different powder and patches and lube. This 100 gr load is obviously the "heavy" or "hunting" load.

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AHA! you don't mention the range at which you found "the best accuracy". :grin:

The articles that I've read where the shooter has found two loads, the light load is either, for targets (50 yards and under), or it's for small game (again probably at 50 yards or even less). They also always seem to be half of the big charge. So your 100 grain load, should have a light load around 45-55 grains, IF..., it has a "light load" which it might not..., AND..., you should try that load at targets at half of the max range you use for hunting, and perhaps less.

So IF your rifle is most accurate at 80 yards max, with that 100 grain load, you should try say 50 grains at a target at 40 yards. :wink:

Black Hand wrote:
I have one load.
I want to know exactly how my rifle will perform when I am hunting, so EVERY other shot is practice for hunting. The load does not vary whether the target is paper, steel or meat...

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I think this is sound advice, and I do the same with all of my muzzle loaders, save one. Target shooting is practice for deer hunting for me. My sights are set and I know where to hold when the target is close, and when it's out at 100 yards.

Now for my .40, I'm legally required to use 60 grains of powder IF I go deer hunting, and I thought that I might just do that. (Some folks will say "too light a bullet" but I have some custom conicals for it, so let's not hijack this thread. :nono: ) So I found that 60 grains of 3Fg was quite accurate in that rifle. However, that's a pretty stout load if one is going for squirrels or rabbits with a patched round ball, though pretty good for ground hogs. So what I did was try 30 grains of powder at 40 yards and closer..., and that turned out to be very very good, AND didn't blow up the bunnies nor the bushy-tails. So I have two loads, but only for one of my four ML rifles.

So..., the bad news is your going to have to experiment further... OH WAIT that means range-time..., so that's good news... :haha:

LD

Thanks for all the replies. To answer some questions: ROT is 1:65, rifling appears square bottomed, groups ragged hole at 50 yards and as small as 2" at 100 yards with current 100 grain load (off bench).

Since I started at 70 gr and know that is not an accurate load I will go down in 5 grain increments - down to 45 grains if necessary - and see what happens.

oomf to obdurate

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The (my) jury is still out as to whether or not a ball actually obdurates inside the barrel when fired. My gut tells me "no". And my gut is never wrong. :wink:

I use multiple charge weights in all my rifles. Whether my good luck or some kind of pattern, it works out to use half of my deer hunting load for small game. In your case, that would be around 30-35 grains. In an interesting twist, I also hit a "node" of accuracy at about 1.5x my deer hunting load, or in your case around 100-105 grains.

Works so consistently for me, I make a powder measure for the smaller charge, then use 2 pours for deer, 3 pours if I feel the need for extra velocity and noise. Purty darned handy.

I’ve often read of the two accurate charges as well. I’ve merely broken in my rifle with an arbitrary 70 grns of powder. Having gone to the range recently trying in 10 grn increments (60,70,80, and 90) I didn’t find anything that stood out. Maybe it would do me well to look for the 1/2 charge and then double that and go 5 grns +/- from there to conserve on powder (refilled my flask many times that day).

Since it often seems the target/small game load is roughly half of the heavy/hunting load why not start at 50 grns and work in +/-5 grns from there?

My .45 LR was used for squirrels and deer and the squirrel load was 30 grs 3f w/ a .445 RB and .018 pillow ticking

The deer load used the same PRB and 3f powder but the charge was 70 grs.

The squirrel load provided "head hit" accuracy but while the deer load wasn't quite as accurate, it was sufficient for deer.....the 50 yd groups were approx. 3".

So I'd concentrate on the "squirrel" load first and then the "deer load" ...it can be done......Fred

In this game you can hear everything from money rattling to bacon frying so it ain't so much as to what's heard as to what's wanted! If the 100 gr. load is accurate....just stick with it! :grin:

Rifleman1776 said:

oomf to obdurate

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The (my) jury is still out as to whether or not a ball actually obdurates inside the barrel when fired.

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No it's not....Obturation is a proven fact. The only limiting factors are the amount of pressure behind the ball and the hardness of the ball. Pure lead will definitely obturate....Just ask a bullet manufacture....

As a side note; You did get the spelling right....it matches your thinking.

I think you meant to actually say "obturate" instead of obdurate.
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rc...i/Obturation&usg=AOvVaw08dDVEo_E1v-LlSEOZywoo