1st. step is to slug the bore. Use a pure lead slug or round ball, larger than the groove dia., pound it into the muzzle, then poke it out and measure side to side, the largest dia. which will be on top of the lands of the slug which is actually the groove dia. of the barrel. Then measure the smallest dia. which will be the bore dia, from the bottom of the grooves of the lead slug side to side. If the barrel has an odd number of grooves, get as close to opposite sides of the lands and grouves of the slug in your measurements. There are formulae for figuring out the correct bore/groove dia. but I don't have those.
: I have measured the largest dia. I could, then added .002" for the mould size and that has worked. You want the cast bullet to be .001 to .003 larger than the groove dia. of the barrel. With a breech loader, harder than Pure lead can be used. Lyman BP or OxYoke(harder bore butter) bullet lube in the sticks is good for these type of bullets & is easily lubed by hand or melted over low heat, set the bullets in the melted lube then remove from the heat. When the lube hardens, remove the bullets. You can make a 'cake-cutter' for removing the bullets from brass tubing bought at a model store. The tubes come in sizes that fit inside each other, up to 1" in dia., so there is a size that's perfect or close to it. The walls of the tube are .015" per side. Bevel the end of the tube, press over the bullet, then pull the tube up. The bullet will ramain inside the tube & after you have pushed it over several, with a dowel or short starter, poke them out, or just keep pressing over the bulelt until they come out the top. Doing this when the lube is solid but still quite warm, makes it an easy chore.
: It is important to use PURE lead only for the slug as one made from WW or other alloyed metal will be hard to pound in and pound out again. It is important to use a lube designed for keeping BP soft. I have used Lyman BP lube, Ox-Yoke lube, and my a 19th century concotion of 40% vaseline or neetsfoot oil(not ocmpound)./60% beeswax which works just as well as any compercial I've used and is better than most. If the lube is working properly, you shold be able to push ALL of the fouling out from 5 shots, with 1 DRY patch. If that doesn't happen, the lube isn't suitable, or there isn't enough of it.
: With the Smith "ctg" measure the inside dia. That should show you the largest bullet you can use, and actually should be the correct size, - however it might not be. I don't know the rate of twist in that carbine, but it is probably a bit too slow & therefore you should use the shortest bullet possible. A shorter bullet will allow maximum capacity for powder.
Daryl
