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dear loads

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Joined
Dec 31, 2019
Messages
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Location
Oregon
i have a american made cva mountain rifle 50 cal 1 in 66 twist 32 inch barrel looking to find the sweet spot for prb loads at 50 yards
 
63.7 grains of triple 7 .490 ball with a .015 pillow ticking patch.

Just kidding... start at 60 grains of 2f with that patch and ball combo and experiment from there... best of luck!
 
I would assume that Frontier's load is an 80 grain volume measure of 2fg GOEX with mink oil or olive oil for the patch lube.

While this load is probably going to be minute of DEER accurate, it will take load development of several powder charges, ball sizes, patch thickness and lubricant to find the optimal sweet spot for your rifle.
 
I'd suspect you'll find a great load somewhere between 60 and 70 grains of 3F black. A .490" ball and patch .015"-.018" with a good lube should get you going.
 
I use about the same load as Art but bumped the powder up to 75gr. In all honesty I only have one .50, a TC kit I put together a couple of years ago. I tried the aforementioned load, it grouped about 2" at 50 yards and I stopped there, I didn't fine tune the load like I did for my other guns.

The gun was an old pre warning kit my dad had and had never put together, because of the family connection I had planned to make it a gun safe queen and never shoot it. My eyes have gotten bad, so I put fiber optic sights on the gun and went hunting, it got the job done. The neck shot was finish it off shot as I broke both shoulders with the first shot and had to finish it off when I got to it.

TC buck.JPG
 
I have been shooting one of mine since 1977. It has always loved 80g 2F, 0.016 patch, .490 round ball and has not really cared what lube as long as it keeps the fouling soft. After a couple years, I tried 3F in it and found that 70g of 3F shot the same group size to the same point of impact as the 80g 2F load, but with a lot less fouling. I've used almost nothing but 70g 3F in it for the last several thousand rounds I've shot through it. Enjoy!!
 
I have 2 of the CVA's in 50, one percussion, one flint, same barrel length and twist both like 100 gr or 2f goex with a .490 ball and pillow ticking patch
holds a nice tight group at 50 yards, and not bad at 100 yards. I have taken several deer with them.
 
When I have been lucky enough to get my deer, it has most often been with the first shot from a clean barrel. Since 90% of my shooting/practice is done from a fouled or swabbed bore, I have generally had some trepidation about the first shot at game from a clean bore. With a bit of time in my hands during the CV 19 restrictions, I decided to do a check with my recently acquired 50cal TVA Virginia Rifle. Shown: my first shot from a thoroughly cleaned barrel with a rest. The next 10 off-hand shots from an un-swabbed bore at various steel targets off-hand. Shot # 12 was back in a rest at the 50 yard target. Did wipe the flint/frizzen between shots. Looks like it holds together well.
A9C3F222-2396-496E-83F6-99EF0414B5E6.jpeg7414877F-ECE0-4758-8700-1239F562FCED.jpeg
 
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