1st RB trial in my 12g flintlock

[chickenlittle]

I had some smoothbore fun over the weekend. I bought a used 12g flintlock last year and used it for squirrel hunting. Since our ML deer seasons overlap with small game, I'd like to come up with a roundball load. I figure if I came across a deer and had time, I could drain out the squirrel shot and load the RB. My big concern was the removable choke and this choke isn't made in cylinder bore. So I got the least restrictive available, a skeet choke with a 0.005" smaller ID of .719". I bought two boxes of Warren/Ozone .715 RBs. Instead of a cloth patch, I decided to just roll the ball down on top of the cushion wad and cover with an overshot card.

One box of balls wouldn't fit through the choke. I later mic'd them and found that these .715" balls are actually about .730". Balls in the second box did fit through the choke no problem. I mic'd these at about .710"

I loaded up with my squirrel load of 80gr of 2F goex, 1/8" over powder card, prelubed cushion wad and rolled down a .710 ball and covered it with an overshot card. I stepped off 25 paces, lined up the turtle front sight on the top of the 6" bull and fired. Whooee! Hit about an inch higher and 3" to the left of my aimpoint.

I loaded again and shot from 40 yards and completely missed the target stump. After a couple more shots, I found I was shooting quite a bit left at 40yrds. Not wanting to waste any more balls, I decided to call it a day. I plan to add a temporary rear site to help me aim consistenly. If I find a good load, I'll either figure out how to shoot it accurately with just a front sight or add a permanent rear site. It could be a long search, trying to find something that patterns well with shot and shoots well with RB.

 

[Rebel]

I use .690 rd balls in my Navy Arms double barrel .12 ga. They work well in it and it is cylinder bore. I use #40 drill cloth from JoAnns fabrics for patching. I also glue together a thick overpowder wad and a fiber cushion wad before lubing the cushion wad. I put these over the powder and the patched ball on top of them. Seem to get better accuracy that way. The .690 ball should work good in your choked barrel, and Lee makes a mould for it. Midsouth Shooters Supply has them for around $17. My double barrel will put 4 shots(2 from each barrel) into one large hole at 25 yds with them over 90 grs of RS powder. I do have a temporary rear sight Super Glued to the rib between the barrels. Hope this helps.

 

[ffffg]

my opinion only, as i see it you have few options if you want to hit a bull in the butt at 20yards... pull out the choke and load round ball with correct ball size and patch combo...., or slide tight ball/patch by and ram it home util it expands to seal.. some shotcups are made to work with over boared out shotguns, and that could get a seal for a shot with ball in plastic cup. may work for a shot or two until your fouling stops the seal on the plastic.. dont know.. but your best option is to pull the choke load the ball and put the choke in.. imp cylinder works good for slugs dont know about ball.. you could have a gun smith make you a cylinder bore tube, ill bet brily would do it easily maybe for not too much, they shouldnt be too bad for just a tube, send them the barrel after hunting season.. it would still have a section that is a little wider than the cylender bore just befoer the threads.. probably wouldnt make a difference but i dontknow.. i feel your probably on the road to a smoothbore tho.. take your time, and dont spend more on molds, tubes, gunsmiths and etc, than a new smoothbore gun...dave.