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2F to 3F, or not??

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I know the best way to get the correct powder charge for any muzzleloader is to obtain it by shooting results. I am considering trying 3F in my rifles which I have never done. Is there a general rule of thumb for converting the volume of 2F to 3F and keep about the same ballistic results? I am talking ball park, not exact, as what I have said in my opening sentence. I am thinking percentages with this question. For example: 100 gr of 2F would be substituted with 90 gr of 3F,.........50 gr of 2F would be substituted with 45 gr of 3F.
I used 10% as a guess and wondered if anyone might have a more correct percentage?
50 cal and smaller rifles are the ones in question.
Flintlocklar:rolleyes:
 
I tend to use 3F in all my rifles under .54. As far as a ratio between the power of 2F and 3F, I don't bother with that. I just use the charge and granulation that is most accurate.
 
The best way to pick a charge for a particular rifle is to try them from a rest at the rage you want to zero your sights, and go for the combination that gives you the best, most consistent groups. That said, I used 3Fg in a .50 caliber Leman for several years because I didn't know any better when I started out and because when I did learn "FFg for over .45" was supposed to be the rule I tried it and found that the 3Fg charge still gave me the best accuracy. In my experience, each individual barrel has it's own preference, even different barrels of the same caliber from the same manufacturer. My advice would be to decide which combination make sense - always keeping safety in mind - try them, and use what works best for you. The differences between 2F and 3F granulation are primarily in burn time and chamber pressure, but as long as you stay within a moderate range of rifle charges the differences will be noticeable as differences in accuracy. If you begin to notice an increase in felt recoil, you're over-charging. That's dangerous. Good luck.
There floats my stick,
Tanglefoot
 
That's what the books say, and it always works for me. It goes the other way too, when going from 2f to 1f- I just up my 3f charge 10% when going to 2f, or bump my 2f charge 10% when swapping to 1f.
Thanks, that was the answer I was looking for. I have already figured my charges for different guns. I just wanted to be close so as not to start totally from the beginning.
Flintlocklar
 
I use 3F for all calibers and loads with only a couple of exceptions; Even my .62 likes 3F. I agree, just use the charge that gives best accuracy, I used to use 2F & 3F interchangeably back when I had to get whatever the LGS had on hand.
 
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