.44-77 PP load for Lodi match.

[Distant Thunder]

Don,

The .44-2 1/4 seems to require a bit more attention to fouling control than my .45-70 or .45-90. I'm pretty sure with temps in the low 70s for highs and my homemade wipers now with 2 felts on them that I shouldn't have any problems with fouling. I can do 2 wet patches and 1 dry and it works fine as long as the patches are really wet. If they start to dry out the fouling becomes a problem very quickly and shots drop low. I can see that in the target from this morning where actually shot number 5 was just a touch low and 6 was lower yet with number 7 about the same as 6. Even through those 3 shots are low in the group they are spread only maybe 1 1/2 inches so at least the accuracy wasn't going south.

With my wipers I will have a very clean and consistent bore and accuracy should be better if anything. The only question is, will the load hold up out to 1000 yards. I think it will. My .45-70 doesn't shoot much better at 220 yards and it does very well out to 1000. I pretty much figure that if I can keep 10 shots inside 3" at 220 yards the load is good to go. Not many of these rifles will keep 10 shots at 2 inches or less and most are probably in the 4 inch range.

It will sure be interesting to see how the .44 does at 1000.