Bare ball shooting

[Nessmuck56]

Question....when going the bare ball route in a .62 cal Smoothy...the ball should be the largest diameter one,,,that you can push down the barrel ...Correct ? Right now Iam running a .600 ball with .010 patch. I want to go bare ball ...and figured a .610 ball might work...What do you think ?? Thanks

 

[Grenadier1758]

Measure your bore and get the ball that is closest to your bore diameter and still slightly undersized. If your bore is 0.615" then the 0.610" ball is good. I would consider gnawing (rolling the ball between two rasps) the ball to slightly enlarge the ball and rolling the ball in a thick lube similar to bee's wax and olive oil for a near bore sized fit.

If the bore is 0.620", then definitely "gnaw" and lubricate the ball with a bit more lubricant. An overshot card would be used to be sure the ball stays in place.

 

[Sparkitoff]

My double uses a .626 on the right and .610 in left due to choke. Get the biggest that will go down with little to no contact.

 

[Rat]

Yes, chewing (rasping) the ball enlarges it quite a bit. Un-chewed, a .690" ball requires a denim patch in my Bess, (yes I know we are not talking about patching) whereas chewed, a .023" patch is a tight fit. So it's possible that chewing your .600" ball may make a good fit in your bore. Try it.

 

[Black Hand]

Question....when going the bare ball route in a .62 cal Smoothy...the ball should be the largest diameter one,,,that you can push down the barrel ...Correct ? Right now Iam running a .600 ball with .010 patch. I want to go bare ball ...and figured a .610 ball might work...What do you think ?? Thanks

Try your .600 ball with Tow wadding above & below the ball...

 

[Maven]

Here's some information for you, Nessmuck56: https://www.muzzleloadingforum.com/threads/rb-diameter-for-bare-ball-loads-in-a-20ga-sb.112387/ Btw, I also posted some of it on the TML site.

 

[Rat]

Don't forget that too tight a ball, like too tight of a patch, will make it difficult to load as the barrel fouls. So you don't want too tight.

 

[Melnic]

do yourself a favor, try it out at home. I have a thick sectional brass rod. I drop a 12" section down the barrel FIRST. then I try out my balls and patches. Then use inertia to bump the ball back out.
bring some liquid lube or map or what ever so that if the ball/patch gets stuck on the way down, you can add lube to help push it down or to help pull it back out with a ball puller.

 

[Cruzatte]

Right now Iam running a .600 ball with .010 patch. I want to go bare ball ...and figured a .610 ball might work...What do you think ?? Thanks

Yes, it might work. You'll have to experiment and see for yourself. My personal experience showed that my Caywood Wilson model, also a .62/20 ga. shot consistently higher with a .610 bare ball, than it does with a .600 ball. Results may be entirely different once I get my FDC finished and ready to shoot.