AmericanLongRifles Forums
General discussion => Black Powder Shooting => Topic started by: Herb on September 12, 2017, 05:59:39 AM
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I tested some more loads in my .50 Rice 32" Jaeger barreled fullstock caplock "Hawken" today after coning the muzzle about 1/2" and filing the grooves deeper at the muzzle. This for ease of loading. Used .490 Speer balls and red cotton duck from Wal Mart that compresses to .012. No fouling shots or cleaning between shots or powders. Had a wet cleaning patch on the seater jag so I wiped the bore as I seated the ball, just down and back. I did clean the bore before my 100 yard targets. I tested the finish on the stock to get the worn look of the Bridger and Carson rifles. Still more to do. These are 50 yard targets. W/M means weight-calibrated measure, one for each powder.
(https://preview.ibb.co/eo0yta/50_Hunt_Test.jpg) (https://ibb.co/gNKDRv)
Goex 3F, five shots.
(https://preview.ibb.co/gFSBDa/50_G3F.jpg) (https://ibb.co/fisdta)
(https://preview.ibb.co/ercNKF/50_G2_F_OE2_F.jpg) (https://ibb.co/bXj2KF)
(https://preview.ibb.co/hU9xmv/50_OE_1_and_half_F_S2_F.jpg) (https://ibb.co/kBBA6v)
I have a round notch 1/8" diameter with the top cut off in the buckhorn rear sight, holding the top of the front sight in the center of the hole for 50 yards and for my first two targets at 100 yards, 6 and 7 (mislabeled 6, top left). I held the top of the front sight at the top of the hole for this group. This would be a 150 yard zero.
(https://preview.ibb.co/cg9KzF/50_OE_100_LRZero.jpg) (https://ibb.co/fQvEYa)
I liked the Goex 2F load, but it did not hold up at 100 yards. The Olde Eynsford 2F impacted higher, perhaps due to barrel harmonics or who knows what, and grouped very well.
(https://preview.ibb.co/ipNuYa/50_OE2_F_100.jpg) (https://ibb.co/ihexmv)
My bench rest set up. Season opens September 16th to the 24th.
(https://preview.ibb.co/ehvgDa/DSC03546.jpg) (https://ibb.co/f7nHmv)
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You have some very good groups going there. You western fellas sure like pouring lots of powder down the barrel! I suspect you generally have to shoot a good distance to bag an antelope.
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Looks like that should get it done !! Good shootin !! Nate
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Looks really good to me! If you are ready to "reach out a little bit" for them antelope, they will practically walk up to you. And vice-versa. At least that's how it goes for me! Good luck on your hunt!
Matthew
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Not only some good groups but also some good muzzle energy you're getting from those Olde Eynsford and Swiss loads, Herb. But I really like the looks on that group with the GOEx 2Fg.
Love that rifle!!!!
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OE seemed to work well indeed, at 100 yards, Herb - well done.
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Herb I agree with Daryl. Looks like a fine antelope load to me.
Last two antelope I shot we're out past 400 yards. But was using a modern gun an sight (scope) set up.
Sure wished I could get back out there again.. Maybe next year.
Good luck Herb!!! Oldtravler
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As usual Herb your trying lots of combo's which is the best way to find an optimum load. Wished I could draw a tag. Antelope are one of my favorite hunts and good eating too. Good luck on your hunt. :)
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The photos didn't come up on my computer, Herb; but I've seen other pics of some of your targets fired with Goex, OE and Swiss. I see no reason to worry.
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Targets, show your rifle likes FFF more than FF.. Course 100 gr FFF is a bit more of a charge than 100 gr of FF.get it figured out then figure hold over.
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Herb - what lube are you using?
