Again, I don't really shoot groups once my initial load development is done. So this first picture is of a score card from an 800 yard target I shot last year at a Lodi, Wisconsin long range match shot at 800, 900 & 1000 yards. Brent was spotting for me and he did OK I guess.
This was shot with my .45-70 Hepburn with a Danielson paper patch chamber. The load was follows:
530 grain ppb
.060 LDPE wad
83.0 grains Swiss 1 1/2
Star Line brass
Remington 2 1/2 pistol primers
The .444 diameter bullet is wrapped with .002" 9# 100% cotton onionskin paper and is seated .080" in the case mouth. I wipe between shot with 10% mixture of water soluble oil and distilled water using bore pigs and one dry patch that I push thru in one pass of my wiping stick. This rifle has a globe front sight and a good quality vernier tang sight.
I have shot scores in the upper 90 several times with this rifle and load at all three distances including the 98-4X I shot two years ago at 1000 yards with no coaching, reading the conditions on my own as were required in that particular match, the American Creedmoor Cup.
I used this same setup to win the American Creedmoor Cup and the Wisconsin State Championship in back to back matches in May of this year when we had some really tough conditions for both matches.
No, I don't shoot for groups much anymore, but I think the results shooting paper patch bullets that I and others like Brent have had in actual matches speaks of a HIGH level of accuracy that such loads can achieve. Brent's load is very similar to mine and our loading procedures are nearly identical.
My avatar shows just some of the hardware that paper patch bullets have won for me in recent years. Yeah, I'd say they work!
This is a picture of my Hepburn and a load cartridge along with some other stuff, including a silver medal I won with this setup.
As for competing against smokeless powder shooters, when you stretch the distance out you'll find that smokeless can not compete with real gun powder. It just isn't capable of the consistency shot to shot that black powder is.
BPTR is a great sport, it's just better when shot with black powder and paper patch bullets!