Put in some more time at the range with the Sharps this morning. Had 6 more loads to try out, and took the time to set up the Chrony since it was actually above freezing today. Some say they have good luck shooting black powder cartridge rifles with unsized cases and finger seated bullets. Mine doesn't like that at all, velocity was low and erratic and accuracy just wasn't there. I was also surprised at the very small difference increases in powder charge made, though it did affect accuracy a good bit. 62 gr. averaged 1084 fps, while 68 gr. was 1138 fps. That's only a 54 fps gain with 6 grains of powder.
65 gr. of 2F in a fully sized case with no crimp did the best today with the 480 gr. Saeco bullet.
I clean the barrel after every five shot group to keep it fair between the different loads. The first shot from the clean bore is easy to pick out.
It seemed to help a lot to blacken the front silver sight with a sharpy, but it still had a little glare when the sun peeked out of the clouds. I will find something to make it more of a flat black.
I can't wait to get a good tang sight on this thing, and see what it can really do.
