.570 balls and .62 Smoothbores

[MikeC]

Does or has anyone shot .570 balls from a .62 smoothbore? If so i was wondering what did you use for patch material and or wad combination and how did it shoot, perhaps compared to .595 or .600 balls?

 

[J.D.]

I haven't shot .570 balls in a 20 ga smoothbore, however, subtracting the dia of the ball from bore dia and dividing by 2 should give a starting thickness for patching.

.620-.570=.050/2=.025 So a .025 thick patch is a good place to begin when choosing patching.

Denim or canvas, washed a coupla times should work out well. Try Joann's fabrics or similar fabric store.

The only way to know how well your gun shoots any patch/ball combination is to try it. Some guns might like that combination, some won't.

 

[Rebel]

I used them in one of mine and with a denim patch they shot real good.

 

[tg]

I get good results with .535 .550 in my .58 bore using denim they shoot to minute of paperplate at 40-50 yds with just wadding atop the ball to keep it from falling out, some smoothbore can be real forgiving with what you feed them.

 

[Tommy Bruce]

Using the 18th century manner of shooting an undersized ball in a paper cartridge such as a .620 round ball in a .69 cal charleville or .690 round ball in a .75 cal Bess I loaded a .575 round ball in my .62 cal trade gun and used the cartridge paper for wadding and out to 25 yards I could keep 'em on a paper plate. Good for a quick follow up shot but I sure wouldn't want to target shoot like that.

 

[gjkershul]

The Michilmackinac Militia used .570 ball cartridges in the Tennessee Governor's Cup Shoot in Knoxville Tennessee for members who had 20 ga. trade guns with good effect in the volley fire speed shoot event. All the shots that we able to get off in 3 minutes hit a 4 man silhouette target at 50 yds.

 

[robertdale]

were you able to swab between shots or just blow down the barrel? I love speed shoots, good chance to pick up used equipment cheep, just some old blood and such on the forearm. :shake:

 

[satwel]

I have shot .575 balls from my 20 ga type D Fusil. I used denim patching, cut from the leg of an old pair of jeans. Never measured the thickness, I'm going to guess it's somewhere around .025". Used 65 grains of 2F goex. Fairly easy to load and accuracy at 25 yds was pretty good.
I have since purchased a .60 mold. Those balls, I shoot with 0.15" commercial patches, prelubed with wonder lube. Harder to start into the muzzle, but go down pretty easy. Accuracy is better than the .575 balls.