Raider2000

I've taken this from my thread over at The Firing Line...
http://www.thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=267115

Well today I had the pleasure to throw some lead through my new toy, & let me tell ya it's a bit surprising in the recoil & chronograph area compared to my full sized 1858 but manageable.

These were taken from 6' on my Pro Chrono just to see what differences in the barrel length would give me.
Bullet = .457 144 grain Hornady Round Ball.
Powder = Goex FFFg black powder.
Primer = Remington #11

8” barrel average ballistics.
35 gr. Volume 34 gr. Weight = 935 fps. 279 ft. lbs.
30 gr. Volume 29 gr. Weight = 842 fps. 226 ft. lbs.
5-1/2” Barrel Average Ballistics.
35 gr. Volume 34 gr. Weight = 861 fps. 236 ft. lbs.
30 gr. Volume 29 gr. Weight = 766 fps. 187 ft. lbs.

Now my accuracy was to be desired but I'm getting used to this little fella, with a 25 yard group of 6" & slightly favoring the left, the front sight to me is a bit lower than I had anticipated so most of my shots are 2.5" - 3.0" high.

after running 30 shots through it today between the 2 cylinders I had to call it a day "ran out of powder in my box" but I've learned a bit on what it can do & see that I have some more sessions with it to get even more accuracy out of it...

BTW.
I used my powder measure that I use for measuring my loads for my Hawken & I noticed that there is a slight discrepancy in my 2 pistol powder measures & my Rifle measure.
My pistol measures are the simple brass tube type with no swinging funnel that read 5gr. to 50gr..
My Rifle measure is also brass but it does have a swinging funnel & it reads from 10gr. to 120gr..
My quandary is this.
When I use my rifle measure & back it up with the scale it is usually 1gr. less by weight than the volume reading on the measure no matter what amount I want to use on the measure, not bad.
When I use the pistol measures they degrade a bit as you go up the scale, 10gr. = 9gr., 40gr. = 35gr. not alot granted but just wondering if the smaller measures aren't as accurate as they could be..

My question to all who probably have a lot more experience than I in muzzle loading.
Why was my pistol measures that far off compared to my larger rifle measure & scale?

cayugad

I have yet to see two powder measure throw the same weight by volume. Now granted, they can be very close and some times even the same, but take any measure andweigh ten charges and you will have a difference in readings. I think it is just a quirk in the way the powder measure is made or the way you actually fill them or cap them off..

One good point you have is, while a grain or two difference in a rifle may not be important. In a pistol it could make a much bigger difference.

lemoyne

I have checked a number of powder measures, mostly not even the same brand and model give the same answer, I finally just picked on of the TC mag measures and us it for every thing. Lee