Correct gauge / ball match-up

[valhalla]

Evenin' Gents,

Just aquired a Belgian copy of an English single barrel ( not damascus) shotgun / fowler. On the underside is the bore in millimeters ( 18.0) or 13 ga. I've consulted a couple of conversion charts and it works out from .708 to .710. Would anyone on the forum know the correct ball / patch combo so I might avoid damage to myself and the gun ? Any info would be much appreciated. Many thanks in advance.

Brian D.

 

[Rebel]

You should be ok with a .690. Lee makes a mould and they are about $17 from www.midsouthshooters.com If the ball and patch will go down the bore,it will come back out ok.

 

[valhalla]

Thanks for the quick reply Rebel. Was just at a shoot where , at the urging of a friend of a friend, I fire some of his .690 ? balls through it. The reason I phrased the sizing as a question is, we were not exactly sure of his mold and so on. Well, went ahead and ran one through, it went down with a fight although it did come out , and hit about an 1 1/2" off the K-Ring the second would not go down at all even after swabbing. Like I say, was not sure of the sizing. He may have beeen under the impression that this was a true 12 ga. gun and donated a larger ball for a .729 bore. Thus my question.

Again , thanks.

Brian D. :hmm:

 

Valhalla, ya really need to mike the barrel, as there can be quite a varience in true bore size and what is stated on the barrel. I would also mike the ball, and consider the patch thickness. That's the only way to know for sure :m2c: Bill By the way a micrometer is a good tool to have for a variety of uses in muzzleloading, they are usually less than $20 on ebay under sportingoods, reloading.