Tried some Swiss 3F this weekend in my Forsyth rifled barrel. It's a 62 caliber round ball shooter. I cannot see any difference in the level of fouling compared to Goex. In fact the fouling seems a little harder than Goex to me. Barrel gets just as dirty as with Goex maybe more. It does seem a little hotter however as I started with lighter loads than my Goex loads and elevations are the same.
I don't understand how shooters that claim multiple rounds between cleaning do it. My second round is very hard to get down and a third round would have to be hammered down. Using Wonder wads with wonder lube. I have to clean between rounds just to keep loading and shooting from becoming a real chore and a danger to my barrel.
But I am using a .600 ball and a .020 patch just to get mediocre accuracy from my Forsyth rifled barrel. The tight ball and patch combination is likely the cause of difficult loading. Cannot get acceptable accuracy at 100 yards with anything less tight. I built my gun for whitetail hunting. So far the accuracy level is such that I won't shoot anything past 50 yards. I was hoping the Swiss powder would make a difference. No go.
To anyone considering Forsyth rifling, my suggestion is to stick with faster twists and reputable barrel makers.
Many put too slow a twist in "Forsythe rifling". Forsythe's rifle, a 69, was a 96 and he stated that 120 would work. The narrow lands load easier and will allow the use of harder lead. Which Forsythe used.
Nor does the slower twist in of itself produce more velocity. I see no reason for twists slower than 66-80 in anything smaller than 10-12 bore. People also shoot far more powder than Forsythe did, from reports, he used 5 drams in a 69 (14 bore with 15 bore ball). This is 137.5 gr. But I read of people shooting 180-200 from a 20 bore (62). At this charge level I am sure a 62 will have fouling problems with Swiss, especially FFF. Forsythe used "Halls #2" powder which based on the way C&H graded their powder was probably about like FF Swiss. But this is still supposition since I don't KNOW what Halls #2 really was. Might have been FFF.
Try FF. I shoot 140 gr FF Swiss out of my 30" barreled 16 bore (.662 ball so its really a 15 bore I suppose) with an 80" twist and narrow lands and it will not even show fouling at the muzzle the first shot or two. I have never had to wipe this rifle between shots and can shoot it till I get tired of the recoil with Neatsfoot oil or Sperm Whale Oil lube.
FFF Swiss is pretty fast stuff. Since its fast it burns hot. If the temperature get to a certain point (1600 IIRC) there will be a change in the character of the fouling, it will turn hard and white. 110 FFF in a 58 will cause this but 100 shoots clean. Mad Monk and I were just discussing this but I forgot the fine details
. BAsically if you use Swiss and get hard white fouling then back the charge back or go to a coarser powder.
I shoot 90 fff from my 54 and have shot 90 from my 50 with no issues. The 38" 54 gives 1900 with 90 fff. This load fouls less than Goex FFF at 100 grains and is faster.
Other than my 40 cal trying Picket Bullets I have not had experience with bullets in MLs. I was using 80 gr of FF in the 40 last time but I wipe every shot so fouling is not a concern. But I really need a platinum nipple at this level. Its more accurate than 50 or 70 gr.
In a 58 I would not shoot more than 100 FFF and would likely try FF to keep the temp down. I would not shoot FFF on a 62 based on the 16 bore rifle I have. The slower powder will loose more temp to the bore as it burns slower and exposes more bore surface before being completely consumed. This helps keep the burn temp below the critical temp. The larger balls are more efficient. 140 gr of FF gives 1600. 140 is less than 33% of ball weight.
We also have to remember that its entirely possible that the barrels Forsythe was shooting were 12 grooves or more and thus he could talk of very sharp lands. I am sure my 16 bore with 8 grooves has much wider lands than Forsythe's barrels did.
Dan
