Ball size

[Gemoke]

I`m waiting for my new 62 cal smoothie to arrive, and was wondering what size ball to cast. some say 595 round balls and some say 600 round balls. I would prefer not to use a short starter,I would like to just thumb start and then use my ram rod. my question is what do you guys prefer.

Gemoke

 

[Rebel]

A lot is going to depend on the actual bore diameter. Not all .62 cal smoothbores are .62" bored. My last one was .619. A .600 ball with a .010 patch would work in it. I would suggest waiting until you can mic the bore before casting a bunch of rd balls for it. :m2c:

 

[Cruzatte]

I'd buy a box of both, then start by the usual method of working up a load. The ballance of the wrong sized balls can
then be melted down and poured into the desired size ball mold.

Just a little personal experience here: I found that it made no difference in my smoothbore which ball I used. I shot a test target with .595 ball and .020 patch. It grouped just fine. Then, I tried .600 ball and a .015 patch. It grouped just fine, too. I got lucky, I guess. I decided to stick with the .600 ball .015 patch combination.

Cruzatte

 

[roundball]

A lot is going to depend on the actual bore diameter. Not all .62 cal smoothbores are .62" bored. My last one was .619. A .600 ball with a .010 patch would work in it. I would suggest waiting until you can mic the bore before casting a bunch of rd balls for it. :m2c:

I recently found that my GM .62cal Flint smoothbore barrel would not shoot RB's...tried .600's + a .010" oxyoke prelubed patch...all nominal sizes...should have been able to thumbstart it...but had to pound the short starter in with a 2x4...accuracy was ruined of course.

Took it home and cleaned it, then mic'ed the bore at only .602"/.603"...just sent a memo to GM to see if/what they'll do about it...throws an outstanding turkey load.

 

[Rebel]

Exactly what i meant, not all .62's are actually .62". Some aren't even close. Only way to know for sure is to mic the bore.

 

[rudy parnell]

I was just wondering....what is a GM? That don't stand for general motors, now does it? And since I have got your attention...what do you figure, is an outstanding turkey load. I know you do alot of hunting, cause I seen them 2 Buck deer that you shot. Thanks.

 

[roundball]

I was just wondering....what is a GM? That don't stand for general motors, now does it? And since I have got your attention...what do you figure, is an outstanding turkey load. I know you do alot of hunting, cause I seen them 2 Buck deer that you shot. Thanks.

GM = Green Mountain...a company that specializes in barrels...much of which are muzzleloader barrels.
http://www.gmriflebarrel.com/

Part of their ML barrel line includes "drop in" barrels designed to look like a TC barrel and fit the TC Hawken and/or Renegade the same way...10 feet away you'd assume it was a TC barrel.

I use TC's standard 1:48 and round ball 1:66" barrels on TC Hawkens, plus I've bought barrels from GM that TC doesn't happen to make...ie: .62cal smoothbore, .54cal smoothbore.

.62cal Flint smoothbore turkey load:
70grs Goex 3F
2-3 Oxyoke wonderwads
Paper shot cup
1+5/8oz #6's
OS card
8 pellets in a coke can at 40yds

 

Well, you guys are going to laugh at the reasons for my choice: when I got my first 20 gauge (nominally .625) gun I could not find any ammo locally so ordered from TOW--it turns out that for about the same price, you can buy 50 .595 balls or 25 .600 balls! I chose the .595 for economy! LOL. Also I do not like too tight a fit and you can always go thicker on patching--so far the .595s are working fine, but I have yet to work up the best load in my second 20 gauge fusil....it turns out that my first 20 guage was undersized and my second is true 20 bore.

 

[CrackStock]

Mike,

I am not laughing at all. That makes good sense. When I got started, I was paying too much money for ammo, so I just prefer to cast my own now. I start out asking what moulds I can get for any gun as a starting point.

