Hello to the forum, new here, I’ve been reading posts and getting great info, I really appreciate it. I apologize for the length of this especially for a first post. Just purchased a 1874 Dixie Gun Works Pedersoli 40-65 Silhouette sharps with a 30” barrel 1:16 Twist rate. Nice gun fit and finish is good. Took it out yesterday to shoot it, only had 5 rounds, my Lyman powder dispenser developed a mind of it’s own and started throwing heavier charges than it was set for. Anyway I’m using Starline 40-65 brass, Winchester LR primers, 30 grains of IMR 4895 powder (Lyman’s Bullet Handbook shows the load range of 28-32 grains of 4895), .410 diameter 400 grain #410663 Lyman bullet from Western Bullet Company. At 25 yards, all shots were on paper about 2” to the left of the bullseye and in a string of about 7” but I attribute that to me having a problem using the sights (awful small for these almost 70 year old eyes). Like I said, I only had the 5 loaded rounds so it was a very short shooting experience. My question to the forum is this: when I cleaned the rifle, the barrel was dirty, more so than if I had shot one of my “modern” rifles using 4895, no leading but there was some unburnt powder left in the brass and chamber (I confirmed this by using a lit match and put it against a couple of grains of the unburnt powder and it burned. Is this normal? Would another powder be better? Try CCI LR primers? Just shot it to break it in? I appreciate any help and thank you in advance. If this the wrong place to post this, I apologize and ask that it be moved to the correct place.
Harold1950