54 cal: Minie, Maxi or other

N

Nathan

New member
Looking to get my 54 cal front stuffer out this winter for range fun and a hunting tune up.

Mine is a Lyman GPH with a 1:32 twist. I really like it and thought about selling for a "real" gun or an inline but, I'm thinking about getting it back into action instead!

So, Goex 2F is an obvious powder choice, but what bullet? I'm looking for something with second shot capability without cleaning.

I have shot Minie, Maxi and some sabots before. I forget what it liked best. I thought Minie, but now unsure. I would like to buy 100 and develop a load...ideas?

Also, I have always used real BP. If I try Pyrodex, etc, what is different?
 
It should do well with minies and maxi balls. The minie is easiest to load. I can shoot my .58 Enfield with minies all day without swabbing.
 
try all 3 and see what happens and some times 3F is the powder to go with. Each muzzle stuffer is a rule on to itself.
 
Nathan said:
Also, I have always used real BP. If I try Pyrodex, etc, what is different?
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Every powder has its own advantages and disadvantages.

Black Powder has the lowest ignition temperature but tends to leave more residue, except that some brands and granulations burn cleaner than others. BP can be hard to find for sale in some areas.

Pryodex has a higher ignition temperature and Pyrodex P 3F would burn cleaner than most BP.
Pyrodex is also the most widely available substitute powder, and is easy to find for sale at almost any gun shop.

American Pioneer Powder and the similar Shockey's Gold are slightly weaker powders that produce higher velocity when they're compressed more during loading and ramming. They're also among the easier powders to clean using water, but are harder to find available in stores.

777 is one of the most potent substitute powders but also the most expensive. It produces a noticeably sharper felt recoil and the volume should be reduced by 15% to equal any black powder load.

Each powder has its own pressure curve and resulting velocity for any given volume load.
And each powder may also require a different amount of compaction when rammed to produce consistent and best results.
Each powder may have powder fouling characteristics that are different than the others with regard to how often to swab and what solvent to swab with.
Each provides an opportunity to improve accuracy results while using the same bullets by simply switching powder. Some bullets may show a distinct preference for one powder over another which is probably related to its pressure curve/velocity. But similar accuracy results may also be obtained with more than one powder if the right loads for each can be worked up.
 
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So Pyrodex should be cleaner than Goex, and 777 might give me a little more velocity at the sweet spot..
 
777 is reportedly more finicky as to compression. It cant have an airspace but doesn't like to be compressed.
 
Pyrodex is clean burning, and doesn't seem to foul in shorter barrels, even after all day. Triple seven needs a hot start like at least inline percussion. I put a musket cap nipple on my GPH, and it lights Pyrodex right now.
 
I put a musket cap nipple on my GPH, and it lights Pyrodex right now.
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Standard caps light Pyrodex in all mine right now but the musket caps are easier to deal with in a hunting situation.
 
I switched my T/C Renegade over to musket caps, simply because they're larger and easier to manipulate with cold fingers. My rifle lit up all right with standard caps, but musket caps are easier to finagle.

I like the maxi-ball in my Renegade. With 90 grains of RS Pyrodex (all I could get for awhile), It launches that big slug with surprising accuracy. I can keep my shots, offhand, on a 6" paper plate at 100 yards. I don't know what it would do from a bench, cause I've never bench-rested it. During the early '80s I was shooting it a lot, and got pretty good with it, to the point that I've never had a deer walk away from it. If you put a half-inch slug clean through them, they tend to blow red snot and lay down. Sometimes they'll kick a little, but I've never had one run off.

My fun load with that rifle is 60 grains of the RS Pyrodex over a patched round ball. Still plenty good accuracy, but it burned less powder, used less lead, and disn't kick quite so hard.
 
FWIW, I ran my .54 T/C Renegade accurately & successfully (on deer) for about 10 years before I downsized, by using T/C Maxi-Hunter's lubed with Bore Butter over FFFg / Holy Black & #11 caps after trying musket caps / tophats.


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