Can a ball be too big?

[Nemo Vir]

Got a .45 cal Woodsrunner, I bought .440 and .445 to determine which it like. Just to test, I dropped a .445 ball down the barrel. It got stuck. Tapping the barrel didn’t dislodge it, so I used a screw jag. It came out very easy, but it got me to thinking. With a patch, wouldn’t it be hard to load?

 

[Don Steele]

I use a very tight load when I am shooting off a rest and require the very best precision possible out of my rifle's Green Mountain barrel and load combination. I use strips of dry patch material that have been previously soaked in 1:7 Ballistol: water (Thanks Dutch....GBNF), cut at the muzzle. The patch material is a "Lite canvas" that measures .024 compressed, and a .500 roundball. It's a very tight load. A careful two-step procedure is required to start the ball and patch or the face of ball will be damaged and "blow the group". Using the dry patch necessitates wiping between shots. To seat this tight combination I use a 3/8th's " dia. solid brass range rod.
This procedure provides consistent "one-hole groups" at 50 yds.. unless I mess up. Yesterday I shot a 50-4x from 50 yds while getting ready for my club's "benchrest match" tomorrow. One shot got out of the one-hole group in the X-ring..but stayed in the 10. My best 50 caliber group was fired when I was getting ready for the Alvin York Memorial Chunk match in Pall Mall, Tennessee. 10- .500 balls went into one "ragged hole" from 50 yds that I could alllllmost cover with a quarter.
I should add that I don't do any of this for day-to-day offhand shooting.
Hope this helps.

 

[garypl]

Similar to what Don describes I also use a .400 diameter ball with an 0.018” pillow ticking patch lubed with Ballistol and water in my .40 Douglas barrel. Loads easily but do need to swab @every 5 shots. Been using this combination for 40+ years with excellent results. Experiment and use what works for you to make an accurate load that you don’t have to pound down the barrel

 

[Rifleman1776]

Short answer: Yes. But, using pure soft lead almost anything can be pounded down the bore of an ml rifle. For years I used .457" patched ball in my .45 cal. Douglas barrels. This was an attempt to gain the best accuracy. After many years I tried .445" again and found no loss of accuracy. One time I even used .440" and it was a match winner off the bench. Go figger. Use wat works best for ye.

 

[Flintandsteel]

Nope, realize that you need to fill,the grooves of the rifling to get a good seal.
First 7 shots out of a new Kibler SMR. Loaded with the rod under the barrel. 445” ball, .020 patch, liquid lube.

 

[Sam squanch]

Use a filler between the powder charge and the patched ball. Cream of wheat, wool wad, even leather. I get great one hole groups at 50 yards , and don’t need to pound down the ball, which could smash a flat spot in it .