Shot at 50 yards today. 404 gr soft lead over 77 gr ffg Goex black powder. Large rifle primer. Thin card over powder, compressed mildly. First four shots grouped poorly and seemed low. I raised rear sight one notch, ran a tight clean patch thru the bore, left the brass rod out of the rifle, made sure I was resting the rifle very near the receiver and fired three consecutive shots into 2 inches. They hit 10 inches directly above point of aim. If I can duplicate that consistently I’m happy. The bore is good with distinct rifling except for about an inch at the muzzle where it is worn and has some pitting, and the crown is rather rough. But if it will keep shooting like that maybe I’ll leave well enough alone. I afterward fired several shots using my previously cast harder lead bullets sized to .441 in order to fire form the casings. Like before, they were all over the place. The soft lead in these new bullets seems to have made a very big difference. Any thoughts as to why the last three shots grouped better? I’m quite new to black powder cartridge.
The fore stock moves forward about 1/8 inch when I fire. How do I secure it in place?