hunting loads and blown patches

[roundball]

"but I've never had a problem with Oxyoke's Natural Lube 1000 patches"
-----
Congratulations to you.
I have personally had problems with old Ox Yoke pre lubed patches that I bought at a local gun store so I guess that makes one for, one against.

Mine were also purchased in the early '90s.

:surrender:

Zonie, I know from your past posts that you make this point as your suspected cause in these kinds of discussions and do so with a fair amount of conviction and that's fine...for balance I was just pointing out that it may not be an across the board cause because of your experience, which is why I made my comment that I've never had that problem with my patches (already 10-15 years old)...maybe those you had difficulty with were not only old but also had some poor storage conditions or something, dunno...

 

[Tom Compton]

Some nipples have larger holes than others to begin with. a load causes the hammer to blow back and catch on 1/2 cock, a load 10 gr less is still blowing the hammer back, just not enough to hang on 1/2 cock.

From experience of many thousands of rounds fired, and conversations with those who have shot even more thousands of rounds, a shot out nipple will cause a drop in muzzle velocity as well as causing groups to oppen up.

I made a go/no go gauge for checking nipples and then bought 3 spare nipples for the shooting box. Because of availablilty most anywhere and because quality was acceptable, I standardized on Hot Shots. One of the cheapest things one can do when trying to get a load worked up is to install a new quality nipple.

Merry Christmas!

TC

 

[longcruise]

I'm still grabbing a bag of prelubed patches every now and then from a big volume purchase I made way back in the mid 90's...maybe it depends on the type of lube

Well now!! That 'splains why you need those OP wads :shocked2: :haha:

 

[longcruise]

it blew the hammer to half cock when it was new so I kept my charges to 100 grs. or less.

Well, heck. That just means it was too large from the get go!

Dave Minshall participates on this list and he could tell you more if he sees this discussion.

 

[gbsclohn]

Tom,
I change out mine every June if they need it or not.Get 'em from Marvin :thumbsup:
Greg

 

[ronv4blackpowder]

howdy tc,
i see's you be a texas boy tooooo :thumbsup: .as for the blown patches and no groups,i started the build up process with a new hot shot nipple from dgw.i had no blow back of the hammer but lots of blown patches that looked like confetie.the 1st and 2nd round were ok,but after that they would open up to 6-8" groups at 75 yds.ive only put about 200 rounds thru this barrel,so it still may be a little green.

thanks for the response

merry CHRISTmas
the grizz

 

[rebel727]

Well, heck. That just means it was too large from the get go!

Dave Minshall participates on this list and he could tell you more if he sees this discussion.

Don't matter now. I swapped out the .50 for a .54 round ball barrel. I think the nipple I had on the .50 was a hot shot nipple. It had a small hole near the top anyway.

 

[Tom Compton]

Good plan, Greg. I saw an add somewhere that was in Marvin's area. Called 2-3 times when I was looking for a barrel but no answer. Let me know how to get in touch with him.

TC

 

[Tom Compton]

Dang, Grizz, whatcha wanna do that fer? :grin:

Yep in Austin now but 30+ years in the Longview area. Still an old Razorback fan tho.

I have never used an over powder wad in anything but a shotgun. That may be an answer.

I've always shot balls .005 under nominal bore and a pretty thick patch. Mostly was interested in accuracy when shooting matches and loading at the bench. Hunting deer, I just went ahead with the same plan and reload takes a little longer. If I was hunting rabbit, squirrel or the like, I might work on a looser combo.

Not knowing what the twist and depth of groove on your Investarms kinda leaves me without a starting point but will hazzard a guess that it is 1/48 twist shallow groove based on shooting the ball-ette OK. My .50 Hawken was cut special by Douglas w/ 1/56 twist and .015 grooves so it would shoot RBs good with 60 gr and also w/ 90 gr.

Use a tighter ball and patch combo with more ball (.495)and keep trying different patches and lubes.

I don't know if TMLRA still holds the Frost on the Cactus matches in February but if not solved by then would make the realitively short trip from Angelo to Brady and get some more ideas.

TC

 

[Trot]

I have 2 Investarms rifles, and both do excellent with .018 patches. Give them a try, it might be an easy cheap fix!

 

[ronv4blackpowder]

hey tc,
i've been talking to greg and he said that they have a match in january,the 18th i belive.i will try to make the match and meet some more frontiersman.maybe you can make this shoot.i do have a box of .095 balls that i am going to try my next trip to the range.i also got some .020 patches to try different combo's.maybe i can work this out by january,if not i will have a good time trying :thumbsup: .

thanks the grizz

 

[Tom Compton]

I believe in using the larger ball. A .005 larger ball is same as increasing thickness of the patch .0025 and has the added advantage of squeezing some of the lead into the rifling.

In .40s have even used .400, .401 and .403s to try for better combinations but now use .395.

Drop me a line off the forum and we can discuss January in Brady w/ Greg. [email protected]

TC

 

[Dphar]

howdy folks,
got my 50 cal investarms shooting good with a 65gr 2ff pyro and a 245 gr ball-ett,dead on out to 75 yds.the question,is this load ethical for hunting deer size animals.the max load for this gun is 80 gr for a conical bullet.

also while i was working up a load for round balls i could not get a good group at 75 yds with a load of 60 gr or higher with out a blown patch.i was using a 490 rd ball and a .015 oxe yoke patch.does any one know a good comboe for a 50 cal investarms with a max load of 90 gr 2ff for rd balls and cure for a blown patch.

thanks a greenhorn

The crown may be the cause.
Patch might need to be thicker depending on how Oxyoke measures them.
Shoot the rifle with light loads, just enough to blow the ball out and look at the patch. You may find it is being damaged in loading. OR the rifling has sharp edges that are cutting the patch.
If you suspect the latter. Put some steel 0000 steel wool over a cleaning patch so its tight and run this up and down the length of the bore about 20-30 times. This will usually deburr it and may cure the problem.
What is the twist? If the twist is at or faster than 48" and the grooves shallow there may not be a good fix.

Dan

 

[ryoung14]

I've found that when my Ox Yoke and TC pre-lubed patches turn green and start smelling bad, that they don't shoot worth a darn. Don't think I have any over 10 years old. Still save them, if not too bad, and use them as overpowder wads at the range. Natural lubes will naturally have some drawbacks :wink:

But they shoot good right up to where the color and smell changes.... How do the gun know about color and smell???
Bob