Help for math challenged

[Millsman]

I am fortunate enough to have a number of original muzzleloading rifles and pistols.And I have and will continue to shoot them. But I to date have only guessed at the proper size ball and patch (and type of patch).Basically I find a ball of about the right size from Hornady and a Wonderlube patch and if they go down the barrel and eventually come out when I pull the trigger and hit the target I'm happy.But I would like to know more about how to correctly determine if I measure a .55 caliber bore should I choose the.530 or .535 and which patch??? dry cotten,oiled? wonderlube,pillow ticking,oiled? and what thickness?
Is there a formula? I would guess that modern muzzleloaders come with reccomendations but the auction or attic finds do not. Help please.Thanks

 

[Blizzard of '93]

Lucky you. IMHO you should stay with an easy-loading ball/patch combo, fairly wet with lube (Go-Jo white works 4 me) maybe use an overpowder wad over light charge of powder. This will keep pressure down in the originals and they will be around for another 100 or so years. Most any tight-weave cotton will work but most swear by 'pillow ticking', around 15-20 thou. thickness.Don't think I would risk taking them afield (hunting or trekking), just to the range/plinking area. They are worth too much to risk damaging. :thumbsup:

 

[Legionair]

If you use a micrometer with inside calipers, you can determine the exact bore size.

Are these smoothbores? If so, I would think you could get close by eye and use a thicker patch.

But, the Mic is the best bet....

Legion

 

[Gary]

To get bore size, drop a heavy piece of brass down the bore. Now, get a pure lead ball of slightly larger size and tap that into the bore. Turn the barrel upside down and shake it vertically. The brass will knock the ball into your hand (on onto a soft surface). Measure the ball with a caliper and that'll tell you the bore size. Once you have the bore size, you want a slightly undersized ball that you can patch.

Now, as to the right combination, that's the trick. You have to work up a patch size & ball diameter combination that works best for your rifle. That we can't tell you. It's done by trial and error. Fire about 3-5 shots with each combination, take notes, clean the bore, and try another 3-5 with another combination. Tedious work but worthwhile.

 

[paulvallandigham]

First use a good caliper, or just use a set of inside dividers to determine the bore diameter. Then the general rule is to allow 1/100" gap on both sides, so subtract .020 from the diameter of the groove diameter. Then find a patch that is /015 or thicker, lube it with your favorite lube, and run the ball down the barrel. If its too tight, consider using a thinner patch material. If its too loose, try it to see how it shoots. Some old guns have some pretty open muzzles, and in the 18th century, guns had their muzzle coned to allow the PRB to be seated with a thumb, centered as it is pushed down on the powder. Typically, the coning did not expand the groove diameter, but simply reduced the lands( bore diameter) to groove dimeter. Coning is easy on both the patch and ball for seating, and you almost never get torn patches at the muzzle with a coned barrel.

Some older guns have deep grooves, as much as .012" for each groove. these can be difficult to find a ball and patch combination that works well, simply because its hard to find a patch material that will fill those deep grooves completely. measure the bore diameter( land to land) to give you an indication of proper ball size- .010" less than this land to land measurement, and then also measure the groove diameter. That will give you a better idea on how thick a patch is needed. In some cases, the only way you can keep from cutting patches is by using an overpowder wad, or filler. Traditional fillers were wasp nests, leaves including tobacco, milk weed tuffs, cotton, of course, raw hide or leather scraps, and fabric scraps, including wool, linen, muslin, canvas, denim, etc. If you use the cloth as fillers, you need to lube them or they will almost always burn and pose a fire threat to the ground in front of the muzzle. Nothing you can't put out quickly with the bottom of your shoe, but something to be conceerned about, nevertheless. Raw hide and leather generally are too tough to catch a spark and burn, while the loose fillers, including corn meal, blow out as the un-burned particles separate in front of the muzzle.

 

[CrackStock]

Many originals have odd numbered lands and grooves, (most common that I have seen is 7) so the inside calipers may not be useful.

A friend once pressed a tapered candle into a muzzle and carefully turned this slightly while holding it as evenly as possible. He then measured the mark. Not perfect, but I could not come up with a better method for measuring a 7 land rifled bore. If it is coned, then we need to think up a plan B. Cerrosafe plug?

As to which ball to use in a .55 bore, these were common in plains rifles as they were intended to shoot .53 balls which my buddy Dave states was the largest size balls made at the shot towers near St Louis. However, for best accuracy I would consider .535s with my favorite patch material as long as it is not thick canvas. (The reason being is that most people shot looser loads than we do today and we are discussing optimal accuracy rather than field expedient use.) I would feel how hard they are to load and learn how effective they did on targets. From there I would vary patch thicknesses to see how these work out. If the ball is too tight, move to the looser ball, if loose then look for some .54s.

One more consideration is the degree which this rifle can withstand loading tight patch/ball combinations. We cannot see the condition and design of this rifle. A thin Tennessee will crack under stresses that an original Hawken would easily withstand. I know, I did it -- again. :redface:

(At this point he moves on to what others have written and I do not blame him... :haha: )

Just my thoughts -- I'm sure that there will be others...

CS