General discussion > Black Powder Shooting
Shooting traditional sights at 100 yards
bones92:
I did a search of archived posts here, but I didn't see anything that discusses the ballistics of patched round ball trajectories. I do have the sight that has a ballistics calculator, but it implies that one knows the muzzle velocity (which I do not, and I don't have a way of measuring, really).
http://www.ctmuzzleloaders.com/ctml_experiments/rbballistics/web_apps/rb_ballistics.html
I assumed 1100 fps, and a .440 round ball zeroed at 25 yards would have around a 15" drop at 100 yards. This generally aligns with my experience. I usually crank up the load on my .45 rifles to about 80 or 90 grains of 3Fg, whereas at 50 yards and lower it shoots quite well with 60 grains 3Fg. At 100 yards I have to hold on the top center of the target sheet in order to loft it into the general area of the bullseye. The trouble is that this makes it hard to center, given that the front sight obscures much of the target paper, and the surrounding backer board (dark cardboard) does not lend itself well to a clear sight-picture.
So I have been thinking about options for 100 yard ranges (our club matches for rifle all include shots at 25, 50 and 100 yards). I believe we have to use original-style (fixed) sights on our rifles, and as you all know, most traditional style sights on flintlocks tend to be low-profile, with the front sight blade and rear sight being no more than half an inch above the barrel.
I've played around with changing my sight picture (for example, aligning the flat base of the front sight with the top of the rear sight notch) but thus far I haven't found anything that is consistent.
Anyway, I'm curious as to the tips and techniques that more experienced shooters use to compensate for longer range shooting.
Badenpowell:
The hoary old Lyman Black Powder Handbook shows that a .445 round ball going 1100 and zeroed at 50 yards will drop 10 inches at 100.
My question would be -- assuming you have a rifle and not a handgun -- why would anyone load such a round ball to a muzzle velocity of 1100?
Loaded to 1800, which is more like it, that ball zeroed at 50 yards only drops 4 inches at 100.
snapper:
I simply change my amount of powder. I keep a book with various guns with load information in it. I also write down point of aim at yardages as well. Some guns have a picture of the sight picture I use for a particular yardage. The front sight might be buried in the rear, or it might be very visible and proud.
I dont seem to have accuracy issues with changing the amount of powder like some people.
For my hawken .54 cal. I know my book shows how much powder and point of aim for shooting the sil. targets starting at 50 yards and ending at the bear targets at 200 yards.
Fleener
bones92:
Badenpowell, in truth, I have no idea what muzzle velocity I'm getting. I typically use .440 patched ball, and my two favorite .45 rifles are each about 42" barrel length.
What muzzle velocity (ballpark) am I looking at for 60 grain 3Fg? Or perhaps 80 or 90 grain? (I ask this assuming some of you may have similar barrels and have actually chronographed your shots).
I found this page: http://www.mapleleafmarksmen.ca/wp-content/uploads/Ballistics.pdf
This implies 80 grain of 3Fg (zeroed at 50 yards) only drops about 4" at 100 yards, and has a muzzle velocity of 1975 fps. Does this sound right? It doesn't say anything about barrel length in the link, though....
D. Taylor Sapergia:
In a previous thread in this forum, I spoke of my method of sighting in my rifles. However, I am intrigued by information recently published by Bob Woodfill in his new book on Hawken Rifles, in which he discusses how he has sighted in several of his reproduction Hawken rifles using only one powder measure for each.
To re-cap his thoughts and experience, he sights in his rifles with a hunting charge, as an example, a 50 cal rifle gets 120 gr. powder and a ball, for a point blank range of 125 yds. For ranges to 50 yards, he simply halves the charge down to 60 gr. and finds that his rifles zero at 50 yards. For 200 yards, he finds that the drop of the ball requires only a slight adjustment to be on again at 200. Thus, for his .50 cal rifle, he needs only a 60 gr. charger which he doubles for 100 - 125 yards and beyond. This system may not be as modern as we might imagine, for old rifles that have been found with their powder measures often have what we would consider to be a very light charge, easily doubled where the need arose.
I have paraphrased Bob's words but hopefully have captured the concept of the thing. And I hope I have not committed a faux pas by referring to his published work. It is my recommendation that anyone interested in rifles of the muzzleloading period, not just Hawken rifles, purchase a copy of Bob' new book...it's a keeper!
Mods: if I have mis-spoken, pls. delete this post.
Navigation
[0] Message Index
[#] Next page
Go to full version