John Browning Mountain Rifle

[sulphur]

I had some grief with this one initially. Broken mainspring during hunting season, short back & forth with L&R settled that just fine. Couldn't really get it to shoot even half good. Heard an internet rumor that .023 thou patches are the manufacturers recommendation. Made do with .018 thou and bumped up from .490 to .495 RB. Seems to shoot much better now.

any input folks?

 

[Grenadier1758]

My 50 Cal Browning Mountain rifle shot best using a 0.500 round ball with 0.015" pure linen patch and spit for patch lube.

 

[sulphur]

That is a very interesting tidbit sir!

Thank You.....it's nice to know I'm on the right road indeed.

 

[F.G. Ford]

With the deep rifling my Browning would only shoot well with a dry lubed ( bee's wax ) felt wad over the powder to help prevent blow by.
I also needed a .500 ball with .015 linen patch.
I used a lube mix of 1/3 bee's wax, 1/3 olive oil, and 1/3 Murphy's soap.
The gun with that set trigger was deadly.
Almost no recoil with that stock.
You have a real find, don't let it go too easily.
As some of us have :cursing:
Fred

 

[sulphur]

Thanks Fred!

I appreciate your input here too.

have a good day...

 

[BigBoreBLR]

I'm not going to say the harder it is to start the better.

However, Ones that go in too easy don't group too well in my experiences.

 

[Wes/Tex]

Your problem is why I eventually went to chamois patches in all rifles above .45 some years ago. The JBMR is a bit touchy about patches but can handle up to 120 grains FFG which will send a ball whistling. You might order some balls of differnt sizes from someone like Track and play with different thickness patches till the guns says it happy...you'll know when that is!

 

[Grimord]

My 50 cal JBMR likes a .495 ball with .018 patch.

Fyrstyk

 

[sulphur]

With this same combination as your's I had decent results (just twice at 50 yards and once at 100 yards from a bench) The best 'grouping' I could manage at 100 was an 8-9 inch 3 shot 'group' with the original factory buckhorn rear sight and merely placing the top edge of the front blade even with the two rear 'horns' and letting fly.
What is your best effort sir? I think I'm at my eyesight/shooting skill limits myself.

 

[Grimord]

I limit my shots on game to 75 yards or less with the 50 cal. On targets I have managed to get a 2.5" group at 100yds from the bench. No way can I shoot that kind of a group off-hand with my eyes.

Fyrstyk

 

[don hepler]

Sights play a great part, in how we get a gun to shoot. I do not shoot well with big buckhorn sights. I have a box of sights, that I got from TOW, and do not hesitate, trying different combinations. The color of the target, and the size of the target will affect how you shoot. I'm 64 and 100 yards is out of my range, for open sights. Peep sights, help most people, but I don't know if the Browning was drilled for that set-up. I use a metal range rod, and load a tight ball/patch combination for accuracy. You can always carry a thinner combination, in the field, for follow up shots, loaded with wooden ram rod.
I missed a chance on a Browning, but I do like the looks of them.

 

[sulphur]

With my own just 5 years of limited experience (summertime)with muzzle loading firearms, I appreciate everyone's advice here.

Cheers!