Isaac Haines .54cal. & search for nirvana

[Maven]

I asked Waksupi to build a Chambers Isaac Haines rifle for me last winter, and a good job he did too! As you know, a new rifle needs quite a bit of time and effort to shoot its best, and I'm still looking for nirvana, or essentially the right combination of patch thickness, RB diameter, and powder charge that's most accurate. Although I haven't yet found it, I'm getting closer. First, instead of 85gr. Diamondback FFg, I tried Graf's (Wano) FFFg (only because I happened to have some around) in doses of ~73gr., 75gr., and finally 80gr., all by volume. This didn't make much difference in 50 yd. accuracy v. DB FFg. The projectile was a .530" Tanner RB, which I cast and weighed. What I really wanted to see, though, was how patch thickness affected accuracy. In short it did, but more in terms of where the RB's impacted the target than group size (very similar). The easiest loading .018" patched ball typically hit the target @ 7 o'clock @ 50 yd., while the hardest to load .022" denim patched balls, grouped in the 8 - 10 rings of the NMLRA postal match target. Btw, the patches were wetted, but not dripping, with 1 Ballistol : 6 water. Accuracy, was best with the thickest patches, but a mallet was required to start that combination.

I also brought some .530" x .531" RCBS RB's cast from a mold I picked up on eBay not long ago. It was in sorry shape when I received it, but I was able to clean, adjust, and stone it so that it cast perfectly, particularly after RCBS sent me a new sprue plate for it. (How can you screw up the underside of the sprue plate?) To my surprise, those weighed RB's were more accurate than the Tanners using the same .020" muslin patching. This bears repeating as I may be onto something. Besides, a mold with a sprue cutter is much easier to work with than those without one, e.g., the Tanner.

Clean-up: After soaking the breech area in Friendship Speed Juice twice and agitating the bbl. (twice), I needed only 4 patches to clean up. Once it was dry, I used one additional patch soaked in Hoppes #9 to "preserve" things until I got home and gave the bore a proper swabbing with WD-40. Incidentally, I only wiped the bore twice during the entire session, but neither was particularly necessary, but I wanted to give the RCBS RB a fair chance v. the Tanner.

Lastly, I took Waksupi's suggestion about using less prime to heart and got instant ignition as a result. Although I didn't find nirvana, or rather THE proper combination of components today, I came close enough to narrow things down a bit. To wit, the RCBS RB and .017" (don't know exactly what material these are)-, .018" (pillow tick)-, and .020" (muslin) will get closer attention in the very near future!

[waksupi]

To really wring out the accuracy, you would need to weigh the balls. When target testing, I have them within + o - one grain.

[Maven]

Ric, I do indeed weigh all my RB's and dump the lightest ones. I also mark the heaviest ones and further segregate (and mark) 5 or 6 of the heavier ones for foulers. Btw, the first shot out of a cold bbl. hit @ 12 o'clock and ~1.5" above the bulleye when fired offhand @ 50 yd. Some spectators wanted to see how a FL worked, so I loaded and fired rather quickly. As I wrote yesterday, I was pleasantly surprised to find the RCBS RB's shot better than the Tanners with the .020" muslin patch. They also outweigh the Tanners by an average of 8gr., i.e., 232gr. v. 224gr.*



*This is most likely due to the sprue on the former, but not the latter. I.e., with the Tanner RB's, I can virtually eliminate the sprue by cutting it flush with the ball. The sprue plate on the RCBS mold cuts cleanly, but leaves a noticeable sprue.

[mainiac]

I had a J. Beck built for me a year ago or so.Its a .54,,and the most accurate powder charges ive found for it,is either 95 grs fff goex,or 110 grs ff goex. I use pocket drill from joannes fabric,with a .530 ball.Pretty tight load,but as long as i use shenandoah valley lube,i have no problems,and can shoot all afternoon,with no wiping.

I almost beleave that this .54 flinter,is my most accurate smoke gun,and i have most calibers here that i can compare it to.

[Coffeecup]

Ah, it's good to be around folks who appreciate the .54.

My current load is 130grains FFg (my favorite lot of Elephant), .022" denim patch lubed with neatsfoot oil, and .534" (actual measurement) round ball. I shot a match about a month ago, no idea where it was hitting at 25 yards, but I shot clean at 75-150 yards. Still need to try another lube, and maybe some thinner patches or other sizes of RB.

(And I really should work up a target load, but hunting loads took priority.)

[Maven]

excess650, I'll try the spit patch, but the gun will put 5 shots touching @ 50 yd. with the Ballistol & water mixture or Win. Sutler Moose Milk I'm presently using. Btw, even the thinnest patches I've tried haven't been "blown." I.e., they could be and have occasionally been used a 2nd time.

[Maven]

In post #1, I wrote that I suspected the .54cal. RCBS RB (.5305" + sprue = 232gr.) was more accurate than the Tanner (.5305", but no sprue = 224gr.), and now I'm convinced of it. I used a copy of a 25 yd. NMLRA Postal Match offhand target to test the RCBS RB's, well, offhand. Since I was shooting at 1/2 the range I did initially, I cut the powder charge to 60gr. 3F.* I also wanted to test a .017" duck cloth, for lack of a better term, patch as I got tired of beating the short starter with a mallet to get them past the muzzle and part way downbore. A pic of my result is below. I don't know if I found nirvana, but I think I came pretty close. Btw, .018" pillow ticking and .020" muslin patches grouped similarly and neither was especially difficult to start. The lube was 1 Ballistol : 6 H2O.


*The heavier charges that I initially used left the breech a lot cleaner than the 60gr. charge I used today.

[DIRT Farmer]

Maven that looks to be a 49-1X, I feel good when I hit that target offhand, I figure that is why there are so many trees neer where I hunt so I can rest on one.

[Maven]

DF, Thanks for pointing that out! Actually NMLRA rules say you need at least 1/2 a ball's diameter in the [next higher] scoring ring for it to count. No X, but one point higher, which I'm happy with.