Olde Eynesforde proper ratio vs Goex?

[Jim Barber]

Got a question for you experimenters out there. I have a few pounds of Old Eynsford 3F. Normally use Goex 3f in all my guns (musket, carbine, SB).

Has anyone switched from Goex to Old E in a Smith carbine? I'm pretty terrible with the Smith, so I anticipate a LOT of practice with it this summer, and I'd like to use up that Eynesford.

I'm wondering if anyone's figured out a rough rule of thumb ratio for Old E to Goex, like "use 10% less Old Eynesford compared to regular Goex."

I originally bought it to try in my SB, and while it shot MUCH cleaner, I was never able to get the point of impact (and group size) back to where I was with 55g Goex 3f. 55 g Old E was WAY high and wild. 52 was better, but still didn't seem to group as well. 50g and I had to completely cover the target or they'd come in low.

Thanks to all for your collective wisdom!

Jim B.
Grove City, OH

[Greg Ogdan 110th OVI]

Jim, Just give it to me. I know what to do with it.

Greg

[Jim Barber]

Greg,

Thanks for looking out for me!

Jim

[Jim Wimbish, 10395]

Jim,

I haven't shot any but it is supposed to be competitive with Swiss. When I run across a Swiss load, I reduce it by 10%. Obviously that didn't seem to work with your smoothbore.

[Chris Sweeney]

I'm generally less impressed with OE than I expected to be. I ran into the same problem you describe in my Maynard. It's spodabee more consistent granule size, etc. but it doesn't seem to meter as well in my powder measure. I could hold to +/- .2 grains with Goex, but the OE seems to vary by half a grain or more.

[Jim Barber]

Chris,

You may have hit on the reason for my inconsistent results-- usually I don't check my charge weights once I've got it dialed in and dropped a few that look correct. If I'm getting heavier and lighter charges dropping, that would certainly explain things. Next time I fiddle with it, I'll measure all of em and see if I'm experiencing the variation you describe.

Greg,

You wouldn't want any of this Olde E-- it's inconsistent and difficult to measure!

Sad thing is, it's truly, noticeably cleaner-burning than regular Goex. I'd really like to be able to use it...

Cheers!
Jim

[jonk]

While there are certainly some rules of thumb, the bottom line is when you switch powder, you are starting back at square one. It didn't group as well for you in the SB; that's the end result of the experiment. What it does in the Smith is anyone's guess. Start at 20 grains and work up a grain at a time, shots of 5, from a bench. Then too a new powder might need a different bullet, and the process begins over again.

I'll say when I was working up my Smith loads I used some swiss 3f. It became a semi automatic smith as the recoil with 32 gr (tube full) was enough to cause the toggle to rise up enough to open the action! I bought or borrowed four different molds. Ran about 240 rounds out of each mold, being a full spectrum from 20 gr up to a case full, with soft and hard lead, with 2f, 3f, Goex, swiss, and schutzen before I settled on what I KNEW was best.

Personally I settled on 30 gr of 2F goex, soft lead, and filler enough to get the bullet to slightly compress into the rifling. But if you don't want to go through the whole work up and you don't get lucky right off, I'd just trade it off.

[Maillemaker]

I agree with Jonk 100%. I think if you make a change in your recipe you start all over again with a proper load workup. You might find some basic "rule of thumb" to get you in the ballpark of what you need to bracket for your workup, for example they say you can use about 10% less 3F to equal an equivalent 2F load, but in the end you have to start all over when you change a variable.

Steve