.530 or .535 for a Lyman Trade rifle?

[jtmattison]

I have a new .54 Lyman Trade rifle and have so far shot about 50 .530 roundballs with .015 pre-lubed patch through it with great results.
I was wondering if it would be advantageous to me to try .535 roundballs.
I am going to buy a mould and cast my own but cannot decide to go with .530 or .535.
Since it shoots .530 so good should I just stick to it or may I possibly get better accuracy out of a .535?
HELP!

Huntin

 

I have the Lyman great Plains rifle in 54 caliber and I to wonder which was best. I was shooting .530 round balls with a .015th. patch. Starting the ball with the ball starter was fairly easy, so I picked up a box of .535 balls with the .015th. patch I would say the accuracy over sandbags slightly increased at 50 yards but I could get the same affected using a .020th. Denham patch when using a .530 ball. I hope this gives you some idea of how to proceed.

 

[Zonie]

You will never know unless you try the .535 balls.
Why not? For about $10 you can have a box of them and see how well they shoot. If they don't work as will as the .530 you haven't lost much and you will have a box of balls which are great for informal plinking.
If they work better than the .530s you still have a box of really good plinkers (the .530s).

Give the .535s a fair chanch. You may have to change the powder load a little and possibly the patch thickness. With Black Powder shooting, you never know what will get you to the fabled one hole accuracy until you have the fun of trying different things.

It is a win/win situation.

After this little experiment, you will then know which dies to buy.

 

[roundball]

Just another piece of info to consider, I use similar mass produced rifles (TC Hawkens) and when I started with Hornady .530's + OxYoke prelubed .015" cotton patches, accuracy was very good;

Then I tried prelubed .018" pillow ticking patches and the groups got even tighter, so I settled on that combo, instead of trying a larger ball.

Some reading I had done suggested there could be more benefit from using the nominal size .530 ball with a thicker, tighter weave patch for the benefits of a thicker, tighter patch...than to use a slightly larger ball and staying with the same thin patch that may not seal as well, may burn through, etc with powereful hunting loads...dunno...but that combo works great for me.

And remember, if you're just looking for a recommendation to get started, just use the industry nominal or average sizes: .530 ball + .015" patch...it's an industry norm that should let you load and shoot any .54cal off the rack...experimentation / tweaking can come later

 

[jtmattison]

Thanks everyone.
I was at Bass Pro Shops yesterday and they didn't have any .535 RB's. I just wanted to try them to see if they worked better than the .530.
I have loaded the .530 with .015 pre-lubed patches and also with my home-lubed .018 ticking cutting off at the muzzle, both provided great accuracy. I posted a pic in the picture area of a target shot with the RB out of my Trade Rifle.
I was curious as to whether anyone could claim a great improvement in accuracy with a .535 opposed to a .530.
I agree that shooting fronstuffers is a unique challenge, trying to get that "one hole" accuracy. I guess that's why we all love it so much.

Huntin

 

[musketman]

I agree that shooting fronstuffers is a unique challenge, trying to get that "one hole" accuracy. I guess that's why we all love it so much. Huntin

The best way that I found to get that one hole accuracy is to only take ONE shot... :winking:

A box of round balls is cheaper than a bullet mold, so try them first, many of the suppliers in our links section carries the round balls you seek...

Maybe some of our .535 round ball shooters will donate you a few?

 

[jtmattison]

I'd be right grateful if someone would send me a few .535's.
I could work a trade, I cast 320 grain .50 cal REAL's and .490 RB's.

Huntin

 

[strongarm]

If you are happy with .530 round ball stick with it. I have .527; .530 and .535 Lee moulds and after all the srewing around have come back to shootin .530. .535s shoot a little flatter but a lot slower.

The trick is to find the right patch and maybe the right lead. Pure lead is hard to come by these days and I rely on scrap which has some imputities in it like tin or copper.

My 527s come out as 530, 530s come out as 533; 535 come out as 539.

So the answer is: experiment and have fun, but IF IT AIN'T BROKE, DON'T FIX IT!

 

[jtmattison]

I am fortunate enough to have an almost unlimited supply of pure lead. I am active duty Air Force and work in Communications. Our cable guys are constantly replacing old telephone cable splice cases. Guess what the old cases are made of...pure lead!
I get it about 100 pounds at a time when they dig up an old cable
I ordered a .530 Lee mold from Track and it's on it's way to me right now.
"if it ain't broke, don't fix it"...Amen

Huntin