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I did some field practicing Tuesday, shooting from the pouch, using two 50-grain charges of Olde Eynsford 2F. Used cross sticks and shot standing. Hit high on rocks from about 70 to 175 yards away, seeing my sights the way I like. Scouted the hunt area Wednesday. Made a 45 grain antler charger and used two measures of Olde Eynsford 1 1/2F for 90 grains to lower the velocity. Saved my red cotton duck patches for the hunt and used .019/.012 crush Levi patches with lube of Murphy Oil Soap, rubbing alcohol and hydrogen peroxide. All good patches. Shot my cross sticks from standing at a gallon milk jug at about 175 yards (mountain men don't have range finders but the previous range user who put that jug out there probably did, and I compared it to my measured 200 yard stakes). It is below the white spot (old refrigerator!) at the top of the photo of my bench, under the 16th in the legend above. Sky was dark and about to rain, hard to see the target, four shots at the same level just at the top of the jug. Fifth blew it away. Went out to put another jug there and set up my 100 yard target on the way. Shot two shots with the close range sight hold (bottom right), then two with my long range sight hold (top right). Started to rain. Shot once from rest at the bench and blew the milk jug away. From my scouting yesterday and checking the ruler on Google Earth for the location where I found the best buck so far, this is the farthest I expect to have to shoot, more likely only half that distance.
(https://preview.ibb.co/dww2pQ/50_OE_onehalf.jpg) (https://ibb.co/iTiRG5)
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Herb I hope you fill your tag,you sure put the time in to do things right and the hunting gods should reward you ;)
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Murphy's soap + alcohol + peroxide is your hunting lube? interesting
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That Herb is a real mountain man. Whatever he's doing, it's working. Great rifles and shooting too.
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I'm looking at your 50 yards and at 100 yard targets and it looks like that rifle really likes that Olde Eynsford 1 1/2 Fg.
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That is my favorite powder in my Hawken rifles.
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Are you pretty well set Herb for this hunt or are you going to do more testing?
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I would be more likely to put sulphuric acid down my bore than hydrogen peroxide, and neither one is likely unless the dementia kicks in. When this concoction first got popular everybody started stirring up a batch. In no time flat I started getting people calling with major rust issues. And not long after that breech plug issues, flash channel issues, even breech thread erosion. Hydrogen peroxide introduces oxygen into the one place you don't need it. And, nothing encourages rust more than oxygen. JMO.
Hungry Horse
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I said wrong, I do not put hydrogen peroxide in my hunting lube, but in my bore cleaner. And I dry that out well and oil the bore when clean. The lube is a mix of Murphy Oil Soap and rubbing alcohol. Its purpose is to clean the bore and not lubricate it. Made my hunt. Left home at 6:10 AM, got to the oil patch gravel road in half an hour and then 11 miles to where I planned to hunt. It had rained the day before and the road was a little muddy. We got passed by a pickup with 3 or 4 hunters in it who sped on to the river bottom area I planned to hunt. So we drove to the next area south. No antelope, but no shots from them, either. Drove back to an oil well where we could see the bottom, no antelope there. Saw a nice buck out in the desert go over a ridge. Took my shooting stick support and walked out to look for him. Could not find him, he apparently went into the cottonwood river bottom, thick with brush. Began to drive a big loop to look for the antelope and found one close to the road. Good enough, otherwise it was just me in my Park Avenue Buick on these muddy roads the rest of the week until I got one. Not sure I could throw one in the trunk alone. I first saw him to the left of the black ridge in this photo, about 200 yards away. Sized him up with the spotting scope, decided he was good enough. Got out, capped the nipple, sat down to make the 200 yard shot (still air, I could do that), but he began to walk closer.
(https://preview.ibb.co/hZ9Cb5/Antelope_Location.jpg) (https://ibb.co/fcg3ik)
Here he comes..
(https://preview.ibb.co/mzP0UQ/DSC03585.jpg) (https://ibb.co/bDzpOk)
These animals see a lot of traffic by the energy industry and are comfortable seeing people.
(https://preview.ibb.co/fBsyG5/DSC03586.jpg) (https://ibb.co/mieOik)
I was conflicted, did not want to shoot an animal this close. He came within about 40 feet of me. I needed only 25 gains of powder, not 90. I just did not want to shoot him.
(https://preview.ibb.co/g11EpQ/DSC03588.jpg) (https://ibb.co/eTRfUQ)
Bob was about to have a stroke, wanting me to shoot and I didn't want to do it. Took half a dozen photos like this, over my rifle barrel.
