Much has been written on how to load a black powder Express (BPE) double rifle to shoot both barrels to a coincident point of aim. The various articles by Sherman Bell in The Double Gun Journal, Ross Seyfried in Handloader and Graeme Wright in his book entitled Shooting the British Double Rifle (Wright, 1999, 2009) are all good sources. I have previously covered the development and history of the twelve original BPE cartridges commonly encountered in double rifles (Woodfill, 2010). In this article, I will outline some very basic steps that you can follow while commenting on various misconceptions and common mistakes. I am assuming that you are a handloader, have cast your own grooved and paper-patched bullets, as well as having loaded black powder cartridges previously.
Step #1.
    While you are considering the purchase of a BPE double rifle, make a visual examination of the barrels to see IF THEY CAN BE REGULATED. Some original rifles CAN’T BE REGULATED, and will have to be returned to the maker, if in existence, or a competent gunsmith for regulation---a very expensive process today. In my experience, the original regulation of British BPE double rifles ranged from excellent to poor. Holland and Holland (H&H) rifles seem to be among the best while some other ‘name’ makers are sadly lacking. This is directly related to the time and money spent shooting the rifle and adjusting the barrels.
    You can conduct a simple test by looking through the barrels at a distant object. I have learned to do this at a gun show, but it can be more easily and accurately done at a bench rest. Simply lay the barrels on a solid rest and align the sights to a single object at a distance. A 12-inch diameter bull on a target at 50 yards from a benchrest or a spot on a wall at a gun show can be used.
    If both barrels center on the target bull or spot, the gun will never regulate satisfactorily and will always give two distinct points-of-impact with the left and right barrels shooting separate groups. Each barrel recoils away from the other barrel and upward from the center-of-gravity of the rifle. The absolute worst situation is where the right barrel points to the right and the left barrel to the left of the common aiming point.

Original Manton and Co. London & Calcutta, double rifle, c. 1885, in 450/400x2 3/8” BPE, cased in original oak-and-leather case with accessories and original Kynoch ammo..

    For a double rifle to properly regulate, the barrels must appear on a distant target with the left-barrel centered to the lower right and the right-barrel centered to the lower left of the common sight center. The amount that the centered barrels cross is generally determined by the caliber of the gun.
    Sights. The sights used on British BPE double rifles are often described as being, “small, hard to see, close to the barrel and almost impossible to see when the barrels heat up!” You may want to make a bigger and taller front sight after you have determined a load that will properly regulate in your double rifle. You should always place the original front sight into the case to remain with the rifle for future reference. Most British BPE double rifles were sighted-in using a six- o’clock hold, so the manufacture of a slightly taller and wider front sight should give a +zero trajectory at about 50 yards for a center hold.

Step #2.
Make a casting of the chambers and slug the barrels to determine the caliber. Compare the dimensions to specifications given in Cartridges of the World (Barnes, 2003), Hoyem (1985), Flemming (1993), Donnelly (1987), Mack (1989) or other reference sources. This will give you an idea of what you have, but be careful of ‘Cartridges Of The World’ as it has many errors, and is not very comprehensive regarding British cartridges. Generally, there are ‘families’ of cartridges made from common brass sizes and you will become familiar with them as you progress in your evaluation.
Slugging each barrel to determine the BORE and GROOVE dimensions is very important. Although Kynoch standardized their ammunition in the 1920’s, there was considerable variation of original barrel dimensions and ammunition by various makers before the 1900’s. For example, a .500 Express could have had groove dimensions ranging from 0.500-0.525”. Both barrels should be similar, but not necessarily, because of wear from use or original manufacturing differences.

Diagram showing the relationship between a double rifle’s aiming point, barrels and individual bullet impact with respect to barrel time.

    When you make the chamber casting, include a portion of the rifling just in front of the chamber. This will give you throat and leade information in the barrel. Some makers such as H&H tapered their barrels with a uniform 0.005” of choke towards the muzzle(s).
Step #3.
    Obtain some old Kynoch/Eley catalogs or Proof House listings to determine the original black powder (BP) and Nitro-For-Black (NFB) loadings by the factories. Now this is an area where most new reloaders make some assumptions that simply don’t work in BPE double rifles. For example, if the original literature says that Kynoch offered a 270-grain bullet at 1950 fps with 120 grains of black powder in their .450 BPE, then today’s reloader would assume that if he loaded the above, the rifle will regulate. WRONG! We are dealing with a variety of variables that must be considered and adjusted.

    The Bullet. In my experience, the bullet is the key to getting the rifle to regulate. Original BPE bullets were either groove-lubricated (GL) or paper-patched (PP). PP bullets were in vogue and were loaded nearly almost 100% of the time in the black powder cartridge period. H&H boastfully commented that their style of tapered, naked (grooved) bullets shot equally well or better in their rifles. As a beginning BPE reloader, start with a grooved bullet and you can avoid the time-consuming process of patching (rolling paper on bullets) and making lubrication wads.

Cartridge case dimension for the 12 original BPE cartridges taken from original Eley/Kynoch drawings and specification sheets, supplied by the Birmingham Proof House.

