Lubing chewed balls

[jd411111]

I've been getting in to bareball shooting the last few months and actually doing better with that than PRB. After rasping,,the ball just touches the barrel on the way down. I can shoot all afternoon and never have to swabb. My question is, would there be any additional benefit from lubing the ball or is it just the people that have trouble getting the ball down doing it?

 

[tenngun]

Maybe something simi hard like lard or mink oil, bees wax might be too hard, melted and poured on.

 

[jd411111]

Thought about trying it just to make cleaning easier(pretty nasty) but I wonder if all that fouling contributes to the accuracy.

 

[Rat]

The fouling could increase accuracy, as the bore gets smaller as it's fouled. Not sure if that reduction is consistent for the entire length of the barrel. ??? Not sure if the small amount of lube carried on the ball would make a difference on cleaning. ?? Something to try out. I think pure bee's wax would work best, but again not sure how to get a consistent even coat of it on the ball. Or not, maybe "lard balls" would be the hot ticket.

 

[Docgp]

I have had great accuracy results with chewed ball also, but I use an over powder card, a 1/2" cushioned wad with Dutch's dry lube, and then the ball, and another over ball card. I think olive oil would work fine also.

Doc

 

[Rat]

I just got some hard 1/2" cushion wads to play with in my Bess. Hope to try them out soon.

 

[Rifleman1776]

Something to try out

That was my first thought on reading the original post. Instead of asking how a new idea might work it would benefit everyone if he tried it then reported the results.

 

[jd411111]

I might be able to give it a try this weekend. After reading about the HC method of loading bare ball on another board, I've just been putting ball on top of powder then some Spainish Moss to hold it in place. The best results of any combination yet. But then, I'm not that great of a shot .HeeHee

 

[jbwilliams3]

I might be able to give it a try this weekend. After reading about the HC method of loading bare ball on another board, I've just been putting ball on top of powder then some Spainish Moss to hold it in place. The best results of any combination yet. But then, I'm not that great of a shot .HeeHee

I'm with you there. I like to shoot bare ball with tow or wasp nest or green leaves, etc. When I try a PRB it doesn't seem to improve anything. I also allow that I'm not a crack shot but I generally hit what I aim at.

 

[madsweeney]

In the N-SSA we are required to shoot smoothbore without patch or wad. Many of the shooters fuzz up the balls by rolling between farriers rasp. Almost everyone uses some sort of lube. The current trick seems to be dipping them in liquid Alox. Actually makes cleanup harder IMHO. I dip the balls in a 50/50 mix of lard and beeswax, and rub off the excess so that it just fills in the spaces around the "fuzz." Since we have to use individual loads in a tube (no powder horns, ball blocks, starters allowed), I add a glob of soft lube to the top of the ball after the load is assembled. For bad shots like me, a match event might be 8 or 10 shots with no brushing or swabbing between shots. Don't have a problem with loading the last few rounds.
I shoot an original 1851 Cadet 57 cal. musket - 282 grain .562" ball over 43 grains Goex 3F. On those rare days when I can remember what the sight picture is, it will put everything inside a 4" circle at 25 yards. Off the bench even better

 

[sb 54 cal.]

I also use chewed ball and 1/2 cushion wad over powder lubed with olive oil works fine for me.