New to me Blackpowder

[Rusty W]

I bought a Traditions 50 cal. blackpowder. I bought it from a friend of a friend who was needing money, for $100.00. I don't know anything about them but I figured I could sell it and get my money back if I didn't like it. It's a short dude, 21" bbl, and 37" overall. I've been reloading & casting for smokeless for about 12 years or so but this is the first charcoal burning smokepole for me. Does anyone have any suggestions on what bullet to use with such a short twist, 1-20"? Where would I start for a good 100 yard load for small whitetail?

Is this holy black going to turn into something like, hey you need to start reloading, it'll save you so much money. Oh I know, cast your own boolits, just think of all the money you'll save not having to buy them..... Well neither of those 2 have worked out. I've bought guns just because I've found brass in a caliber I didn't have and felt like I needed to reload for it. Not money wasted in my opinion but not much saved either.

Here's a couple pictures I took this evening. If you know anything about it, good or bad, I'm all ears. And Thanks for a great forum.

[docone31]

The fastest one I have is 1-48" so I am not sure how much help I am going to be. Everything will be speculation as I have not fired one with a quick twist.
I think, you will be firing Sabots. There, you can cast for the caliber and not worry about lubeing the casting.
I like Pyrodex. I have not used Black Powder. Yet. One of these days.
One thing I know, you CANNOT remove the clean out screw with the nipple in place! Remove the nipple, then remove the clean out screw. Hot soapy water after firing cleans it up very nicely.
Get a bullet puller! You WILL one day forget the powder.
The nipple can be sharpened. If you are careful, you can remove the ridge that develops by chucking the nipple in a drill and holding a stone at the angle of the nipple, just touching the top.
I like Remington #11 caps. Good, strong, reliable.
Crud WILL form in the nipple! I like to fire before shooting, a cap to see if I get a puff out the barrel. I have had crud reduceing the diameter of the nipple hole. I soak my nipples in mineral spirits for a few days.
That looks like a nice, comfortable rifle. Should be fun to shoot. 100$ is not bad for that.
You gonna learn a lot, that is for sure.
Makes hunting interesting.
Wait untill you have your sights lined up, pull the trigger, and.....nothing! Pull the hammer back, and then it fires. It takes a knack. Both my wife and myself now prefer smokepoles. More involvement in shooting. Showed her where she had a flinch. I told her, and she did not believe me. One day, she pulled the trigger, and......nothing! She leaned forward anticipating the shot.
I like em. I like the smell, the lube, the involvement, the feel. Definately nothing Mattel made, for sure.
They hit hard.
Enjoy the ride.
Go to the Traditions site and find the manual for it. They know their stuff with what they make.

[frontier gander]

oh man go to www.thorbullets.com and email them for a sample pack. You will more than likely need the .500" bullet You have a hard to find twist on that rifle!! Thats a real treat at an amazing price.

[mooman76]

Traditions isn't exactly top of the line but still a good gun. I have a couple. You might get away with shooting conicals but probably won't be able to push them very hard with that fast a twist. Sabots are your best bet with that twist. $100 is a good buy. If you really want to get into it, get a BP book and read. It wil help allot.

[725]

Write or call the manufacturer for a handbook. It'll be free. Fast twist works sabots or conicals. Slow twist works a roundball / patch. It looks in good shape, but inspect it top to bottom before firing. Clean the dickens out of it with hot water/windex, etc and use a good penetrating oil to get into the breech plug threads each time you use it. I do all that and then a couple days later I clean it again. Welcome to the world of BP muzzleloading. .50 cal. I'd start with a 200 - 250 gr saboted round, FFG Black powder substitute of around 50 or 60 grs. by volume not weight. Work up in 5 gr increments until accuracy is good. Don't go over 100 grs. Just a standard guesstimate as I can't really see your rifle. I usually find good hunting loads in the 70 to 80 gr range. Be consistant in the loading and ramrod use, and it will improve your groups.

[2ndAmendmentNut]

I know I am not going to be of much help, but I just have to add a few things. Try to get your hands on real BP. I have consistently found real BP to be more accurate and easier clean up. If you have to use a sub I guess 777 (aka Triple-7) is okay. Also when it does come down to cleaning, get a can of Ballistol, it makes life better.

[frontier gander]

you'll easily get away with shooting conicals in that twist! The best conical shooter ( A white rifle) used a 1:24 twist. That traditions with the faster twist should do really darn good.

[JIMinPHX]

$100 is a good deal indeed. I've paid that much for a worse gun & been satisfied.

As has already been said, HOT soapy water is what you want to clean that thing with, not nitro solvent. Black powder has different chemistry & the smokeless solvents don't work.

You also want to get some bore butter or similar concoction to dress out the barrel after it's been cleaned & dried. You don't want rust in that thing & the bore butter also helps keep the powder residue from getting as hard as fast.

You asked for a recommended hunting load. That will depend on the max charge that the gun is rated for. Check the owner's manual for that info, or if you're lucky, it may be stamped in the barrel. I'm going to guess that it's rated for 150 grains of FF, but that's just a guess & don't assume that to be correct. If that is the case, then 50 grains should be good for plinking & 100 should be good for general hunting, but you will need to try it out & see what works well. 150 is usually not the best for accuracy, but that is not always the case.

I'm assuming that you do know that black powder comes in different granulations with different burn rates. The standards are F, FF, FFF, & FFFF. F is usually for Cannon. FF is usually for Rifles. FFF is usually for pistols & FFFF is for flash pans on flinters. Some companies also make intermediates, but that is the exception & not the rule. Some other companies (like Pyrodex) have their own designation system. In that case Pyrodex RS (rifel & shotgun) is probably the right one for you to use.

I'm also assuming that you know grains of black powder are measured by VOLUME & NOT BY WEIGHT. You measure black powder & its substitutes with a dipper, not a scale.

I'm also assuming that you know that with black powder it is very important that there is NO AIR space in with the powder charge. The ball or boolit or sabot needs to rest firmly on the powder charge. Black powder + air space = big boom & bad news.

Also, black powder can be set off by static electricity & can explode in free air, unlike smokeless powder that just burns in free air.

After you fire that thing, be 100% sure that there are no hot embers left in the barrel before you dump a fresh powder charge down into it & don't ever put any parts of your body that you are fond of over the muzzle when loading.

Black powder has it's quirks, but I still like to play with it once in a while. Be safe & have fun.

[725]

A note to add to JIMinPHX's good points. Load from a measure each time and keep your powder horn/flask/pound can away from the muzzle. A flash flare up of your measured 80 gr load might be exciting, but a flash flare up of a pound of powder in your hand would be downright news worthy. Once I figure on "the load", I cut a fixed measure from antler, or brass and then I know I must be putting the right load in. The adjustable measures are just fine and I still use them. It's just that they are adjustable so that means just one more thing to be sure of when it comes time to shoot. The fixed ones are a no brainer. Right up my alley.