.600 or .595 ball?

[BCarp]

[Patch the ball. It's way safer, and historically correct. Wads are not.[/quote]

Nonsense. Kit Ravenshear (bless his soul!) did alot of research on the period manner of loading smoothbores. Historically, tow and bits of greased or oiled rag (NOT wrapped around the ball!) were used as wadding.

I've used the cushion wad/shot card method for years with good results, and for quick reloads while hunting, I use an undersized ball rolled up in a military-style paper cartridge. Bite it open, prime the pan, ram it down...!

 

[tg]

"Nonsense. Kit Ravenshear (bless his soul!) did alot of research on the period manner of loading smoothbores. Historically, tow and bits of greased or oiled rag (NOT wrapped around the ball!) were used as wadding"

Thank you for swatting down that bug before it bit to many unknowing folks.....

 

A piece of hornet's nest.

Not a very informative statement. It's another one liner that makes no sense to a newbie. Could you please be more specific and detailed with your postings. A lot of information may be old hat to some of us but it wasn't always that way. Remember when you first started in this journey? Remember when you had a lot of questions? Did you get one liners or a little more instruction than that? "A little tow!" What would that mean to a new guy? Think about this Mark. I am trying to do ya a favor here. Those kinds of statements come across as argumentative whether you mean it that way or not. In fact all of us need to be reminded of this periodically. A new guy can't look at ya with a questioning look on his face when ya say something in a one liner on the web. He only sees the black and white print. So....how about a little more detailed instruction for the benefit of the new guys. :thumbsup:
Don :hatsoff:

 

[musketman]

A piece of hornet's nest.

Not a very informative statement. It's another one liner that makes no sense to a newbie. Could you please be more specific and detailed with your postings.

A snipit from :The 18th century Woodsman; accoutrements"

Prelubricated linen strips for patching for the rifle gun which I store in a piece of folded well- greased leather. In addition to this when using a smooth gunn I will carry wadding for the gunn;Tow, hornet's nest, or card wad.

Hornet's nest were collected to be used as wadding, the paper the hornet makes is somewhat fire resistant...

First, make sure there are no hornest still living in it... :grin:

Tear up the nest into sections and store them for usage in your hunting bag...

When needed, rip off a hunk and ram it down the barrel directly over the powder (or use an over-powder card before the hornet's nest), no need to lube it, just wad it up and run it down...

Add your shot and an over-shot card and you are ready to go...

 

[Many Klatch]

I have been using a 600 ball in my Getz barreled smoothbore with .10 patching for 15 years. Spit lubricant is all I use. With 75 grains of 3FFF I can beat rifles out to 75 yards. The trick to extreme accuracy with a smoothbore is to have a long heavier weight barrel. My barrel is 48 inch. The ID is 20 gauge and the OD is 16 gauge. The Fowler weighs in at 16 pounds and shoots dead on to 75 yards. Usually if I can see the target I can hit it.

I find that a lot of beginning smoothbore shooters try to make it too difficult. Just use spit lube. .010 patching and shoot the thing until you figure out where it hits. You may have to bend the barrel to get it to shoot dead on. But shoot it for a year before you try bending the barrel.

I also shoot a Pedersoli Bess Carbine. I can keep it in the same hole at 25 yards and on the paper at 50 yards. Again all I use is .010 patching and 90 grains of 2FF.

Don't think too much about it. Just shoot.

Many Klatch

 

[HistoryBuff]

I bought a package of over-shot and over-powder cards from Tip Curtis. I don't recall the brand and I threw that part of the packaging away. But the over-powder cards measure 1/8 inch thick and the over-shot cards are 1/32 inches thick. Both cards fit perfectly tight in the bore. Easy to load, but they make a tight air seal in the bore. So if we are worried about a ball or shot sliding forward, could one use the over-powder card on top of the shot or ball as well?

HistoryBuff

 

[Rebel]

The thin overshot card will hold the ball in. That is what i use in my smoothbores that don't get a patched ball. You could put one over a patched ball too for added security againsr a ball moving forward if you wanted.

 

[paulvallandigham]

Sometimes you can tear off a large enough piece of hornet's nest to use it like a wad. Otherwise, crush the nest material in your palm, like you would crush tobacco to fill your pipe. Then pour it down the barrel just as you would pour tobacco down your pipe. Then tamp it down with the ramrod, and then seat the PRB. The hornet's nest will act as a filler, or wad, and seal the gases behind the ball. Then, the only job the patching needs to do, is to hold the ball on the wad, and keep the lead from scraping on the sides of the barrel as it exits.

If you shoot without a patch, or paper around the ball, you are going to get streaks of lead in the barrel, and create flats on the sides of the ball. The flats will cause flyers that are unpredicatible in smoothbores. If you use a bronze brush to clean the barrel, and then soak the barrel with lead solvent, there is no reason not to shoot a bare ball held in place with an overshot card, or wadding. Each gun has to be test fired to see how accurate it shoots such loads, and to what distance. At short pistol ranges, ( 25 yds and under) a bare ball on top of just powder is accurate enough to kill a wounded deer.

 

[Wes/Tex]

V.M. Starr's method was to use two thin cards he cut from posters. Believe the thin over-shot cards are about the same thickness and should do the job. The basics is that they don't push through the shot as it leaves the muzzle as a thick wad would. In all honesty, I've never had any problem with lubed wads and have never bothered to change.

As for patching, everybody likes something different. Most use ticking from various sources which seems to be effective. Do the same except when feeling 'rustic' when I use leather for patching. Leather will compress much more for it's thickness than any sort of cloth. Usually just wait till the local car part guys run specials on chamois and then go through their stock and pick those with consistant thickness. I use October Country's "Bumbling Bear Grease" which is a mix of beeswax and rendered bear tallow. Just rub lube into leather and work the patch around between your fingers to stretch it slightly as you do. Patches load easily, don't smoulder after being shot and can usually be picked up and re-used...not bad! :hatsoff:

 

[gmww]

OK fellas. Newbie here to smooth bore. I finally decided to shoot my .62/20ga Underhammer. I ordered the some over shot wads. Here is what Dixie Gun Works described the following.

Circle Fly wads have recently been improved. The 1/8” nitro card wad is now 100% waterproof, so it may be loaded in black powder shot shells using lubed cushion wads and the moisture will not soak through the nitro card and foul out the powder charge. The overshot card is now thinner and lighter, but stiffer; it is .025” thick instead of .030”, but is not made from a laminated stock like the old one was, so it is actually stiffer.

Can I use this also as the over the powder wad or will I have to buy Over the Powder wads?

Thanks. :hatsoff:

 

[paulvallandigham]

The NItro wad( 1/8" hard wad) is the overpowder wad to use. The over shot card, much thinner is for over that. You may need a third, " cushion wad ", that you put down on top of the overpowder wad. The cushion wad hold lube, for some people. Others simply wipe some grease around its outside. Others forgo using this kind of " cushion wad" and use a prelubed wad like the Wonder Wad product. Some people use to overpowder wads, and forego the use of any cushion wads, particularly when hunting.

Different strokes for different folks.