Jumpshot
54 Cal.
Sorry this took so long, it's hard for me to make time to go to the range. But it was fun and I got a few pics while I was at it.
The bores on this gun showed .627" on my caliper, so I ordered some new supplies from ToW. I ordered over-powder wads, fiber cushion wads, and over-powder cards in 19 gauge. The fiber cusion wads were dry, so I used my 50/50 mix of melted Bore Butter and olive oil. Also some .610" cast balls, which actually showed .615" when I measured them, and some #6 chilled shot from ToW that's really a mix of #6 and #7. I was also using .010" pre-lubed Wonder patches, 2F and 3F GOEX, and RWS caps.
On a side note, I did a little test with the two types of caps I had, RWS and CCI #11 Magnums. I stuffed a cotton ball in the muzzle and popped a cap of each type (using the same barrel, to eliminate that variable). The RWS caps made a noticeably louder 'bang', produced much more sparks coming out from under the hammer, and threw the cotton ball about 8" farther. I don't know if this means hotter spark or better performance, I just thought the differences were interesting.
Anyway, I was shooting over a sandbag rest, and swabbing between shots with T/C No. 13 bore cleaner. I periodically checked to see if the load in the second barrel had shifted under the recoil of the first, but that never appeared to be a problem. My targets were attached to a piece of 1/2" plywood propped up against a rubbermaid container (pretty fancy, huh?).
My time was limited, so I wasn't able to test a lot of different loads. Mostly what I did was choose a load and try it at different ranges (I'll experiment with different loads as I spend more time at the range with it). For the same reason, I also used the cusion wads in their full 1/2" thickness. As I do more shooting, I'll cut them to one-half and one-third their thickness to see if performance is affected.
Disclaimer: I'm used to rifled pistols with sights. This was my first time shooting a smoothbore pistol with no rear sight and a bead front, so I wasn't expecting stellar accuracy.
The load was 7/8 oz. of the aforementioned #6 shot (using my Lee adjustable shot dipper) and an equal volume of 3F GOEX, OP wad, lubed cusion wad, and OS card. I used my adjustable powder measure to see how much powder the shot dipper was throwing, and it showed 55 grains volume, so I used the powder measure set at that volume for the shot tests. The close shots were at three yards (that's my "Oh s#*@!! A snake!!" range).
Opened up at five yards...
I didn't go beyond five yards with the shot loads because my time was limited and I was eager to get to the round ball testing. I'll try longer ranges next time I go.
I tried 30 grains of 2F GOEX first, followed by an OP wad, and a patched ball (always loaded sprue-up). First group was 1" at five yards...
The second group was 3 3/4" at ten yards...
I decided to switch to 3F to see if it made an improvement. It was a good move, this gun likes 3F better. First group was under 3/4" at five yards...
Moving out to ten yards, it was doing 1 1/2", much better than with 2F...
I was also getting 1 1/2" at 15 yards...
I snapped this picture right after shooting that group at 15 yards, I thought it would be cool to show you a shooter's perspective...
It was performing pretty well, so I wanted to go farther, but the pistol line only goes to 17 yards. So I went over to the rifle line and set up a target at 25 yards. This was definitely challenging with no rifling, no rear sight, and that big gold ball covering the target. Not exactly precision shooting, but it's fun trying. The rifle line is also out in the open and is pretty windy (the wind was gusting from the right). So, still using 30 grains 3F, this is what I got...
There were two problems with that group: With the first shot (the one on the right), I jerked the trigger. I knew I had pulled the shot a bit. On the second shot (the one on the left), a right-to-left gust of wind suddenly blew when I fired. I think it might have been better if not for these two factors. But, I was out of time and I had to pack up and git. Later I plan to try larger charges, hopefully the groups will stay tight.
I also tried some one-hand shots with 60 grains of powder just to try the recoil. The weight of the gun dampens it a bit. It wasn't a problem at all, very manageable.
The patches didn't look too bad (they got dirty from all the mud)...
It's always fun punching holes...
But my bucket won't be used for mop water now...
The 19 gauge OP wads were pretty tough to load, as were the .615" balls. I'll try 20 gauge components and .600" balls next time and see how it affects loading and performance. But 3F is definitely the granulation of choice for this gun.
