Blue Jean patchin' had holes blown in it.

[CoyoteJoe]

I too once used buckskin patches with heavy loads in a .54 caliber Green Mountain Barrel with very good results. I don't know why I haven't tried it recently, I have plenty of buckskin scraps, but maybe it's bacause I no longer feel the need to load 140 grains of 3f. :grin:

 

[Java Man]

I just wanted to try some .570's in a .62. Used 70gr 2f for the load. That's plenty of poop for at least deer size game at smoothbore distance.

 

[Rebel]

I did the same thing with .535 rd balls in my .62 smoothbore. They would be ok for deer out of mine. 80 grs of Goex 3f, Overpowder wad, 1/2 a lubed cushion wad, and a denim patched .535.

 

[TN.Frank]

I really think an over shot wad between the powder and patched round ball should do the trick. :hmm:

 

[paulvallandigham]

I agree with TN Frank: Use a good .125" thick overpowder wad, under that PRB. Make sure the inside diameter of your barrel is correct. My 20 Ga. Fowler is oversized, and I had to go up to a 19 ga. wad to get proper sealing. My gunmaker bought the barrel stock from the same source he always used, and he had never gotten oversized barrels before. He was surprised as I was when 20 ga. wads didn't work.

 

[Rebel]

An overshot wad may work for you ok, but it didn't for me. I can shoot all day using my method with no barrel swabbing.

 

[paulvallandigham]

How can you use a .535 ball in a .615 barrel, even if your denim is .024" thick, and expect that PRB to be centered in the barrel. IF you use a lubed cushion wad, which makes the cushion wad soft, I can see how it will tend to push the ball in the center, but with the ball being so undersized, the ball has to be affected by gravity, and ride more on the bottom of the barrel than on the top. The overpowder wad keeps the gases from blowing by, but how can you possibly get any real consistent groups out of such a load? It defies fairly well accepted concepts concerning accuracy that are practiced by all serious target shooters.

I am really curious. I am using a .600 RB in an oversized barrel, closer to a 19 ga. than a 20 ga. and its all I can do to find thick enough patching to center the ball in my gun for consistent groups. So how do you do that and get any results?

 

[ffffg]

i may be missing something here but did i understand that there is a .060 difference between bore and ball? you will need something to stop blowby thats for sure.. havnt ever gone that far with any success myself, maybe some of the suggestions givin will work.. my first stop at the track of the wolf e-store would be to get and try some bigger balls and some of their .020 patching, its very tight.. .750 minus ..035 would be .715.. try some .715 balls (12 ga.) that would be a good fit if .750 is the boar size you have with .005 compression........and get a few .735 balls just to see if that is what your gun likes.. and try some .015 patches, and some .018 patches.. youll have her shooting in no time... id also order some over poweder cards, fiber wads and overshot cards while your at it.. . dave..

 

[Rebel]

Paul my bore is about .617. I can't use much of a patch with even a .600 rd ball, which is what i ormally use in it. I have to use a real thin patch or a bare ball. I always use an overpowder wad a nd half a lubed fiber cushion wad no matter what i shoot in it. The .535's were just to see how they would work, not something i plan to use in it. I had to use a really thick piece of denim with them. Have no idea what the thickness was. Didn't get exceptional groups, but they were good enough that if they were all i had i could take a deer with them. I really could use .595 rd balls for it, but i have a .600 mould so that is what i use.

 

[TN.Frank]

My bore is .748" and with a .690" round ball and the jean batching it's nice and snug. Besides, I didn't want to spend $60 bucks on a .715" mold when a Lee .690" mold was $18 bucks. At a later date, if I have too, I'll pick up a .715" mold but I'd like to try to get the .690" to work if I can.

 

[paulvallandigham]

I would think you might do better with that .525" ball if you found some kind of double patching to use. My brother shot some .390" ball our of his .425" bore rifle as he was trying to fing a .410 ball mold. He double patched, and got reasonable accuracy. He found a Lee Mold under dust at a local gun shop the right size the next day, and used that new mold to cast his balls from then on. His first off-hand target shooting the .410" ball, right out of the mold, was a off-hand, 25 yd. practice Target at Friendship that scored 48-2X. He did not expectto do that well on his first 5 shots, and he would not have done as well with the .390 ball. I would think you might buy some .595 ball from TOTW, and see if they don't work well for you. While working with them, you could save the pennies to get a custom mold made, in the diameter that you want. I would be inclined, if I were in your current predictament, to use two patches, the first .020", and the second the coarser denim, in .024", or whatever they mike out to be. With an overpowder wad to seal the barrel, the double patch would grab the ball and center it well, yet allow easy loading. If you use strips of patching and trim the two at one time at the muzzle, you don't have to worry about centering two pre-cut patches on the barrel. My fowler's bore measures closer to .620 than yours, and I am using a 19 ga. wad to seal the bore, but I get away using the .600" RB and some thin denim, that measures about .022"

 

[Rebel]

Paul, i am not in a predicament, i just used the.535's as an experiment. I have a .600 mould. The .600's work fine, i just have to use a thin patch, which is ok since i use an overpowder wad and a 1/2 a cushion wad, or just use them bare with only wads.

 

[paulvallandigham]

YOu will get much better accuracy using a .010" patch with those .600 ball. Bare balls just rub lead off on the barrel, giving you a flat, that is going to send the ball off in some direction other than the one you planned. I do think the wad combinations you are using are well thought out. I measured my Fowler barrel this morning, two different ways, and it measures .622".

 

[Rebel]

I do get a bit better accuracy with the patch but for the hunting i will be doing with it, either way would be ok. Most any shot i get around here at deer will be under 50 yds. and more likely around 20-30 yds.. I still need to do some more load work with it though, so only time will tell what winds up being the best. Thanks for the input.

 

[ffffg]

i shot lead shot, patched round ball, bismuth shot in my 16 gauge chambers mark silver for years and got ok accuracey with pathced round ball.. one night i steel wooled the bore good, then hit it with klean bore lead remover cloth the get the lead and bismuth out.. this may be the only way to get bismuth out.. there is not much in bismuth removers on the market.. but the point is that round ball accuracy definitly improved after getting the lead out.. it causes one sided resistance and constrictions if bad enough.. the resistence of a large lead spot in the bore can cause pressure build up id assume.. enough to hinder accuracy.. the klean bore lead removal cloth will remove most any metal im guessing becouse it just wont come out clear on a patch of it in the barrel.. on a steel screwdriver it still rubs black, so dont overdo it on the bore. meaning i assume it will remove steel also... dave

 

[Richard Hare.]

Frank,
If you still have problems with holes in patches,try dipping patches in melted deer tallow.
Even with heavy charges, won't burn through. Use nothing else myself.
Also found Sam Fadala's trick of using a little wad of wasps nest below patched ball works in anything!
This I always use in hunting season, when gun may be loaded a few days,.....stops powder getting damp from greasy patch, and doesn't burn on firing.