.375s in a .40cal?

[roundball]

I was given some muzzleloading things today, that were left over from an estate sale...new can of Pyrodex-P, new can of Goex 3F, a variety of different sized cast balls, and two new boxes of .375s...1 Hornady, 1 Speer.

I normally use .395s in my .40cal...wondering how these .375s might work with some .020" or .022" patches I have...think they'd be accurate enough for plinking at 25yds?

 

[trent/OH]

Sounds like a lot of slop to me, but I'd like to learn the results of such an experiment, if you please.

Worst comes to worst, you can either sell or trade those pistol balls, or melt them and re-cast to a size you use.

 

[rice1817]

I think when you try them you will be pleasantly surprised. I put some 375s through my 40 and other than the fact that they were much easier to load, I did not see much difference in accuracy.

It is my opinion that today's shooters tend to shoot much tighter ball/patch combos than our forefathers. I believe that with the soft lead balls there is considerable bump-up in the bore. I shoot .562s in my 58 instead of .570s or .575s. They work fine, too.

 

[roundball]

I think when you try them you will be pleasantly surprised. I put some 375s through my 40 and other than the fact that they were much easier to load, I did not see much difference in accuracy.

It is my opinion that today's shooters tend to shoot much tighter ball/patch combos than our forefathers. I believe that with the soft lead balls there is considerable bump-up in the bore. I shoot .562s in my 58 instead of .570s or .575s. They work fine, too.

Good to hear on both counts:
That .375s are good, and about the .562's working fine in the .58cal...I'm wanting to run a little experiment with my .58 using marbles that are .5625" diameter.

 

[rice1817]

I have heard of guys that tried double-patching 440s and running them in a 50 in a pinch. Didn't work so well beyond 25 yards or so, but it kept them hunting for the day. Then again there is a lot more difference between a .490 and a .440 than between a .570 and .562, or a .395 and a .375.

 

[selvinman]

Just a little FYI I tried some .375 balls in my .40 Green Mountain barrel with denium patches using bore butter the grouping I shot was as tight as the .395 with .10 patching only about 1" higher. Plenty decent for plinking.

 

[sharps54]

roundball,
Did you ever try this?

 

[roundball]

roundball,
Did you ever try this?

No, haven't gotten around to the .40cal tests yet

 

[sharps54]

OK, I'll stand by! I was thinking about getting a .36 and having it rebored to take patched .375 balls to go with my revolvers but if they shoot well from a .40 then it would save me some money...

 

[Ohio Rusty]

In my .40, I normally shoot .395 for deer. When small game hunting I use a .380 ball with a 20 thou's patch and 40 grains of 3F. Shoots well and the smaller ball does fine on small game like squirrels and rabbits. It is also economical shooting .... less lead and powder. I have a .36 caliber Lyman C&B revolver that uses .380 ball. It's nice to have both a rifle and pistol that shoot the same lead ball.
Ohio Rusty >
Psalms 27:1-3/91:9-11 (AMP)

 

[sharps54]

Thanks Ohio Rusty,
I know every barrel will be a little different but it sounds like .375 might be a bit too small, .025 is on the large side for a patch. The .375 balls leave a good "lead ring" when seated in my Pietta Remington copy so I don't know if I want to try .380 balls in it. My Pietta Colt doesn't cut nearly as nice a ring so I might be able to try the larger balls in it. Heck it might be worth the time to track down a good Colt style revolver (fits my hand much better) that uses .380 balls before I rebore a rifle.