.395" wooden balls in .40cal Flinter

[roundball]

Tested .395 wooden balls this morning with 30grns Goex 3F + .018” TC prelubed pillow ticking at 15yds.

Patched ball combo was reasonably snug like a normal PRB would be, and they all stayed on a 10” paper plate at 15yds...but it was a random scattering.

At only 10yds I believe they'd probably all stay on a 3" aim point sticker...good for playing in a garage, basement, or backyard...maybe letting a kid learn to shoot a Flintlock, etc...but I didn’t feel like testing wooden balls any further and went ahead with a normal .40cal range session.

 

[Packdog]

Roundball,
Do you think the light weight keeps them from being consistent?
Ken

 

[BrownBear]

Based on my experiments with alternative projectiles in other guns, I'd sure be tempted to drop the velocity a lot further. I'd be willing to bet that with a 30 grain charge those lightweights are whistling well beyond the speed of sound, at which point I'd expect accuracy to go south.

Have you tried charges down in the 5-10 grain range? For garage shooting, those would be a whole lot quiter and potential tack drivers.

 

[roundball]

Roundball,
Do you think the light weight keeps them from being consistent?
Ken

I strongly suspect that's a major factor...the relatively large .562 wooden ball in a .58cal only weighs 15 grains...I haven't weighed these tiny .395s but they have to weigh next to nothing...7-9 grains maybe.

 

[roundball]

Based on my experiments with alternative projectiles in other guns, I'd sure be tempted to drop the velocity a lot further. I'd be willing to bet that with a 30 grain charge those lightweights are whistling well beyond the speed of sound, at which point I'd expect accuracy to go south.

Have you tried charges down in the 5-10 grain range? For garage shooting, those would be a whole lot quiter and potential tack drivers.

I havn't tried VLCs (Very Low Charges :grin: )with the wooden balls yet, but it's certainly an avenue that could be pursued but I'm not sure if I'll spend more time on it or not.

Running out of weekends before hunting seasons start on Labor Day weekend, and I still have lots of other stuff to do...so I don't want to sacrifice any more Saturdays in place of real range practice sessions to play with the wooden balls right now...thinking I may just send the additional bags of balls back for a refund...dunno