Home Forums Hunting & Shooting BPCR Refining the 44-77 Paper Patch success

Tried out a few more loads with some refined success! Gave the lubed felt and cork wads a go. The few I tried showed immediate promise so I put together two different lots with two different loads of powder and wads to test. I wanted to begin with 75 grains of Swiss 1.5 but it took 78 grains to bring the powder level to just above the bottom of the neck when drop tubed. This allowed the vegetable wad to be compressed right to the bottom of the neck and the resulting powder compression to be .1250, so to keep it equal the 90 grain loads were compressed the same amount.

The felt wads are 1/16 inch hard density felt from Duro-Felt and soaked in Alox lube.
The FelPro brand cork gasket material measures .070


First lot, lubed felt wad.
Jamison fire formed unsized case
CCI BR2 primer.
Over primer wad, 40 cal size/.0015 onion skin paper dropped into case.
Swiss 1.5 compressed .1250 with a .060 vegetable wad
12 ea. 78 grains powder
12 ea. 90 grains powder,
1/16 inch Lubed felt wad
.070 cork wad.
500 grain swaged bullet patched with 9lb OS .0020 paper

Second lot, without lubed felt wad.
Jamison fire formed unsized case
CCI BR2 primer.
Over primer wad, 40 cal size/.0015 onion skin paper dropped into case.
Swiss 1.5 compressed .1250 with a .060 vegetable wad
12 ea. 78 grains powder
12 ea. 90 grains powder,
.070 cork wad.
500 grain swaged bullet patched with 9lb OS .0020 paper

The winner is the 78 grain load without the felt lube wad. The 90 grain load without the felt lube was just as accurate. The loads with the lubed felt wads produced groups about a third larger than those without the lubed wad. Also, I did not see that wiping was any easier with the lubed wad either. I can say that the Swiss powder fouling was much easier to wipe than the OE loads I had been trying.

12 shots 415 yards, sitting and cross sticks.


Believe the next step is to try neck tension, have ran some through the Meacham neck bushing die with the bullet seated in the case. Without sizing the neck the patched bullet slips into the case easily but will fall out if shaken. Running the loaded case into the die with the same size bushing as the fired neck provides good tension and the bullet can still be pulled out but takes some effort.

Anymore recommendations?

Nat,....will be really interested in whether you realize any noticeable change with the neck tension factored in.

Funny, I've always figured Swiss for harder fouling.

GTC

I've never found advantage with the lubed felt wads, but used a softer lube than Alox. Don't have a lot of experience either...

Thanks for the report.

I see em' as more of a BP , brass shell shotgun thing, myself.Bigger bores, LESS pressure,...thus, some chance at uniform shot to shot internal ballistics.

GTC

When I was a kid, the neighbor had a few BP cartridge rifles. I think that one of them was a 577/450 Martini Henry.

He used cardboard (card stock) from the backs of used notepads for his wads. I seem to recall that he also tried old shotgun overshot cards too. I think that they were about 1/16" thick. I think that he also used paper patch rounds.

I can't say if they were accurate. I just remember him experimenting with them.

Just a thought. Might want to try a few other materials.


Jeff

Hello,

Other than holding the bullets secure the amount of neck tension provided by the same sized neck bushing as the fired neck diameter yeilded no difference in accuracy.

I have been experimenting with wads, paper wet/dry, powders and various combos of anything I could think of and have come to two loads that are eauqauly accurate to 1k.

Both loads are the constructed the same other than powder charge.
Swiss 1.5, 71 grains dropped directly into case - 78 grains dropped tubed into case.
BR2 primer.
.060 veg wad, matriarch from BACO punched out on a press punch. Bottom of wad compressed to bottom of neck.
.070 cork wad, gasket material from Felpro punched out on press punch and pushed down on top of veg wad.
500 grain swaged Creedmore style cup base bullet of pure lead dry patched with .002 onion skin paper

Will get some pics taken and posted this next week after I get some more bullets smashed.

Browse thru the muddled meanderings of Ned Roberts schuetzen rifle book sometime..
properly done they do work

Given the solid and repeatable work you were doing without (neck tension), I'm not in the least surprised.



Well,....that beats all.

GTC