Ball slipping patch

[EN]

Everything in my soul says to keep things centered and consistent to get the best result. But at times that is not possible so it is good to know that even though the ball and patch don't meet my specs that everything will probably work well.

 

[Bigpete]

Thanks folks for the info. This situation came up in a conversation when "shots go wild". I am amazed at how much stuff we read in black powder manuals and loading procedure that may not be totally true as Doc pointed out. One video I saw had the guy put the sprue off center with no ill effects as to accuracy. I wonder how many other things are taken for gospel that might be "off center".

I've tried that too and it made no difference. There's a lot of old wisdom that doesn't always bear out true...

 

[mooman76]

A lot of the things we do, the average shooter won't notice if it didn't happen. No problem doing them though, if it makes us feel better. Confidents in our loads does make us shoot better.

 

[EN]

A lot of the things we do, the average shooter won't notice if it didn't happen. No problem doing them though, if it makes us feel better. Confidents in our loads does make us shoot better.

Amen to that!

 

[Irishmusket]

Back in the day when peoples lives depend on their fire locks .They did not load them the way an awful lot of people and manuals ( modern) say.A smooth bore is not a rifle it dose not have rifling you use a patch in a rifle to connect the ball to the rifling and seal the gas behind the ball the result a spinning ball at higher velocity .However in the case of a smooth bore which are muskets ,fowling piece , a trade gun .These are very different than rifles .The proper use of a musket is as fallows a Ball no patch at all a wad on top of the ball then ram the wad and unpatched ball down the and firmly seat the ball directly on the powder charge..When discharged the burning powder and gases envelop the ball which in-fact stabilize the ball if your ball is to tight or to loose your accuracy will suffer the same is true with charge.A starting point is measure your bore a 20 gauge bore should be between 610 and 625 depending on who made the barrel.a 600 diameter ball is good 10 to 20 under is good .As far as charge is concerned start at 60 grains 2ffg .and take it from there.keep in mind that 61 grains is in-fact the recommended service charge for 20 gauge guns according to Burmingham & the Liege proof houses heavy charges should never Exceed 70 grains .I have been exclusively shooting muzzle loading guns.For over 55 years been very successful in the woods and on the range

 

[tenngun]

I might hazard that in a fast twist made for conical a ball might strip the patching.
Many of the really big bore elephant guns remained smooth because the massive ball just couldn’t be held by a patch. Often these guns took the belted ball for that reason

 

[oldwood]

'Til I fumble around trying to load a round ball on a precut patch , all sorts of mayhem might happen. Fairly sure I've shot many a ball down range w/ the sprue , off center. I recommend using a bullet board and a short starter. My hunting buddy , and talented antagonist on the competition ranges , used nothing but square cut patches , and won many a match with them. Long as the patch is the correct thickness , roughly centered sprue up ,or down , accuracy, shouldn't suffer. Consistency in the load , and loading of the gun , is what makes a m/l shoot with accuracy , shot to shot...........oldwood