.610 Roundball

[Cutfingers]

My Smoothbore 62 is shooting great with a .600 ball and 20 thousandth patch. (no choke)(clover leaf at 25 yds and pie plate at 50 yds) My question is has anyone tried a .610 ball in a 62 smoothie? Kind of an odd ball size that not too many people carry. Still trying to compete with the rifle boys up to at least 75 yds so looking for ways to improve my groupings.

Cutfingers

 

[Stubert]

E-mail me your adress, I'll send you a few. I shoot hand cast .610 from a Lyman mold

 

[MercerLake]

:v Depends on your bore diameter, the .610" ball may require a veerry thin patch as most .62's seem to have a .610" bore. If the .610 work for you, I do have a mold for .610Rb that I'd gladly give you a great deal on.
I have a 62 cal underhammer rifle that the builder furnished with a .610 mold, this required a .005-.010 patch. Terrible time with burning/torn patches until this spring. Completed a 62 smoothbore with a .610 bore, so I got a .600"mold, the smoothie shoots great with the .600, tried it in the 62 rfle with a .015-.020" patch now the rifle shoots better than ever with less powder for the same velocity and no burnt patches. Fit is almost everything.
Try some harder .600 balls as they will not swage in the barrel and remain round, this is important in flight at longer distances. A round ball with cylinderical sides will really start to wander beyond 50 yards or so. :v

 

[paulvallandigham]

Use a cushion wad between the powder and the PRB when you shoot a soft lead ball, to eliminate the flattening. Also, keep the velocities below the speed of sound, as these round balls don't stay above the sound barrier for much more than the first 25 yards they travel. Without that huge bump when the gun is fired, you get a better shaped ball that is more aerodynamically consistent at over 60 yards. That is also the main reason to use the slower burning FFg powder rather than FFFg powder.