62 cal ball block hole size?
- Thread starter brew
- Start date
Help Support Muzzleloading Forum:
Try this....... poke here:
A lot depends upon how tight of a ball/patch combination you use with your .62 barrel. You want the loading block to hold you ball/patch so that it won't fall out too easily, but still be able to get it out without using a hammer.
The simple "formula" is drill the hole the same size as your gun barrel - or a tad larger.
So take your .62 caliber and convert it to a fraction -> 62/100. Then convert that to 8ths to get your nearest drill bit size (American measure instead of that euro-trash measure). This works out to 4.96/8ths. So rounding up a tad give you 5/8ths drill bit. 11/16 woulg give a slightly looser fit, 9/16 as slightly tighter fit.
Take a piece of scrap wood,and drill a hole starting with that 9/16 bit, and see how it works with your ball/patch combo. If it's too tight, then use the 5/8. Again, if too tight, the bump up to the 11/16 drill bit. Once it feels right for you, then go drill your good wood block.
Some people use a really tight ball/patch combo in their gun, and a slightly larger loading block hole tends to work better for them. I use a .595 or a .600 ball, so a 5/8 hole works OK for me.
Of course, that's WHEN I use that loading block. I've been shifting over to using grass/tow "wadding" above the powder and above the ball - per so many original artifacts and journal entries of loading in and around the Great Lakes fur trade area. I've seen almost no decrease in my accuracy when shifting over to this method of loading. But then this is in normal hunting/plinking mode - not MOA bench target competition - and at normal hunting distances for a smoothbore - 35 to 50 yards. These days I have a hard time just seeing past 100 yards.
Just my humble thoughts to share. Take them as such.
Mikey - yee ol' grumpy German blacksmith out in the Hinterlands
The simple "formula" is drill the hole the same size as your gun barrel - or a tad larger.
So take your .62 caliber and convert it to a fraction -> 62/100. Then convert that to 8ths to get your nearest drill bit size (American measure instead of that euro-trash measure). This works out to 4.96/8ths. So rounding up a tad give you 5/8ths drill bit. 11/16 woulg give a slightly looser fit, 9/16 as slightly tighter fit.
Take a piece of scrap wood,and drill a hole starting with that 9/16 bit, and see how it works with your ball/patch combo. If it's too tight, then use the 5/8. Again, if too tight, the bump up to the 11/16 drill bit. Once it feels right for you, then go drill your good wood block.
Some people use a really tight ball/patch combo in their gun, and a slightly larger loading block hole tends to work better for them. I use a .595 or a .600 ball, so a 5/8 hole works OK for me.
Of course, that's WHEN I use that loading block. I've been shifting over to using grass/tow "wadding" above the powder and above the ball - per so many original artifacts and journal entries of loading in and around the Great Lakes fur trade area. I've seen almost no decrease in my accuracy when shifting over to this method of loading. But then this is in normal hunting/plinking mode - not MOA bench target competition - and at normal hunting distances for a smoothbore - 35 to 50 yards. These days I have a hard time just seeing past 100 yards.
Just my humble thoughts to share. Take them as such.
Mikey - yee ol' grumpy German blacksmith out in the Hinterlands
Mike: Do tell more about your grass/tow wadding. What grass do you use when you don't have tow available? How do you cure it? Any fire danger issues?
Hey Bill, I think that down in your part of the state they grow a lot of grass in the hills that would work in the fall, I bet that after several shots you would not care about the accuracy or even if you had a ball in the barrel,,,
Use whatever grass/leaves you can find at hand. You do have to be a little careful about not using grass/leaves that are too dry. There is a slight possibility of a spark catching when you shoot if they are too dry.
So a handfull of the grass at my feet, or a few leaves from a nearby tree or bush. One wad above the powder, then the ball, and then just enough grass wadding to keep the ball from rolling out the barrel.
Karl Koster has done a bunch of research of original journal entries where they wrote about loading and firing guns. Those entries were very few and far between. One account talked about on person shot by accident with the ball lodging just under the skin on the other side. They cut the skin to get the ball out. But when they cut the skin, the ball and a twisted wad of grass fell out!
But it's more about using wadding to load your gun instead of patching the ball. And loading it in a nammer that could be documented to the 18th century up here in the Great Lakes fur trade area. Karl found the references to using wadding, but not for patching.
Like many things, what and how they did things back then often didn't get written down. So when you do find a refernce, it really does stand out. The next problem then is HOW to interpret it. Did it get written down because it was the normal practice, or because it was so unusual?
Loading blocks are one of those ... questionable ... items. They work great and are very handy. But just how common were they? We know that a few originals have survived, but for what time periods and areas? Most of the well documented surviving examples get dated into the 1800's - that Golden Age of the Kentucky Rifle. But how far back into the 1700's can that be interpreted into?
So grab a small handfull of grass or leaves at hand, roll/twist/ball it up and load your gun. Of course, this is loading a smoothbore. And then there is "palming" your powder to load - pouring your powder charge into your palm to the desired amount and then pouring it down your barrel. THen you don't have to carry a "charger" or measure. With a little practice you can palm a charge to within a couple grains each time. Not MOA target level accuracy, but good enough for normal hunting conditions/ranges.
I can't wait until Karl gets his whole historical gun loading/shooting article published - with all it's original journal entries.
Just my humble thoughts to share. Take them as such.
Mikey - yee ol' grumpy German blacksmith out in the Hinterlands
So a handfull of the grass at my feet, or a few leaves from a nearby tree or bush. One wad above the powder, then the ball, and then just enough grass wadding to keep the ball from rolling out the barrel.
Karl Koster has done a bunch of research of original journal entries where they wrote about loading and firing guns. Those entries were very few and far between. One account talked about on person shot by accident with the ball lodging just under the skin on the other side. They cut the skin to get the ball out. But when they cut the skin, the ball and a twisted wad of grass fell out!
But it's more about using wadding to load your gun instead of patching the ball. And loading it in a nammer that could be documented to the 18th century up here in the Great Lakes fur trade area. Karl found the references to using wadding, but not for patching.
Like many things, what and how they did things back then often didn't get written down. So when you do find a refernce, it really does stand out. The next problem then is HOW to interpret it. Did it get written down because it was the normal practice, or because it was so unusual?
Loading blocks are one of those ... questionable ... items. They work great and are very handy. But just how common were they? We know that a few originals have survived, but for what time periods and areas? Most of the well documented surviving examples get dated into the 1800's - that Golden Age of the Kentucky Rifle. But how far back into the 1700's can that be interpreted into?
So grab a small handfull of grass or leaves at hand, roll/twist/ball it up and load your gun. Of course, this is loading a smoothbore. And then there is "palming" your powder to load - pouring your powder charge into your palm to the desired amount and then pouring it down your barrel. THen you don't have to carry a "charger" or measure. With a little practice you can palm a charge to within a couple grains each time. Not MOA target level accuracy, but good enough for normal hunting conditions/ranges.
I can't wait until Karl gets his whole historical gun loading/shooting article published - with all it's original journal entries.
Just my humble thoughts to share. Take them as such.
Mikey - yee ol' grumpy German blacksmith out in the Hinterlands
