Smith was accurate then it wasn't

[Yakiman]

New to me Smith carbine, first time at the range today. Shooting at 25 yds off a bench - was hitting a bit high and a bit to the right and compensating for that was giving me fairly decent accuracy. I put about 20 rounds through it, maybe a bit more and took a short break, posted a new target and from then on I couldn't even keep it on paper let alone hit the center. What happened? There was no change in load or caps.

[henrymstr]

Clean it every 10 or so rds

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[Carolina Reb]

Does your bullet have big enough grease grooves? Try a few different bullet lubes.

[Yakiman]

Does your bullet have big enough grease grooves? Try a few different bullet lubes.

I'm using the Lyman 518145 - three grooves with a beeswax/crisco mix. Shot fine to begin with. Just got done cleaning it and I haven't had this much trouble cleaning any muzzleloader in the past.

[Hal]

Did your sights get loose? Pivot bolt tight? Locking up tight?

[pappy]

check your lead had to switch to hard lead to keep it from leading up, shot great after that.

[Yakiman]

Did your sights get loose? Pivot bolt tight? Locking up tight?

No, sights are tight. The gun is in new condition and locks up so tight it's hard to open with finger pressure. I was shooting approx 35 gr of FFG using a combination of red and black tubes and fired a total of 48 rounds with about 30 of those before the accuracy went to hell.

[Eggman]

Yeah it's the old barrel crud conundrum. The guys are providing good alternate solutions. Basically either clean every 10 or so or go to max lube with deep groove bullet. I like the very low cost Lee .515.

[Maillemaker]

I am brand new to Smith shooting. But when doing load workups with the red rubber Yore tubes vs. the hard black plastic tubes, I found the black tubes gave superior accuracy. I believe this is due to the rigid black tubes holding the bullets more perfectly aligned with the bore, whereas the soft rubber tubes allow the bullets to pitch at whatever angle you choose to set them at.

I do notice that on my Pietta Smith and my just-aquired original Smith the grooves look very shallow compared to say my Pedersoli Sharps.

So, perhaps it is more susceptible to fouling?

Steve

[John Bly]

The 518145 has fairly shallow grease grooves. A 515139 may be better as it carries more lube. I know they look the same but they are different. Try different lubes. SPG is a good one, so is DGL.