Navy-Arms Smith Carbine Load

[mgmurray]

Hey all you Smith Carbine shooters:

I'm new to shoothing the Smith carbine so, instead of reinventing the wheel, I thought I woud prevail upon some expert advice from those of you who have already blazed the trail. My Navy-Arms Smith is in excellent condition and is tight at the breech and appears to have good rifling from breech to muzzle (barrel date stamp is "BH"). I am using brass tubes that hold about 29-30 grains - I don't know if that is a reduced capacity tube similar to the reduced capacity Maynard tubes but, look very similar on the inside. My mold is a Lyman 515139(C), 340 grains and throws prety close to a .515 bullet. In lubrisizing to .515 which seems to load ok in the brass cases. I have not attempted to dial in the sights yet so am working towards obtaining a good group. I would really appreciate some advice on what load works well in the gun from you all who have been shooting this gun for years. I hope I don't have to have Mr. Hoyt reline the barrel but, if thats a must before proceeding further, so be it...

Many thanks in advance and cheers,

Mike Murray
RVM TW-005

[Lou Lou Lou]

IS the bore that small that you have to size down to .512? Have you tried shooting them as cast?

[mgmurray]

Lou Lou Lou:

I'll try that - if it works ok, I'll get the correct lubrisizer die...

Thanks, Mike

[mgmurray]

Lou Lou Lou:

I spoke too quickly - my lubrisizer die is a .515 afterall...


Cheers, Mike

[tonyb]

As said, measure the bore of your Smith.

[mgmurray]

Tonyb;

I slugged the bore and as best I can measure, it is a .507/.508 land to land. I have run tight fitting patches through it and it seems to give me a constatnt resistance from breech to muzzle. When I slugged it, there was a lot of resistance to begin with at the breech and then it began to lighten up towards the muzzle about half way down and remained fairly constant but could be pushed with firm hand pressure... I would assume that the beginning resistance would be more at the breech as the rifling engraves the bullet. How much it should let up towards the muzzle I don't know - just hoping it isn't a goofed up barrel that needs to be relined to shoot properly.

Cheers, Mike

[Michael Bodner]

I've been shooting a Navy Arms Smith for about 8+ years. Its always been a terrific hitting gun. I use the plastic tubes so I hold a little more powder. I 'think' about 31 grains, but I'll have to measure to make sure.

Take it to the range and let 'er rip. Try different loads by 0.5 grains (28, 28.5, 29, 29.5, etc) and see which groups best. You may need a different load for 100 verses 50 yards.

Like everything, your lube is important. Clean after every 10 shots: How many patches to get the bore clean? If its taking 5-6, you're getting too much fouling. If it come 'clean' after 2-3, then you're spot-on with the lube.

I recently changed to the Murphy's Oil/Neutragena soap lube. But I used MCM lube for years. After inserting the round into the tube, I smooth out the excess lube around the mouth of the tube to give it some 'extra'.

BTW: When I slugged my bore with a round, it come out with basically NO lube groove. So I don't know why the hell it doesn't foul more, but it doesn't.

-Mike

[Eggman]

It's because you lead a clean life.

[mgmurray]

Mike:

Thanks for the info - I'm currently using a 50-50 beeswax & alox - I'll do as you say and clean after 10 rounds and see what the patch count is to a clean bore. What bullet are you using?

Cheers, Mike

[Tom Magno, 9269V]

Mike:

Thanks for the info - I'm currently using a 50-50 beeswax & alox - I'll do as you say and clean after 10 rounds and see what the patch count is to a clean bore. What bullet are you using?

Cheers, Mike

Does alox work for you? I don't see even how the smoothie shooters get away with it - it creates such a mess with black powder and concrete like residue. I think you will get better success with 50-50 beeswax and Crisco (or similar mix), or commercially available BP lubes. You may find you will get a few good rounds with alox, but then your accuracy will go to heck and you will be scrubbing the barrel to get it out.

[mgmurray]

Tom:

Thanks very much for the reply - I've only put a few rounds at a time through the Smith carbine so probably didn't pay nuch attention to the fouling. I lube my .54 Sharps (and musket) rounds with Len's Lube and it works pretty well and could maybe do something similar with the smith rounds i.e., try a cooky cutter approach - I'm not sure how Len's lube will work in my lubrisizer but, I guess it's worth a go to see...

Cheers, Mike

[Gary Van Kauwenbergh, 101]

I shoot a .515 bullet with 29.5 grains of FFFg GOEX out of those black plastic cartridges. See all my siting-in results at http://acwsa.org/Pages/ShootingNotebook.htm

[Tom Magno, 9269V]

Tom:

Thanks very much for the reply - I've only put a few rounds at a time through the Smith carbine so probably didn't pay nuch attention to the fouling. I lube my .54 Sharps (and musket) rounds with Len's Lube and it works pretty well and could maybe do something similar with the smith rounds i.e., try a cooky cutter approach - I'm not sure how Len's lube will work in my lubrisizer but, I guess it's worth a go to see...

Cheers, Mike

I use MCM, and the consitency of the lube is similar to Lens. I just slowly melt in a double boiler, and then pour it into the lubrisizer. Once it cools, works just fine on my Smith/Maynard bullets. Add just a bit of beeswax to the mix if you need it a little stiffer, but for me the as-is mix works fine.

[mgmurray]

Tom:

Thanks for the tip - I was thinking of somehting like that but wasn't sure of what the results might be... so, now that I know there is someone who hasw pioneered that method with good results, I'll try it...

Thanks again, Mike

[Tom Magno, 9269V]

Tom:

Thanks for the tip - I was thinking of somehting like that but wasn't sure of what the results might be... so, now that I know there is someone who hasw pioneered that method with good results, I'll try it...

Thanks again, Mike

And you won't need a heater for the lubrisizer. It will flow with just a small turn of the crank and a little pressure.

[Rlevin]

Hey all you Smith Carbine shooters:

I'm new to shoothing the Smith carbine so, instead of reinventing the wheel, I thought I woud prevail upon some expert advice from those of you who have already blazed the trail. My Navy-Arms Smith is in excellent condition and is tight at the breech and appears to have good rifling from breech to muzzle (barrel date stamp is "BH"). I am using brass tubes that hold about 29-30 grains - I don't know if that is a reduced capacity tube similar to the reduced capacity Maynard tubes but, look very similar on the inside. My mold is a Lyman 515139(C), 340 grains and throws prety close to a .515 bullet. In lubrisizing to .515 which seems to load ok in the brass cases. I have not attempted to dial in the sights yet so am working towards obtaining a good group. I would really appreciate some advice on what load works well in the gun from you all who have been shooting this gun for years. I hope I don't have to have Mr. Hoyt reline the barrel but, if thats a must before proceeding further, so be it...

Many thanks in advance and cheers,

Mike Murray
RVM TW-005


I use 28.5 grains of 3F Swiss powder and it makes almost one hole at 50 yards.