Ball size recommendation for handgonne

[The Miner '49er]

I'll soon be joining the handgonne club and can use some help. My thoughts are after loading powder, instead of patching the ball, to add a wadded coffee filter, then ball, then tamp in another filter. When my .75 caliber gonne arrives I'm going to measure the actual smoothbore diameter. Knowing that, how much under that measurement would you recommend for ball size? Needless to say, X ring accuracy isn't my dream.

 

[TobJohn]

There is a handgonne club???

 

[The Miner '49er]

Well, not formally. I merely meant that I'll be joining you experienced guys who shoot the handgonnes. Do you perhaps have any unpatched ball size recommendation?

 

[TobJohn]

Well, not formally. I merely meant that I'll be joining you experienced guys who shoot the handgonnes. Do you perhaps have any unpatched ball size recommendation?

Ah that makes so much more sense. I had thought Ohio was on to something the rest of us were missing.

I haven’t shot my handgonne, but @Flint62Smoothie has experience shooting his and may be able to add some advice.

 

[PhDBrewer]

This has the info you are looking for:
https://www.muzzleloadingforum.com/threads/review-veteran-arms-handgonne.154245/

William

 

[The Miner '49er]

This has the info you are looking for:
https://www.muzzleloadingforum.com/threads/review-veteran-arms-handgonne.154245/

William

Thank you. Assuming his barrel is actually .75" then that is proved workable. Since I have yet to measure my gonne, I was wondering if there's some standard size deduction to be made based on actual measured bore diameter. Since there are so few places offering large balls for sale, and all are by mail order, I'm hoping to make one purchase of 100 or more to save cash and not have to experiment with some sizes that wouldn't be workable. Thanks again PhDBrewer.

 

[PhDBrewer]

For smooth bore,, If the bore size is accurate (you never know...)
It is just simple math.
[bore size] - 2 x [patch thickness] = [ball size].
So...
.750 - 2(0.020) = 0.71 ball size.
This is all approximate as barrel wear & differences in patch material occur.
Most likely, find some balls between 0.70 to 0.73 and play with different patch thicknesses. Its not like you are going for accuracy.

Hope this helps!

 

[Flint62Smoothie]

I use whatever patch size I’d use for that bore size if as in a musket, but I don’tvuse musket charges, LOL!

Typically w/ my handgonnes or hackbutts and even wheellocks (except when I’m on a woodswalk) I use tow for wadding, to be more historically correct.

Same reasoning, I’ll use paper cartridges for my early muskets.

 

[The Miner '49er]

Thanks for the replies, I appreciate them, but I'm intending to use UNpatched balls. My intended load will be: powder+tamped coffee filter+ball+coffee filter. I don't want to buy 25 each of several balls that might work and have a slew left over that don't, so that's why I'm trying to rely on math plus other shooters' experience. Is there a general rule of thumb regarding how much smaller should the UNpatched ball be than the bore diameter?