Graf's Black Powder - New GPR .54

[jambuster]

Well my new GPR .54 is actually two years old . I bought it a couple of years a go to get back into traditional Black Powder Hunting and things just got in the way. I finally shot it yesterday and used "real" Black Powder for the first time .I was using Graf's FFFG , 90 grains , Remington #11 cap, Hornaday .530 ball, with Thompson Center Pre-Lubed patches. I have no experience with Black powder but this stuff worked very well and was easy to clean up compared to Pyrodex (which is a b###h to clean) . I have some Goex to try but I can get along with Graf's just fine.

I found out after shooting a few rounds it was going to be necessary to swab the bore with some solvent every two rounds or I couldn't push the ball down the barrel.I got one stuck and had to pour in a little solvent in to get it to go down .I am expecting some improvement as the barrel brakes in. I was using CVA Barrel Blaster and it worked great. Also the pre-lubed patches seemed dry so I smeared a little extra Bore Butter on them and they worked much better.

After I cleaned the gun itself up I soaked the nipple in Barrel Blaster. I was very surprised at how much crud flaked off after soaking over night. All I did was wipe it off and run a "nipple" pick through and it looks new.

 

[Hammond79]

Welcome back to the blackpowder fold. I too recently made the change to real black powder. I use Graf's 2F in a .50 Lyman Deerstalker. I like it so far and it's better than pyrodex all day. What kind of accuracy were you getting with that load?

 

[Zonie]

Glad to hear you got it out and shot it.

Yes, with real black powder, wiping the bore is necessary every so often.
IMO, there is a wrong way to do this and a right way.
The wrong way is to use too much water or solvent and to pump the patch up and down the barrel a bunch of times. Doing it this way usually ends up pumping loose fouling into the breech where it will interfere with the next loads firing.

The right way (again IMO) the patch should be slightly wetter than damp. Push the wet patch down to the breech of the bore using a slow speed and let it sit there for 10 or 15 seconds and then, in one smooth stroke, pull the patched jag back up out of the bore.
The waiting period will allow the fouling on the barrel wall time to absorb the water and get soft. When you remove the patched jag in one stroke it will pull almost all of the fouling out of the bore. You can follow this up by running a clean patch down the bore and then back out to dry it. At that point, your ready to load the next shot.
Doing it this way, loose fouling won't get knocked down into the breech so it won't plug up the flame channel or nipple.

Have fun.

 

[Griz44Mag]

Just a comment,
I wipe using Zonies method, and it works GREAT.
I finally ditched all the fancy commercial manure for wiping and cleaning.
For wiping at the range, Windex. I don't have to dry afterward and immediately load the next round.
I have shot 50-60 balls in a string this way with no issues.
Cleaning is with MAP if I can't remove the barrel and pump it in hot water and soap.
When I clean, I pull the nipple and give it a 10 minute bath in MAP. The peroxide will clean ALL the black powder off. Leaves it shiney and ready to go.
Congrats on getting the beast out and getting rounds downrange. That makes for a relaxing afternoon!

 

[renegadehunter]

I would also consider ditching the prelubed patches. They can sit on a shelf for a long time before they are bought and this could result in them not holding up well and hurting accuracy. Buying some dry patches of the same thickness and just lubing them yourself will eliminate this possibility. Bore Butter can just be rubbed into the patches with your thumbs, enough to just fill the weave is what most try to do. You can also only lube the side that will face the bore as long as you make sure to load them that way.
Be sure to play with powder charge too, best suggestion is to shoot a group starting at about 65 or 70 grains, go up 5 grains, shoot another group, and so on until the best load is found. Welcome to the addiction.