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Thread: Question for round ball shooters

  1. #11
    keweenaw is offline
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    update

    Quote Originally Posted by Kevin Tinny View Post
    Hello:

    Sounds like progress, but what did your flame test of the troublesome fabric disclose, please?
    If not tested, it becomes guesswork to rule out fabric.

    Swaged balls are more uniform and were fine for USIMLT use.
    We made our own ball swages and could cast, swage and clip the bleed so 250, 500gr .690 pure lead balls weighed within a GRAIN! No excuses with those.

    Are you wiping between shots? Ya gotta!

    If so, the fouling should not be an issue no matter where it rests.

    Most petro-chem lubes BURN in the bore and leave pesky fouling, even if you wipe between shots.

    If not wiping, you will not achieve uniformity because fouling accumulation progressively degrades accuracy.
    You may get a couple patched shots to load ok, but more than two changes barrel friction and patch fit.
    There is no alternative if you want optimal accuracy.

    I am not aware of a patching lube that will eliminate the need to wipe after each shot IF THE ball and patching are tight.

    Deep rifling, say over .007" adds to fitting issues. Some hunting ball barrels have as much as .012" deep grooves to enable a second or third shot, but those deep grooves are not as accurate due to fitment problems.

    Our target barrels had .004" - .006" deep grooves and VERY tight fitting patched balls.
    My 56 pound 69 caliber one shot a 500 gr ball with 280gr GOEX for 2250fps muzzle velocity.
    If anything would have blown patches, it would. The lube was a secret, but I would blow patches at times until an old timer suggested the licking w saliva trick.

    Could not load a second shot without wiping. BUT they shot very well with irons to 200 yards, well inside 4" there if conditions could be doped for seven shots. Two sighters and five record. We had 45 minutes to finish a five shot card.
    With wind usually follows a seven minute cycle that meant 2 sighters and 5 for record.

    If you are just hunting, then ONE shot is probably all you'll get so ample time to wipe, dry and reload with Ox Yoke patching.

    Please share more. Thanks.

    Kevin Tinny

    Havent flame tested the previous pillow ticking material, but will do that tomorrow.
    Not wiping between shots, as it loads fairly well without doing so. When I began to notice the beginnings of difficult loading, did a wet patch or two, then resumed shooting.
    Shooting a 54 caliber Colerain barrel. Not sure of the rifling depth, but has round groove rifling.
    Not a hunter, just a target shooter. Using .530 ball, .015 patch, 80 grains Goex 2f. BTW, the one factory patch i did find after shooting had no burn through, not even close. I think it was an oiled patch from Eastern Maine shooting supplies.

    Thanks for all the helpful suggestions!! Often wanted to try it out to 200 yards.

  2. #12
    gemmer is online now
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    Round Ball

    Kevin,

    I'd be interested to know what kind of twist you had in that .69 cal. I have one that has a 1:90 twist with .005 grooves. Narrow lands, wide grooves. Sort of a Forsythe as far as Bobby Hoyt could take it. It shoots very well at 50yds with 120 gr of 2F Goex and a patched ball, but I need a lot more powder to get it on at 100. It's not a target gun for me, rather an elk gun that unfortunately at my age will go unused. Nevertheless I do enjoy playing with it. It's an original with an 1 3/8" barrel that I had Bobby fresh it out to .69.

  3. #13
    Kevin Tinny is offline
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    Thanks:

    The 69 is 1X72". We had as large as 1.00" and 102" twist. The 69 was fine. 1" bore needed to weigh 85 pounds to have reasonable recoil off a bench. 54 cal often won at longer distances. It seemed to be who jumped a good relay with consistent wind and light. Lots groups at 200 were 2" high and 4" to 6" wide.

    With more or less "round" projectiles, changes in diameter were a 1 to 1 correlation with performance.
    Guns and engines - no substitute for cubic inches.

    Round balls loose roughly 30% of muzzle velocity at 100 yards and 2.5 to 3 caliber long bullets loose 10%.

    Again, have seen several good local guys that went from no wiping to wiping between shots, everything else the same, and they cut group size in half.

    For your hunting, if you can hit 4" at 100 for three shots, fine.
    I used a 54 flinter with 66" twist with 90 gr 2F GOEX or target and 120 for hunting. Shot many deer with it.
    The swaged 54's would expand to nickle-sized. Never lost one and in one hit, the ball went from chest to rear quarter. Round balls perform way better than their paper ballistics.

    Oops, just remembered and with fond recollections of Jerry Hirtle at the Shartlesville club ... you have to ward off the evil spirits by putting dog poop behind your target - really. Love the PA Dutch.

    Kevin
    Last edited by Kevin Tinny; 12-07-2019 at 09:31 PM.

  4. #14
    John Holland is offline Moderator
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    Some personal experience: I have a flint rifle with a Ken Bresein sleeved barrel in 0.54" caliber with a 1x66" twist. Ken's advice was "Use a patch & ball combination as tight you can get down the bore!" With that combination, 65 grains of 3F Goex, a ticking patch lubed with Crisco, and open sights, it will hold a consistent 1.5" on center group at 100 yards off hand if I wipe between shots. If I do not wipe between shots the group will move 1.5" higher and 1.5" to the left at 11:00, but stays consistent. I never shot it off the bench. Today, I can't see well enough to do that anymore!
    Last edited by John Holland; 12-08-2019 at 02:00 PM.

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