All, Yesterday I had a chance to test fire my new rifle...from a rest and am happy to say that it performed flawlessly. The potential for accuracy was certainly there, but I've yet to fully understand the thickness of the patch & RB diameter it prefers. (It is nominally .50cal.) E.g., I tried 2 different RB's (home cast), a Lyman @ .488" and a T/C @ .491" with .018" patches and T/C pre-cut patches that I've had for probably 20yrs. I used "Moose Milk" (Winchester Sutler's product) as both a patch lube & bore cleaner. The powder charge was 70gr. Pyro. RS.* In both instances, the Lyman RB significantly outperformed the T/C with the .018" and T/C (thinner) patches, but I'm going to retest this in the near future just to be sure. How accurate was it? 3 shots touching @ 50yds. on a 4" square diamond-shaped target. Btw, I bought the Lyman mold, touted as being in excellent condition, on E-Bay several years ago: It wasn't, although the cavity was VG. I had to argue with the seller for a partial refund. In retrospect, I'm glad I didn't return it.
*I use Pyro. mostly because BP is hard to find locally. Indeed, all powders are hard to obtain here.