(https://preview.ibb.co/jYNR3k/DSC03598.jpg) (https://ibb.co/myF2b5)
I finally decided I had to shoot an animal, my granddaughters family really needs the meat. And I needed Bob's help loading the animal. So I shot it. The ball did not go through the 12" wide chest, from maybe 50 feet. (I wore a hunter's orange stocking cap for the shot per the law but changed hats for this photo).
(https://preview.ibb.co/gAW8G5/Herb_Antelope.jpg) (https://ibb.co/mStc9Q)
The horns are 15". Bob was saying 15 to 17 inches, but I bet a six pack they were about 13", and I was OK with that. He got Samuel Adams Boston Lager, and a quart of Blackberry whiskey for driving and assisting. We put six half-gallon milk cartons of frozen water in the body cavity and got home pronto to skin it. It is in Carl's cooler and we cut and wrap it this week.
(https://preview.ibb.co/gqmm3k/50_Hawken_Buck.jpg) (https://ibb.co/hNMKOk) This was the easiest antelope hunt of the six I have made, and it was a great day.
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Yahooo Herb. Good on ya. :)
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Glad your prep paid off. Were you surprised it was not a pass-through shot?
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Good shot Herb and your hunting reports are the absolute best.
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Congratulations! See?! All prepared for the long shot and you get a close one! Such a wierd, wonderful animal. Good eating too! Great story, thanks for telling.
Matthew
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Cool! Fat little guy.
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Congrats Herb,all your planning paid off.Its always a bonus to fill your tag after many hours spent getting ready for a hunt,good on you.
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Congrats Herb!! Nicely done!
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Antelope buck heads are difficult to judge, but when you see a really big one, you know it. The ears are six inches long, the eyes are six inches across and the head is 12 inches from base of skull to nose. Any horns over 14 inches is a good head. This is the seventh one I killed. I used Boone and Crockett's score sheet to score them and they range from 66 4/8 points to 76 4/8 points, with a minimum of 80 points for B&C book. This one was second best with 74 2/8 points and I thought he was not very big. But with storms this week and all else I had to do, it was a really good hunt. Bob says it will stay with him for life. I have suffered enough on past hunts, crawling through cactus, ants, rocks and sagebrush for half a mile to finally kill my biggest one, and I could not even walk when I got up. We cooled and cut up the meat and my friends raved over the meat. We divided it up. It is common for lone bucks to come up to people out in the oil patch. The people I tell about our hunt all tell of similar behavior by bucks. If any non-resident wants to try for this hunt, I would be happy to advise. I hunted it once as a non-resident when I lived in Colorado.
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I took a roll of color print photos of antelope with my 400 mm Pentax lens during my three days of scouting and got it loaded into my computer. Here is a really good buck, and I don't even remember where I saw him. But he is probably Boone and Crockett.
(https://preview.ibb.co/hXH6b5/Big_Buck_2.jpg) (https://ibb.co/c8Dew5)
(https://preview.ibb.co/ihOZUQ/Big_Buck_3.jpg) (https://ibb.co/ezdew5)
(https://preview.ibb.co/nB4xik/Big_Buck.jpg) (https://ibb.co/kO2TpQ)
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Nice! I am hoping to draw a muzzleloader antelope tag here in Oregon soon. Never hunted them before but it looks fun.
Brandon
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It's always fun to read your testing and hunting posts Herb. That is a nice antelope by any measure, and in longbow range - crazy! Don't be afraid to take the eaqsy shots...they are the minority, at least for me. Great pictures !!
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Some more buck pictures.
(https://preview.ibb.co/hWLd2b/BB_Back_Enl_jpg.jpg) (https://ibb.co/d1GwoG)
(https://preview.ibb.co/hxXK8G/Buck_by_Hill.jpg) (https://ibb.co/bYTsTG)
(https://preview.ibb.co/irrPaw/Buck_Rocks.jpg) (https://ibb.co/nhLHvw)
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Very good write up Herb, and Congrats on the successful hunt!
Lovely photos as well. Thanks for all of this thread!
And yes, the easy hunts help pay for the hard or normal ones!
Very best,
Richard.