Maillemaker
09-02-2013, 09:28 PM
A couple of weeks ago I had posted about my attempts to shoot the new Moose Wilkinson 580. It's a fantastic bullet to cast and you can really crank them out with the double-cavity mold. But I was only able to get 2 or 3 shots off before they became very crunchy going down the barrel.
Based on everyone's input, I assumed that with its limited lube carrying capability the problem was my dirty Shuetzen powder and my too-hard crisco/beeswax lube. I concluded that to use it you need a quality powder and a quality lube. I've shelved the Wilkinson until I can get some of both.
Today I was doing some 100 yard musket practice using RCBS-Hodgdon bullets with my beeswax/crisco lube. I was using 46 grains of Shuetzen 3F. I can shoot about 7 shots of this before bullets start sticking in the barrel and I have to ping them with the ramrod a couple of times to break them free and seat them all the way down. But it's generally not a show-stopper in team shooting and off the bench I was able to cut a ragged hole with 3 shots in the black:
http://i.imgur.com/lar5JbJ.jpg
For fun, I switched to shooting some period cartridges I had made up. These are paper cartridges made to the 1855 style. You remove the bullet from the paper - no paper goes down the barrel. These bullets were RCBS-500M minies charged with 48 grains of Goex 2F. The bullets are traditional minnies with 3 shallow lube grooves. I made a period lube per the ordinance manual of 8 parts beeswax to 1 part tallow. The lube on these bullets looks like wax when you remove the bullet from the paper. It is definitely not "gooey" like, say, Len's Lube. It is a hard waxy lube:
http://i.imgur.com/sBh3x.jpg
But these bullets shot fantastically. I believe I could shoot them indefinitely. They loaded easily from first shot to last. I think I shot 15-20 shots and could easily have kept on going.
Now my conventional wisdom about lube has been that the runnier the better it works to keep the fouling soft. In fact I figured the idea was to have the runniest lube you could that wouldn't melt off your bullets in the summer heat.
But this period lube recipe is most definitely not runny. In fact I don't think they could tolerate runny, greasy lubes in period because it would foul the paper cartridges and the grease/oil would wick into the paper.
So here I am with a period style minnie with shallow grease grooves and a hard, waxy lube and I'm getting way better loading performance than with the RCBS-Hodgdon with it's massive lube groove and my beeswax/crisco lube.
Could it be that this 3F Shuetzen powder that I'm putting behind the RCBS-Hodgdon is really is crappy, dirty burning powder compared to the 2F Goex I'm putting behind the RCBS-500M?
I'm just amazed how well this period "hard" lube is performing with a traditional minnie ball. Once again I am astounded at how smart the people in various times of history were.
Here are the results of shooting the 500M with period lube from a bench:
http://i.imgur.com/zlHzwER.jpg
And here are the results of shooting it off hand:
http://i.imgur.com/aqIRvqS.jpg
Steve
Based on everyone's input, I assumed that with its limited lube carrying capability the problem was my dirty Shuetzen powder and my too-hard crisco/beeswax lube. I concluded that to use it you need a quality powder and a quality lube. I've shelved the Wilkinson until I can get some of both.
Today I was doing some 100 yard musket practice using RCBS-Hodgdon bullets with my beeswax/crisco lube. I was using 46 grains of Shuetzen 3F. I can shoot about 7 shots of this before bullets start sticking in the barrel and I have to ping them with the ramrod a couple of times to break them free and seat them all the way down. But it's generally not a show-stopper in team shooting and off the bench I was able to cut a ragged hole with 3 shots in the black:
http://i.imgur.com/lar5JbJ.jpg
For fun, I switched to shooting some period cartridges I had made up. These are paper cartridges made to the 1855 style. You remove the bullet from the paper - no paper goes down the barrel. These bullets were RCBS-500M minies charged with 48 grains of Goex 2F. The bullets are traditional minnies with 3 shallow lube grooves. I made a period lube per the ordinance manual of 8 parts beeswax to 1 part tallow. The lube on these bullets looks like wax when you remove the bullet from the paper. It is definitely not "gooey" like, say, Len's Lube. It is a hard waxy lube:
http://i.imgur.com/sBh3x.jpg
But these bullets shot fantastically. I believe I could shoot them indefinitely. They loaded easily from first shot to last. I think I shot 15-20 shots and could easily have kept on going.
Now my conventional wisdom about lube has been that the runnier the better it works to keep the fouling soft. In fact I figured the idea was to have the runniest lube you could that wouldn't melt off your bullets in the summer heat.
But this period lube recipe is most definitely not runny. In fact I don't think they could tolerate runny, greasy lubes in period because it would foul the paper cartridges and the grease/oil would wick into the paper.
So here I am with a period style minnie with shallow grease grooves and a hard, waxy lube and I'm getting way better loading performance than with the RCBS-Hodgdon with it's massive lube groove and my beeswax/crisco lube.
Could it be that this 3F Shuetzen powder that I'm putting behind the RCBS-Hodgdon is really is crappy, dirty burning powder compared to the 2F Goex I'm putting behind the RCBS-500M?
I'm just amazed how well this period "hard" lube is performing with a traditional minnie ball. Once again I am astounded at how smart the people in various times of history were.
Here are the results of shooting the 500M with period lube from a bench:
http://i.imgur.com/zlHzwER.jpg
And here are the results of shooting it off hand:
http://i.imgur.com/aqIRvqS.jpg
Steve