After a long hiatus since I last fired my smoothie, I tested it at 25 yds. today and couldn't have been happier with the results. Most shooting was done kneeling with my left arm resting on a folded towel and the first shot was dead center in the X ring. The other shots grouped within an inch, except one I pulled due to a hangfire. The load was Taylor's: 85 gr. FFg (Goex) + .600" weighed RB's (cast from a Dixie mold) + .015" pillow ticking spit patch v. .595" weighed Tanner RB's + .018" pillow ticking spit patch. Both started easily too. Framkly, I couldn't see much difference between them, and in both cases, the patches were intact and could have been reused. Just for grins, I added a OS cardstock wad to each load, but so no advantage to doing so. In the past, this gun grouped to the right (2" - 3" @ 25 yds.), but not so today, possibly because I removed the bbl. from the stock*, and squeezed it gently, but firmly between two pieces of wood in my vise.
I'd have continued shooting, but then I stuck a cleaning patch and jag down bore, compounded by my own boneheadedness. The jag had a 8-32 thread, while the rod tip had a 10-32. Somehow I managed to "take up the windage" with a few wraps of string, and it worked quite well...for a while. Now the worse news: the cleaning rod tip wasn't pinned and also got stuck down the bbl. Guess who'll be pinning ALL rod tips from now on? Realizing I couldn't fix this at the range, I squirted a generous amount of WD-40 down bore and using the 8-32 hickory ramrod form my Dixie flinter + a locking pliers + a rubber mallet to move and then remove the stuck jag and patch. Btw, Crazy Glue on the range rod end allowed me to remove the rod tip first. I've learned my lesson in spades today...and the gun is fine as well!
*It took me a while to work up the nerve to do so, even after purchasing the correct pin punch.
