Ball size for .40 cal?

[talkingamoeba]

What size ball would you start out with for a .40 cal Getz barrel?

 

[jamesthomas]

I have a .40 cal. with a Mark Dehass barrel and plan on using a .395 roundball in it. Lee doesn't have a .390 mold. I just need to get some warm weather so I can finish it, it might be till March though the way things are going.

 

[nchawkeye]

I would use a .390 but in my .40 a .395 or a .390 load about the same...Larger diameter balls will conform and load easier in smaller calibers than in larger calibers...

 

[wattlebuster]

Unless they stopped recently lee does make .390 molds because I have one

 

[roundball]

Don't know about the Getz barrel.
In case this additional reference might be helpful, assuming the Getz barrel has a standard land / groove configuration with a true .400" bore and .012" grooves like my .40cal GM barrel... .395" balls & .018" pillow ticking are outstanding in mine.

 

[Rifleman1776]

Unless they stopped recently lee does make .390 molds because I have one

Still listed.

 

[ApprenticeBuilder]

For my yet unfinished .40 I purchased a .395 as well as a .400 mould and will test them both when the time comes for the most accurate combination.

 

[Ranch 13]

Can't say about the Getz barrels, but the two Green Mtn barreled guns I had a long time ago got along well with .390 from the lee rb mould and .15 oxyoke patches.

 

[nkbj]

My Lee mold throws .397. Go figure.
But hey, my GM barrels measure .403 so it's a tight fit but seems to work.
Tried some .390 and they didn't group as well.

 

[Ranch 13]

I don't know what the real diameter of that ball was, back then most of us didn't get so wound up on the tech side of things. We shot what we had, and experimented with patches and powder charge till we got the groups we wanted.
One of my boys has/had one of those rifles and the mould, but given the woman he has for a wife, I wouldn't say whether any of that stuff still exists or was turned into cash for other more "important" things long ago...

 

[hanshi]

I bought a Lee .390" mold a while back. It was the .395" that they didn't seem to have listed.

 

[Rat Trapper]

Midsouth Shooters supply catalog shows a Lee .390 mold. I use a Hornady .395 ball in my GM barrel.

 

[Many Klatch]

One of the fun things about small caliber rifles is that they can shoot buckshot one shot at a time. #0000 buck shot is .380 in size. Buy a bag of buckshot, figure out what size patch to use and you have a lifetime supply.

My wife's .34 caliber will shoot #00 buckshot (.330) quite well.

Many Klatch

 

[Ft. Jefferson]

I shoot a .395RB with a .010 patch in both of my 40's. A green mountain and a rice.

 

[talkingamoeba]

Thanks for the help everyone.

 

[Kapow]

Buy a bag of each - 0.390 and 0.395 handcast from TOTW then see which one your rifle likes - then buy the mould for that size. I shoot 0.395 with 0.15 cotton drill patch out of my Green Mtn .40.

 

[ApprenticeBuilder]

I'll add that I am building my rifle with a radius deep groove colerain barrel, so a .400 diameter ball may be a gem for fine accuracy.

 

[George T.]

My Douglas uses the .395's and .018 ticking. It was made in the late 70's.

Geo. T.