Making bullet boards

[Rat Trapper]

What size drill bit do you use when making a 40 caliber and 54 caliber boards?

 

[Jim Blair]

http://www.muzzleloadingforum.com/fusionbb/showtopic.php?tid/192279/

:grin:

 

[Billnpatti]

Can't add much to the info that Scotts Jim gave you except to say that, depending on your patch thickness, you may need to use some sandpaper wrapped around a dowel to adjust the holes to fit your ball and patch combination. Use only a good tight grained hard wood to make your boards or they will split on you. Good hard maple is a good choice. I have made a few from Ebony and it works fine but is too expensive. I had a friend who made a bullet board from a cow leg bone. He found the skeleton of a dead cow and harvested several bones from it for various projects, one of which was several bullet boards of various calibers and some knife handles, etc.

 

[BrownBear]

I'll add a point.

It's sure nice to have the ball sticking out from the bottom of the board a little. That way you have no trouble getting it lined up with the bore.

Another thing that's nice is to avoid any patching sticking above the board to hang up on stuff and yank the balls out of the board.

For field use, I pay as much attention to the thickness of my boards as to hole size.

By adjusting the thickness (bench sander) to the same as bullet diameter, I can seat the patched balls to stick out just a little, and in the process place the tops of the balls a little below the top of the board. Using strips of lubed patching to load my boards, all I have do after seating a ball is swipe my patch knife across the board to cut the patch off flush, just about identical to what I do when cutting patches at the muzzle when seating balls without the board.

Sure quick and handy, with excellent accuracy results and no hassles with balls coming loose from the board in my bag.

 

[Rat Trapper]

Thanks, that was the info I was looking for.

 

[ohio ramrod]

Being a tool and die maker I make reamers .010 over the land size of my rifles. But if you check the charts you can get a drill about that for the 40 caliber. Also I taper ream the holes for easy loading. You can make a simple taper reamer by tapering a dowel rod, slitting the end and wraping sand paper around the taper. :idunno:

 

[hobowonkanobe]

good point, I was told originally that my .54 took a .530 rb in a .015 patch... I had an easier time putting rotten wood stakes in perma frost... :cursing:
so, I have adapted to using a .010, how much dif if any wld this do to the initial drilling etc?

 

[roger zavoda]

27/64 should get it...

 

[Rifleman1776]

27/64" and 35/64"

I have a planer and plane to desired thickness. Most times some sanding inside holes will be necessary for the patch/ball fit you want. I bevel the edges of the holes also. Several ways to do this.
I have made ball blocks from many kinds of wood and all kinds of dead animal parts. What works, works and can be fun.