I am currently working up loads for some Hoyt 7 land and groove barrels with 1 in 48 and 1 in 56 twist rifling. I would like to check what I have found so far with other shooters who have experience with this rifling. I have three bullets that I can use: Hodgdon, Rapine International, and Rapine 510 grain New Style mini. In my experience different weight bullets, like different charges. For example, the 410 grain Hodgdon needs a higher powder charge than the 510 grain New Style and the Rapine International at 460 grains falls in between. I don't have any guns that will shoot these three bullets equally well with a single powder charge and I don't currently use any musket loads over 43.5 grains of Goex 3f and that is only in my slowest twist barrel, a 1/72. Anything more and the bullets just start drifting too far right. I have experimented with loads above this without any success since the gun would need to be completely resighted for windage and elevation.
So far with the Hodgdon it looks like the 1/48 likes 42 grains of Goex 3f and it looks like the 1/56 will group well with between 42 and 42.5 gr of 3f. Can anyone confirm this information?
The Rapine International doesn't look like a good fit with loads in the range of 41.5 grains of 3f so I will probably not use it with this rifling. It does shoot well in a Whitacre barrel, 1/72, with 43 gr of 3f.
Finally, I shot the New Style with the 1/48 and the loads over 40 gr of 3f look too heavy as they were experiencing a lot of rotational drift to the right. I'm going to try something lighter. Suggestions?? I have not had a chance to experiment with the 1/56 barrel with this bullet yet. Suggestions???
Would appreciate it if you didn't give a wide range of charges. Looking for a specific charge to the nearest half grain for a specific bullet. I pan weigh all of my charges on a digital scale and I do not put lube in the base. All bullets are sized about .001 under bore and slip fit in barrel. My lube is a mixture of Crisco, cooking oil and beeswax with about 50% beeswax.
I know that it is possible to get loads from other shooters that work. Larry Romano has given me loads for the Spencer, 36 Maynard, and 50 Maynard that all worked beautifully in my guns with no adjustments. Of course, these aren't muskets, either!
Thanks,
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