12 ball ???

[xxgrampa]

greetings all,

what is the best size ball for a 12 gauge??

tia and ..ttfn..grampa..

PS.. it will be patched..

 

[paulvallandigham]

Grampa: Can you clarify if the barrel is choked or not?

 

[Mike Brooks]

Measure the bore and go with a .020 undersized ball.

 

[xxgrampa]

greetings,

the bbl is not choked. the reason i ask is, lee only has a mold in .690. and i got a pair of manton dbl percs in 12 ga. thought that would be a good way to use up misc lead. :grin:

tia ans ..ttfn..grampa..

 

[Mike Brooks]

I'd be very cautious of using PRB in old thin barreled damascus doubles.
Load it with the ball and the cards and wads like a shot load and you should be OK.

 

[paulvallandigham]

If you check with other suppliers, you can find other size balls for your 12 gauge, although .690 is the most common size found. For instance, Track of the Wolf has .678, .715, and .735 diameter round ball. Depending on what those bores actually measure will depend on what you want to try. Stay at least .020" under bore diameter in choosing the ball size.

I hope those damascus barrels are in very good condition, and not too thin at the muzzles. You would not want to have them come apart on you.

In theory, the nominal diameter for a true 12 gauge barrel is .729". Most barrels come only close to this dimension.

 

[xxgrampa]

hi-ho once again,
thank you mike and paul. don't have to worry about damascus bbls, these are steel or the tightest damascus i ever saw.

had to grind the end of the bbls when a 'friend', dropped one on the muzzle. didn't see any damascus..

used these guns for hunting off and on for 50 years. (got my first pheasant with one :grin: ) been using standard wads in them, fiber cushion, over shot and once in a while plastic shot cups etc.. so... if 690 is the most popular we'll get that one, but first, the bbl will be measured..

now, if we can just remember where those guns are,the bores will be measured.

many, many thanks ..ttfn..grampa..