Wayne, With the large bore lever gun cartridges from the black powder era a duplex load works very well.  Small charge of smokless with the main charge using 2 fg black.  Check the Black Powder forums on the net as there is a lot of information on duplex loading.  I use a duplex load for the 86 Winchester in both 40-82 and 45-70 with very good accuracy and can shoot as many rounds as I wish without cleaning.  The guns are easy to clean but you will have to wash the brass to remove the black powder fouling.  I used these in the 86 and modern re-makes of the 76 Winchesters.  I only use black in the original rifles due to the softer steel used in the antiques.  I found that 4 to 7 grains was enough for fouling control and the up to 10% smokless was never needed.  They are great fun to hunt with and spend a day on the range with.
		 
		
		
		
		
		
		
		
	 |