Dane, BP results AT LAST! with a twist..

[JBMauser]

I think I have something dialed in here but you may not believe the clincher.  I am still a newbee to BPCR, I bought Paul MatthewÂ’s BP book and read it twice.  I loaded up a bunch of BP and 777 since he advocates both.  As an afterthought I loaded up 5 rounds with brass that I had opened the primer hole with a 3/32 drill as was expounded by someone on the Net and later Pooh Poohed by others so I shelved them.  

5 rounds 110 yards with my military 1867 Dane with original crappy "way to long and wobbly rear sight".  110 yards - 5 in under 3" and with the one flyer, 4.5 in.  With open sights and peeking out the uncorrected edge of variable bifocals. This is WAY COOL for me.  My results with regular flash holes were all shot first and I was pleased the first two shots of each string, grouped tight in the black but each subsequent shot opened up.  I chalked it up to fouling, I would puff into the breech and fire.  As the shots opened up to 6 in. I swabbed out the barrel with a soapy h2o soaked patch and fired again.  Back tight in the black for 2 rounds and opened again.  The 6 rounds with the enlarged flash hole were shot in a row, no cleaning!   777 rounds were all over, nasty stuff, I may use if for 45LC cowboy.  Not in the DANE!  Load was 47 gr. Goex FFF by weight, my own lube, beeswax & crisco.  Large pistol magnum primers.  33in, drop tube (extended golf club shaft), hammer tamped with a wood dowel to compress a bit over 1/8 inch.  A single wafer of waxed paper and a lee 405hb cast with straight WWs.  Bullet seated deep and unsized at .462  No leading. Brass is necksized with a hand lee loader, flared with the lee neck flaring tool and bullets seated with my 45LC seating die.  I canÂ’t believe the difference with the larger flash hole.  The other loads were all the same build.  How did I do?  JB

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darn good for first time out.  dont mix up the drilled cases with the others or you see groups go south.. black powder has good days and bad days.. some strange things can make groups good or bad.. your rest setup could be a little different next time and the long barrel time may make you suffer until you figgure it out.  ive just learned that good loads are tested over many sessions to make sure they are not a quirk. if you keep working on it youl be under 1 1/2 inches at one hundred,  if you have good sights..  i test loads at 25 yards, that way you dont have lighting, wind, and eyes couseing groups to widen..  and its a lot qicker and less running up and back and waiting for other shooters..  just my way. differnent poweder amounts of powder , different primers, different expanders, different crimps, differnt seatting depth, dieffernet sizer sizes can make a difference, with all that going on youl be buisy.. i use two sets of dies one good one and the other to test new loads.. when the second die set shots better that is my number on die set, and the other is the test die set..   weigh cases, clean with media or brush to get residue out, weigh bullets and sort, weigh powder in the same amount your  measure shows for volume to average that can of powder out..   shooting style is very important do not steer the gun as the long barrel time will hurt accuracy.. steering is pulling the gun other than strait back into your shoulder with either hand..   good luck dave..

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get a soft plastic blow tube that fits in the chamber and give 2-4 long blows between shots with black powder at the range..winter is comming you may need to mix some alcohol in your wipe. dry and oil well or your fowling will rust on the say home.  dave.