.58 ball size

[rusty]

What size ball do you guys fire from your 58 rifles I have been told to use a .562 but that seems kind of small. what do you think

 

[bang]

Best to measure the bore first.

 

[Dave Marsh]

I use .562. Need to measure your bore and then decide on ball size and patch. Good luck.

 

[BS]

I like a tight fit, if the bore is .580, then I use a .575.

 

[mooman76]

575 for me. Lee doesn't have a 570 mould for some reason but 575 works fine for me. It's a Cabelas Hawken by the way.

 

[rusty]

My rifle is a Cabelas Hawken as well.

 

[Semisane]

I have three 58's and use .575 in all three. One is a Green Mountain barrel, one a Sharon barrel and one an H&A Minuteman (don't know who made those barrels). I wish Lee would make a .570 mold though. That would provide more flexibility for experimenting with patch thickness.

 

[Notchy Bob]

What kind of rifle do you have? If it's a custom rifle, what brand of barrel is it? CVA recommended a .562" ball in their Big Bore Mountain Rifle, which was not a true .58 but ran somewhat undersized. I understand that the old GRRW barrels were frequently not true to size. This does not mean these barrels are defective... Its just that there may be some variability from one to the next in barrels of the same nominal bore size, and you may not have a true .58..

If you received an owner's manual with your rifle, their recommendation would be a good place to start. I think it's also a good idea to have some different ball sizes on hand to try. Balls in .562", .570", and .575" are normally available from most of the vendors. You might find that smaller balls are easier to load, but a tighter ball and patch combination is more accurate. If you find one or more of those sizes just will not work, and you know you're never going to shoot them, you can always melt them down and recast them in the size you want.

I think the old-timers probably shot smaller balls than most people now. The old US military standard for rifles shooting a patched round ball, such as the various common rifles and the M1841 "Mississippi" Rifle, was .015" under bore size. Now, most people seem to go with .010" under bore size, and some precision target shooters go even tighter. However, there was a thread on this forum not too long ago discussing loads with balls .020" under bore size. I think "The Black Powder Maniac," who posts here regularly and does some fine shooting in his videos, reported using balls .020" under bore size.

Have also read several times of balls of two different sizes being found in old hunting pouches, suggesting the old timers may have had one size to load tightly for an accurate first shot, with a different sized, easier loading ball for a quick reload.

If it were me, I would just go ahead and buy several different sizes of balls and different thicknesses of patches or patch materials and try some different combinations.

Good luck!

Notchy Bob

 

[Art Caputo]

I like a .570” ball(Hornady swaged) with a .015” patch for my .580” bore.

 

[mountainman_53223]

My custom round grooved barrel in 58 likes a 562 ball much more than a 570 or 575

 

[Josephg]

.570 in my Green Mountain barrel.

 

[McClura]

I use a .570 Rapine mold roundball. Had the mold made about 1995. Don't know who makes molds now.

Mike

 

[shorthair]

I use .562. Need to measure your bore and then decide on ball size and patch. Good luck.

Yeah my .58 uses a .562 with a .100 patch also.

 

[nunz]

I use a .570 round ball with a .010 patch in my .577 bore.

 

[sportster73hp]

I have a Kibler 58 with round bottom rifling. The .575 only works with a.010 patch and i kept doubling the patch accidentally. Bad thing. The .562 seemed loose so i paid the big money for a lyman .570 and use a .015 patch. I used store bought.570’s first and they worked well.
Now i have RB options for the Enfield.

 

[Grimord]

My two Bobby Hoyt re-bored .58's like a .575 ball with a .015 mink oil lubed patch. Requires a good smack with the short starter, but once the ball is started, it slides down nicely. Shoots great with a good dose of 2f.

 

[Mike Suri]

What size ball do you guys fire from your 58 rifles I have been told to use a .562 but that seems kind of small. what do you think

I like a .562 rb. If you are trying to immolate an 18th cent. woodsman I truly believe that an undersized ball and somewhat thicker patch was much more common than the "hammer down the bore" shooters of today !

 

[jimairwin]

What size ball do you guys fire from your 58 rifles I have been told to use a .562 but that seems kind of small. what do you think

All you guys are sooo hung up on the size of your balls! Standard US 58 cal US musket bore size was (I believe) .578, land to land. Allowed .575 dia minies to fit in even fouled bores. .562 would be pretty far undersized for me. But I am/was a pretty serious competitive shooter. Come to think of it, I've never shot a round ball from a 58 cal rifled musket. Any musket matches I ever fired required minie balls.

 

[Griz44Mag]

YOUR gun will tell you what it likes.
What everyone else uses is irrelevant.
Buy, borrow, beg, steal - get an assortment of ball sizes and patch thicknesses and do your end of the accuracy assessment.
Three identical barrels consecutively come off an assembly line - chances are high that they will all three not like the same load, patch and ball combination.
Get a copy of Dutch's book - enlightenment will be yours and your gun will love you.

 

[Griz44Mag]

All you guys are sooo hung up on the size of your balls! Standard US 58 cal US musket bore size was (I believe) .578, land to land. Allowed .575 dia minies to fit in even fouled bores. .562 would be pretty far undersized for me. But I am/was a pretty serious competitive shooter. Come to think of it, I've never shot a round ball from a 58 cal rifled musket. Any musket matches I ever fired required minie balls.

I like shooting round balls from my 3 band '53 Enfield. And it likes them. The deer don't like them. Go figure.