PoorJack,
Did you get a chance to shoot anymore and confirm your problem is solved?
PoorJack,
Did you get a chance to shoot anymore and confirm your problem is solved?
At the Homecoming Skirmish in Statesville, my dad shot his Smith for the entire skirmish with no issues. I didn't shoot mine because I still don't have confidence in the load so I shot the musketoon instead. Dad and I both shot Smiths for practice in the individuals on Friday to see if any problems were going to arise but the lack of suitable accuracy in mine settled the musketoon decision. When my Smith is not shooting at least minute of pigeon even with some Kentucky windage, I'd settle for a slower rate of fire from a known tack driver. Like I've heard said before, "can't miss fast enough to hit anything". Dad was okay with his Smith but on Saturday, he was struggling with it so some further load development and exploration is in order this winter.
Also on the agenda for this winter is experimenting with the 45/70 type of Smith cases. Advantage I see in these is the absolute control of the seating depth of a chosen bullet and COAL. Accuracy is all about controlling variables and that's one varible that is controlled in the brass cases. Problem with the brass cases is changing that seating depth if you don't have access to a lathe or mill. To change it with the 45/70 case, just trim the case to a different length and reinsert into tube and test. I'm making up one set of 7 based on a nominal chamber length of 1.4in. I'll also make another set based on my chamber of about 1.42. Since I have a 45/70 and a number of old cases laying around, it's an easy experiment to run. If this works out, then either make more cases or get brass ones machined to the same spec.
Smith saga will continue......
"A man can never have too much red wine, too many books, or too much ammunition"
Rudyard Kipling
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NRA Muzzleloading Instructor
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