    Select a bullet weight that is a median value of the weights given in the original catalogs. In general, the bullet weight that is easiest to regulate in a .45-caliber BPE double gun is about 300-350 grains in weight. The Lyman #457122 Gould HP bullet is a simple, suitable example and moulds are currently available from Lyman. A 340-380-grain bullet seems to regulate easiest in the .50-caliber class of rifles.
    The bullet style is very important. Let’s examine the .45-caliber bullets used by Kynoch/Eley as an example. They ranged in weight from 270-365 grains. A solid cast bullet of 270-grains will often have an ogive geometry approaching that of a round ball, which will make a BPE rifle very difficult to regulate. The British bullets were deeply hollow-pointed to make the bullet longer for the caliber. For an equal weight bullet, a hollow-point version will almost always shoot better because it more closely duplicates the original bullet design and length used for regulation whether a GL or PP design.
    The bullet hardness is also very important. The British data shows that grooved bullets were normally manufactured with a 12:1 ratio of lead to tin alloy, having an approximate BHN value of 11. Patched bullets were slightly softer with a 19:1 lead to tin alloy approximating a BHN of 10. I have found that grooved bullets will not regulate in my shallow, slow-twist BPE rifles, if they are as hard, or harder, than the classic Lyman #2 formula of 10:1:1 (lead/tin/antimony) which normally has a BHN value of 15.
    Powder. Much has been made in the literature suggesting that the original black powder loadings of Curtis and Harvey No. 6 cannot be duplicated with modern black powder, so precluding exact regulation of BPE double rifles. I do not find this to be true. You can regulate a rifle with modern Goex, Goex Express, KIK, Swiss or other black powders. One of the most common mistakes by a beginner is to look in the original catalogs or Proof House literature and note, for example, that original .450 BPE cartridges were loaded with 120 grains of black powder, various cards, wads and a 270-grain bullet. Thinking to emulate this classic loading, he proceeds to put 120 grains of some modern black powder into a nice, new case with a slew of wads, and the seats a bullet--fully expecting everything to fit, and the rifle to regulate. Modern .450 cases are often thicker and heavier in their construction than the original Eley/Kynoch cases and some modern powder densities are often very different to what they were in 1880’s. Even getting the modern components into the case might prove problematic. A better solution is to first select a proper bullet and then see what it takes to fill the case with modern BP. Various combinations of powder brands and granulations solve the problem without the seemingly essential and totally obsolete C&H powder.
    Wadding. Wads were used in original black powder loadings for both GL and PP bullets. The amount and type varied. A thin card or fiber wad under a GL bullet seems to help seal the base of the bullet and promote accuracy. Wads are not needed for PP bullets except to isolate the lubricating disc from the powder. A very thin wad over the black powder has been shown to be effective in burning and letting the gases melt the lubrication, coat the base of the PP bullet and promote accuracy. Stiff ‘jute’ wiper wads were used with some of the BPE and .577 Snider cartridges but are no longer available. A LDPE poly wad about 0.060" thick serves as an excellent wiper wad, in place of the jute wads. If the rifle is to be used in competition and match rules do not allow plastic wads, then stiff card wads will also work.
    Primers. My experiments have shown that mild primers work best with BPE cartridges. I do not recommend the use of hot or magnum primers. This is contrary to proven results with magnum-type primers in the Black Powder Cartridge Rifle Silhouette (BPCRS) cartridges such as the .45-70 and .40-65. The difference is that with the BPCRS cartridges you are using a relatively heavy bullet for caliber and a relatively small charge of black powder. With the BPE cartridges you are using a relatively light bullet for caliber and a large charge of black powder. I could find no improvement in accuracy using benchrest-type primers.
    Cases. Modern reproduction cases that have been systematically formed and carefully annealed should last almost indefinitely if the sizing die is used sparingly. After firing with black powder, the cases should be de-primed, washed, cleaned and dried within a reasonable time. All cartridges for BPE double rifles were crimped by the factories to avoid the movement of a bullet in an unfired chamber, even the light-recoiling .360 Express. I lightly roll-crimp all BPE cartridges. Experiments to determine the effect of lightly crimping both GL and PP bullets show crimping to have no measurable detrimental effect on accuracy within the realm of BPE cartridge accuracy at 50-100 yards.

Standardized loading data for the 12 original BPE cartridges taken from original Kynoch catalogs and Proof House listings..

    Lubrication. GL bullets should be lubricated with a good black powder compatible lubricant such as SPG Lube, Pioneer, or an equivalent, to impede leading and soften fouling for the next bullet. Each GL bullet design holds only a certain amount of lube. Original GL bullets carried only a moderate amount of lubrication and the barrels were cleaned at the end of the day’s shooting after only maybe 5-10 shots, for which the amount of lubricant was adequate. Modern bullet designs, which carry more lubrication, allow the barrels to shoot through a 40-shot match with no loss of accuracy. A small “pea” or disc of lubrication can be inserted between the powder and base of a GL bullet to increase the amount of lubrication, but this will decrease the amount of powder space. PP bullets also require a lubricating disc between the powder and the base of the bullet to allow extended shooting without wiping.
    Velocity. You do not have to obtain the listed velocity for the various weights of bullets to get your BPE double rifle to regulate. This data was often obtained with long, optimized single test barrels, under laboratory conditions with instruments that measured the muzzle velocity at any point from 0 to 150 feet down range rather than in double barrel sporting rifles. Most BPE double rifles will often regulate with velocities at, or below, the published velocities.
    Various loads. Not every BPE double rifle will regulate with all of the bullet weights listed in the old data. Much depends on which box of cartridges the original barrel regulator used when he regulated YOUR rifle. The earliest BPE double rifles tend to regulate with the lighter bullets and highest velocities, but bullet design and loading techniques must be 100% perfect.

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