I finished sighting it in today, a total of forty rounds including yesterday. Last night I drilled out the vent to .070", and today, used 4Fg GOEX ion the pan. An enormous difference in ignition.
I started with 85 grains FFg GOEX Cartridge holy black, a .600" dead soft lead ball and .023" linen patches (from old table cloth). After filing the front sight to bring the impact to centre, I fired five into a raged hole in the 2" bull at 25 meters from the bench. I went to a 4" dot at ~ 60 meters, and the impact was low, just under the bull at six o'clock. So I upped the charge to 100 gr. and started cutting into the black, but the group was bigger than I like. So I upper the charge again, to 120 grains - same patches soaked to dripping with saliva - and fired three into a single hole in the middle of the bull. This using the same sight picture as with 25 meters. I found to hit centre at 100 meters, I had to raise the entire front sight blade over the notch in the rear sight, and hold centre. It's an easy and fast sight picture to acquire, and will work perfectly ;for a hunting rifle, which this one certainly is.
An interesting note: While I was trying the first load - 85 gr., I switched to 3Fg GOEX and it raised the impact point about 3/4" over the 2" bull. I did the same at 60 meters, and the strike was about 5" high of centre. The 3Fg was not as accurate as the 2Fg either, so I abandoned it. Also, recoil with 120 grains of 3g, while ok for a hunting situation, is not very pleasant for shooting many shots from the bench. The 2Fg was not hard on my shoulder in the least. There was no need to clean the rifle during this exercise. Loading was very easy with a 3/8" hickory ramrod. I used a starter to introduce the ball and patch.
Clean up in the shop was simple: remove the barrel and lock, toothbrush off the breech, two flannel patches on a slightly diminished .62 cal jag with the breech in a bucket of tepid water, drain the barrel, dry off the outside, barrel in leather of bench vise, and dry patched out. I used three sets of double flannel patches to dry the bore, reversing the pair each time, for a total of six wipes. Then WD 40 into the bore, and a double patch wet with same to coat the bore. Wipe the barrel down with the same patch.
The lock cleaned up easily with a toothbrush and the same water. Compressor to blow out water, spray with WD 40, blow again, wipe it off and cleaning is done, apart from the wood wipe down, and the ramrod.
The rifle is pleasant to shoot, but at that light weight, I find it hard to hold still offhand. One gets spoiled by a 10 pound rifle with a long barrel. But when it comes to packing, this one will be a treat.
Thanks all for the nice compliments...appreciate your support.
Now, a Hawken rifle for a gentleman in Ontario...he's been very patient.