Sooo, I had the opposite situation. I found a readily available .600 mould and figured that I could adjust the patching as needed. Therefore, I shoot the .600 balls that I cast. This can be a little tight if I do not swab periodically, but works pretty well.

CS

 

[big bore 75]

My tulle is the same thing it mic's out to .577 actual bore diam. so all the .570's and .575 arn't worth a darn
unless I do what Rebel does I just don't want to carry wads,
just to much extra to carry, around.
so I use .530 round balls and a real thick pillow ticking patch, they work better than the .535 for some reason my gun
don't like them.
So I guess to save you some heart break and expence wait till you get your smooth barrel and mic the diam. bb75

 

[rudy parnell]

Thank you Sir. I've know about Green Mountain Rifle Barrels for sometime now....don't know why I didn't connect the dots. :shake: I appreciate the information on the TURKEY load. I'd agree that 8 hits in a coke can at 40 yards is plenty good. I doubt very seriously that I could top that with my 1187 Special Purpose Turkey Gun! But, hunting is so much more fun with "BLACKPOWDER". I must confess, I did not know that "GM" made the smoothbore drop-in ,hinged barrels for our guns [Thompson Center]. I will check it out! :thumbsup:By the way fellars, excuse me for getting off the subject of BALL SIZE. I should report to you ,that for follow-up or dispatching shots on game at close ranges, you don't have to use the patch. I'm saying unless you are shooting straight[url] down..in[/url] which case, in some outfits...maybe the ball could just roll out...NOT GOOD. But, if you are using that loose a projectile, in your gun...my oppinion is, that you need something different! You could even consider that a good test to determine the potential accuracy and utility of your particular outfit. I said that; just my oppinion. Hope someone finds it helpful.adios

 

[Rusty Old Gunns]

Give "Card, Wad, Ball, and Card" a try. Most smoothies love it.

I have two 12ga doubles (Pedersoli & Peta). For flinters, I have a .60 Canoe gun from Jackie Brown, a TVM Fowler, a new 20 Ga. Double, and a Smooth bore rifle made from another TVM fowler.

All of them shoot tight groups with a over powder card, a wad, ball and another over powder card. I used 20 ga wads & cards, a .60 ball and varied powder loads until I found "Mrs. Right".

In fact on my last lil trip to the range to work out a load for the smooth rifle, I fired about 35 rounds and every one could be loaded with thumb pressure only. Never had to send a brush down the tube, or fight with a ram rod.

That in itself made the day wonderful. Plus, I got the group down to one ragged hole (1 1/2") at 25 yards. Gawd, am I in love!

We all have our druthers, but play around until you find yours. And no matter where you go... Cards N wads, Patched ball, paper cartridges, Leaves, wasp nests, denim, or seersucker... Just have fun with it.

Enjoy that new toy, my friend.

 

[roundball]

Well.....I have messed up !!

First, let me report that Green Mountain didn't hesitate to say they would stand behind their barrel when I mentioned that my .062cal did not measure .620"...that it only measured .602"/.603"...so that was good.

They also went on to say that their .62cal smoothbores were really only .610"...that they never understood the old traditional thinking that a .62cal was .620", because it's not, that the industry standard is really .610".
(other .62cal owners can chew on that one for a while)

Then I thanked them, said I'd get it packed up for shipment...came home, took it out of the case to oil it one last time, and on impulse, picked up the micrometer.

It measured .609"/.610"/.609" just like clockwork...I have no idea what I was doing wrong a few days ago that caused me to get .602"/.603" measurements...


The good news is I don't have to send the barrel back...the bad news is that Warren .600 balls wouldn't fit even with a thin .010" patch.

I can mic the remaining .600 balls I have just to see if they're oversized or something, but there's nothing I can do about it if they are...cheapest solution is to set the box of .600's on a shelf and forget about them.

 

[Rebel]

Try using the .600 with an over powder wad, lubed fiber cushion wad, and a thin over shot card, just like a shot load. You might be surprised at the accuracy you get.