traditions inline question

biganimal · August 21, 2001, 03:44 PM

recently I sold a customer an inline 45 cal traditions lightening rifle
after looking thru the manual supplied with the gun he called me and asked what load should he try as the book only covered 50 & 54 caliber rifles. I haven't got back to him yet....any suggestions ???

**4V50 Gary** · August 21, 2001, 08:03 PM

As with any blackpowder gun, this is an issue of load development.

He should try both FF & FFF powder in various loads.

Fire three shots with 40 grains FF. Clean bbl.
Fire three shots with 40 grains FFF. Clean bbl.

Fire 3 shots w/45 grains 2F. Clean.
Fire 3 shots w/45 grains 3F. Clean.

Have him repeat until he reaches the maximum mfg load. (Probably 65-70 grains).

The object is to determine which shot size with a particular ball & patch delivers the tightest group.

cjc · August 23, 2001, 09:27 AM

Here is my personal guidelines for guns that I'm not sure about:

Caliber size = minimum charge
2 x Caliber size = max charge

so for a .45 caliber gun use 45 to 90 grains of powder. Use either 2fg or 3fg, I would most likely go with 3fg in a .45 but every gun tends to have its perferences, or the powder I had on hand.

Hope this helps.

biganimal · August 25, 2001, 05:17 PM

thanks for the help. I took the customer to the range after reading this forum and calling Traditions. We started with a 200 gr bullet and 75 grs of pyrodex and gradually went up 5 grs at a time until we got to the max load recomended by the maker which was 150 grs. we got the best results at 100 grs, shot a 1.25 inch group at 100 yards

August 21, 2001, 03:44 PM	#1
biganimal Senior Member Join Date: March 5, 2001 Location: south carolina Posts: 435	traditions inline question recently I sold a customer an inline 45 cal traditions lightening rifle after looking thru the manual supplied with the gun he called me and asked what load should he try as the book only covered 50 & 54 caliber rifles. I haven't got back to him yet....any suggestions ??? __________________ Other than That, Mrs Lincoln, How was the play?

August 21, 2001, 08:03 PM	#2
4V50 Gary Staff Join Date: November 2, 1998 Location: Colorado Posts: 21,832	As with any blackpowder gun, this is an issue of load development. He should try both FF & FFF powder in various loads. Fire three shots with 40 grains FF. Clean bbl. Fire three shots with 40 grains FFF. Clean bbl. Fire 3 shots w/45 grains 2F. Clean. Fire 3 shots w/45 grains 3F. Clean. Have him repeat until he reaches the maximum mfg load. (Probably 65-70 grains). The object is to determine which shot size with a particular ball & patch delivers the tightest group. __________________ Vigilantibus et non dormientibus jura subveniunt. *Molon Labe!*

August 23, 2001, 09:27 AM	#3
cjc Member Join Date: November 15, 2000 Location: Utah Posts: 40	Here is my personal guidelines for guns that I'm not sure about: Caliber size = minimum charge 2 x Caliber size = max charge so for a .45 caliber gun use 45 to 90 grains of powder. Use either 2fg or 3fg, I would most likely go with 3fg in a .45 but every gun tends to have its perferences, or the powder I had on hand. Hope this helps. __________________ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Check out my black powder site at: www.angelfire.com/home/oldguns

August 25, 2001, 05:17 PM	#4
biganimal Senior Member Join Date: March 5, 2001 Location: south carolina Posts: 435	thanks for the help. I took the customer to the range after reading this forum and calling Traditions. We started with a 200 gr bullet and 75 grs of pyrodex and gradually went up 5 grs at a time until we got to the max load recomended by the maker which was 150 grs. we got the best results at 100 grs, shot a 1.25 inch group at 100 yards __________________ Other than That, Mrs Lincoln, How was the play?