Congrats Patrick ...

[Patrick Chadwick]

I have noticed that at 100 metres (and especially at 50 metres) there´s splatter around the bullet hole on the paper target (I take it to be grease).

That's fine. It shows that you have more than enough grease in the cartridge to provide lubrication all the way to the muzzle. There should be a slight star-bust of grease on the muzzle face.

The lack of accuracy could be partly caused by the front barrel screw that attaches the muzzle protector (I´ve noticed that some old cav. carbines have been altered to make them free floating.

That's an interesting observation. I had something similar with my Winchester 94 in 32-40. The cap screw at the front of the magazine tube was jamming against the barrel (there is a slight recess for the end of the screw) thus forcing the tube away from the barrel and jamming in the ring. I filed just enough off the end of the screw to prevent this. The magazine tube should be free to move a little in the longitudinal direction, as if it is jammed the POI moves as the barrel warms up. The muzzle protector on the Werder carbine may be having a similar effect, effectively jamming the barrel against the fore-end. Try taking the protector right off and shooting another group. If the group is better, or in another place, then you have found at least a partial cause.

Information

Warning: This is a relatively older thread This discussion is older than 360 days. Some information contained in it may no longer be current.

[Patrick Chadwick]

It shows that you have more than enough grease in the cartridge to provide lubrication all the way to the muzzle. There should be a slight star-bust of grease on the muzzle face.

I think this is one reason why BP rifles can often perform satisfactorily with defects in the rifling that would make a modern rifle useless. The lands at the muzzle of The Mahdi are way down, so that for the last few inches the bullet is just being guided on a straight line by the grooves. But it still works, because if you have enough grease, the bullet is being driven on a hydraulic seal all the way to the muzzle, and an effect such as gas cutting or blow-by just does not arise.

The other factor is, of course, that after that first "clean-bore" shot, rust pits have been filled with crud! And the 11mm generation of BPCRs usually had very generous rifling, enabling them to caryy on shooting with a muck level that would turn my Long Range Sharps into a smoothbore.