I realize a smoothbore pistol isn't really intended for precision roundball shooting at 25 yards, but overall I was pretty happy with it's performance. I just regretted not having time to shoot more. More testing with shot loads will be in the near future, as will juggling the charges and cushion wad thicknesses. But for now, these results are a decent baseline to work from and start working up loads. This was all done with one pistol, I still haven't shot the other two yet. So I have a lot of 'work' ahead of me. :hatsoff:
The bores on this gun showed .627" on my caliper, so I ordered some new supplies from ToW. I ordered over-powder wads, fiber cushion wads, and over-powder cards in 19 gauge. The fiber cusion wads were dry, so I used my 50/50 mix of melted Bore Butter and olive oil. Also some .610" cast balls, which actually showed .615" when I measured them, and some #6 chilled shot from ToW that's really a mix of #6 and #7. I was also using .010" pre-lubed Wonder patches, 2F and 3F GOEX, and RWS caps.
On a side note, I did a little test with the two types of caps I had, RWS and CCI #11 Magnums. I stuffed a cotton ball in the muzzle and popped a cap of each type (using the same barrel, to eliminate that variable). The RWS caps made a noticeably louder 'bang', produced much more sparks coming out from under the hammer, and threw the cotton ball about 8" farther. I don't know if this means hotter spark or better performance, I just thought the differences were interesting.
Anyway, I was shooting over a sandbag rest, and swabbing between shots with T/C No. 13 bore cleaner. I periodically checked to see if the load in the second barrel had shifted under the recoil of the first, but that never appeared to be a problem. My targets were attached to a piece of 1/2" plywood propped up against a rubbermaid container (pretty fancy, huh?).
My time was limited, so I wasn't able to test a lot of different loads. Mostly what I did was choose a load and try it at different ranges (I'll experiment with different loads as I spend more time at the range with it). For the same reason, I also used the cusion wads in their full 1/2" thickness. As I do more shooting, I'll cut them to one-half and one-third their thickness to see if performance is affected.
Disclaimer: I'm used to rifled pistols with sights. This was my first time shooting a smoothbore pistol with no rear sight and a bead front, so I wasn't expecting stellar accuracy.
The load was 7/8 oz. of the aforementioned #6 shot (using my Lee adjustable shot dipper) and an equal volume of 3F GOEX, OP wad, lubed cusion wad, and OS card. I used my adjustable powder measure to see how much powder the shot dipper was throwing, and it showed 55 grains volume, so I used the powder measure set at that volume for the shot tests. The close shots were at three yards (that's my "Oh s#*@!! A snake!!" range).
Opened up at five yards...
I didn't go beyond five yards with the shot loads because my time was limited and I was eager to get to the round ball testing. I'll try longer ranges next time I go.
I tried 30 grains of 2F GOEX first, followed by an OP wad, and a patched ball (always loaded sprue-up). First group was 1" at five yards...
The second group was 3 3/4" at ten yards...
I decided to switch to 3F to see if it made an improvement. It was a good move, this gun likes 3F better. First group was under 3/4" at five yards...
Moving out to ten yards, it was doing 1 1/2", much better than with 2F...
I was also getting 1 1/2" at 15 yards...
I snapped this picture right after shooting that group at 15 yards, I thought it would be cool to show you a shooter's perspective...
It was performing pretty well, so I wanted to go farther, but the pistol line only goes to 17 yards. So I went over to the rifle line and set up a target at 25 yards. This was definitely challenging with no rifling, no rear sight, and that big gold ball covering the target. Not exactly precision shooting, but it's fun trying. The rifle line is also out in the open and is pretty windy (the wind was gusting from the right). So, still using 30 grains 3F, this is what I got...
There were two problems with that group: With the first shot (the one on the right), I jerked the trigger. I knew I had pulled the shot a bit. On the second shot (the one on the left), a right-to-left gust of wind suddenly blew when I fired. I think it might have been better if not for these two factors. But, I was out of time and I had to pack up and git. Later I plan to try larger charges, hopefully the groups will stay tight.
I also tried some one-hand shots with 60 grains of powder just to try the recoil. The weight of the gun dampens it a bit. It wasn't a problem at all, very manageable.
The patches didn't look too bad (they got dirty from all the mud)...
It's always fun punching holes...
But my bucket won't be used for mop water now...
The 19 gauge OP wads were pretty tough to load, as were the .615" balls. I'll try 20 gauge components and .600" balls next time and see how it affects loading and performance. But 3F is definitely the granulation of choice for this gun.
I realize a smoothbore pistol isn't really intended for precision roundball shooting at 25 yards, but overall I was pretty happy with it's performance. I just regretted not having time to shoot more. More testing with shot loads will be in the near future, as will juggling the charges and cushion wad thicknesses. But for now, these results are a decent baseline to work from and start working up loads. This was all done with one pistol, I still haven't shot the other two yet. So I have a lot of 'work' ahead of me. :hatsoff:
