Flintlock with roundballs....how many grains of black powder do you shoot?

i shoot with 90 grains in my .50 cal Thompson Renegade. haven't tagged a deer yet after 5 pulls of the trigger so far. 2 more days until the season opens here in PA.Flintlock with roundballs....how many grains of black powder do you shoot?
90 grains of black powder will be plenty to kill a deer. If you are sighted in with 90 grains, do not change it now or you will have to get in some more range time to resight your rifle for the new charge. Did you try several different charges to be sure that 90 grains is the best charge for your rifle? After this season, if you have not already done it, you should go to the range and try several charges to see which one your rifle shoots best. I'd start at 80 grains and fire five rounds at a target set at about 50 yards. Then increase your charge by 5 grain incerments shooting five rounds at a new target for each charge until you get up to 120 grains. Measure each of the groups to determine which is the best charge in terms of the smallest group. This is the one that you should use in the future. If you want to get even more accuracy, try using different thicknesses of patches to determine which your rifle prefers. The next variable to check is which lube your rifle likes. This all involves a lot of shooting but if you enjoy shooting your rifle as much as I do, it will be a real fun project to see what load your rifle performs best with.Flintlock with roundballs....how many grains of black powder do you shoot?
Rifles can vary in accuracies so I think you have to start with what the manufacturer recommends in grains and then experiment with various loads (+ or - a couple of grains at a time) until you print well at 50 yards or 100 yards depending on your usual shooting distance.





Have you tried ';Triple 7'; yet? It is easy to clean and has a higher fps than the same charge of conventional black powder.
your .50 round ball weighs about 180 grains so following the old formula of 1/2 the ball weight for hunting %26amp; 1/3 the the ball weight for target shooting 90 grains should be about right if your gun likes that load %26amp; doesnt foul too much for a quick reload, some 50s shoot better groups with 75 grains %26amp; thats still enough power for deer.especially if you use 3f instead of 2f powder.


some guys use up to 120 grains but they usually cant fully seat a ball for a second shot with the field rod that fits under the barrel %26amp; so much crud blows out of the vent that the flint %26amp; frizzen has to be cleaned between shots.
Rather than asking someone else that question, why not READ the owners manual for the firearm %26amp; find out what they suggest.


If it is a used gun %26amp; you haven't fired it before, It would be stupid, to go hunting with a gun that you aren't familure with.


I would think you should have enough smarts to figure that out for yourself, but then again, maybe i am giving you too much credit
Even tho I shoot a caplock T/C .50 Hawken, I find that 70gr. of Pyrodex is more than sufficient for punching paper with round balls.


The two kill shots I have made with my 'smokepole' were loads of 100gr. of RS Pyrodex over a 325gr. T/C Maxi conical slug. On both 100+yd. chest shots, the targets dropped without even taking a step.


I have just begun using Triple 7, after hearing %26amp; reading so much positive kudos about it, and I have noticed it IS somewhat cleaner, both shooting it, and cleaning weapons after the range.
90 sounds about right. I shoot 120 in my .54 cal. You may have to vary it a little bit ot get the best accuracy.