How tightly to pack rPRB on powder?

[paulvallandigham]

I am no fan of bouncing ramrods if you want to shoot small groups! So I will not recommend the practice. Either use a thinner patch- which you say you will try- or a better lube, or both. Even in guns I know that are using a tight patch/ ball combination, so that hammers are used to start them in the barrel, if the barrel is clean and the lands are smooth, and not rusty- I can't remember seeing anyone having trouble running the ball down the barrel to seat. Only when the barrel is fouled, or rusty have I seen people having trouble. I have also run oversized balls down my gun barrels to measure the lands and grooves, or to use in lapping the barrels, where I needed a stout hammer, and a short starter, or piece of dowel wood to get the lead started, but once it is in the barrel, it moves smoothly down the barrel.

If your barrel is giving you fits, you might try lubing the barrel after you seat the PRB, by running another patch on a jag that is heavy in patch lube, down the barrel to grease the barrel in front of the PRB. You will see a little increase in velocity doing this, but the bore will be easy to clean or the fouling so soft, you can load the next round easily. I have done this with a gun or two using NL1000, a/k/a Bore Butter. I am sure it would work with Stumpy's moose snot or any of the lubes that use both olive oil or ballistol, and beeswax in some combination, with soaps, or other solvents.

 

[Runner]

I am not bench shooter, so I may be wrong. I was taught to load to the same amount of pressure as close as you can every time. I have used several loading methods over the years, but I mainly bounce. If the gun is loaded right, it is usually only one bounce. If it doesn't bounce right, it is time to bounce it again. I load all patched ball loads that way. If it is less accurate, you are not gonna see it shooting off hand. My ramrod tip for loading is pretty close to bore and is shaped to match the ball with no sharp edges. That is a must for bouncing. Cleaning jags don't hit straight enough because they are too much under bore size, and the flat type jags will deform the ball if you bounce them.
If I was shooting off a bench trying to hit the same hole at 100 yards, that might have to change. Squirrel heads at 30 yards don't know there is an accuracy problem with the loads I use!