Man, my balls are big.

[TN.Frank]

Well, just ran a few .690 round balls and MAN, ARE THEY HUGE. I compared em' to my .395's and 490's and I can see why frontiersman liked the smaller calibers. You get a lot more balls to the lb. with something like a 40cal then you do with a 75cal and with proper placement the 40cal will kill a deer just as dead BUT it's still cool to have something that'll shoot such a big ball. I'm going to try using the same 85grs of 3fg that I'm using with my shot load(85grs 3fg same measure for shot making it 1 1/8 oz load) and see how it groups. Also, I have to use jean matrial for patches because even the Wally World pillow tickin' isn't thick enough. At a later date I'll get some jean colth or other thicker cotton cloth to use but for now I have a couple blue jean legs that I can use. :thumbsup:

 

[Rebel]

Old blue jean legs is what i used with the .690 ball in a Bess. Worked good.

 

[TN.Frank]

:thumbsup: Guess I'm on the right track then Rebel.
I think the Pillow Tickin' might work good in the 12ga.

 

[Rebel]

Yep, that is what i used in it. I also tried it with the plastic shot cups that are in the bag with the other cups. They act like one of them Sabot thingys. It shoots real good with rd balls to 25 yds. Not sure how it is at longer range.

 

[Toomuch_36]

Old blue jean legs is what i used with the .690 ball in a Bess. Worked good.

You must have some awful heavy blue jeans. :shocked2:
Most Besses I have encountered are .75 cal. and generally take a .735 ball with .015 patch.

Toomuch
.........
Shoot Flint

 

[pathfinderifh]

What are ya usein' the .690's in? I once ran a whole butt load of .715's then ran some .400's. I had more lead on the bench until I got used to the .400's using ALOT less lead than the .715's! :shocked2:

 

[TN.Frank]

I'm using the .690's in the 75cal Cumberland Fowler and the reason is because the Lyman .715" mold was $52 bucks vs a Lee .690" for $18 bucks. I'd rather use a smaller ball with a cheaper mold and buy thicker patch matrial then spend all that extra money, guess I'm a cheap skate,LOL. :grin:

 

[pathfinderifh]

Could not agree more! If I can save a few bucks, I CAN make adjustments! I once ran out of fixen's for a trade gun match, so I used whatever shot I could bum and leaves for wadding,Took 1st in the shoot!

ps. Red maple leaves gave a tighter pattern :rotf:

 

[Rebel]

Just old Wrangler jeans. It wasn't a real tight fit, but i use an overpowder and cushion wad under the ball. All the patch needs to do is keep the ball in the barrel till i shoot. I shot some .535's out of my .62 cal./ .20 ga recently using a thick patch and they worked fine. Not as accurate as a .600 ball, but good enough to take a deer with.

 

[pathfinderifh]

The only thing the Deer knows is " sh--, I need to run! (at least untill I get dizzy)" What ever works is cool!

 

[TN.Frank]

The only thing the Deer knows is " sh--, I need to run! (at least untill I get dizzy)" What ever works is cool!

Now that's funny right there, don't care who ya' are. :rotf:

 

[BS]

No matter how big your ball are, someone always has bigger ones!

 

[TN.Frank]

Dang, .875" that's really HUGE. :hatsoff:

 

[jerfrark]

in my Bess I was shooting .725. Went to the local black powder club and they freaked, thought I brought a cannon.The size of the hole it made was awesome.

 

[Java Man]

Frank, you could also try some buckskin, if you have any around. It is more compliant than fabric. I tried .570's with buckskin patches in a .62 smoothie, and it worked well.

 

[musketman]

Well, just ran a few .690 round balls and MAN, ARE THEY HUGE.

Try lugging a few hundred of those up and down rough landscapes... :shocked2:

No wonder they used pack mules... :grin:

 

[paulvallandigham]

Now you are understanding why Shotgun slugs are sold in packs of Five(%), and not 25. You are lugging a lot of weight around, one way or another, but it just doesn't seem like it when you are bird hunting.

 

No matter how big your ball are, someone always has bigger ones!

No Kidding!

 

[hawkeye1755]

.995 :shocked2:
What kind of a gun are you loading with that ball.
A Wall Gun?
:hatsoff:

 

[David Teague]

It's not the size...

It's how you use them... :winking:

with proper placement the 40cal will kill a deer just as dead

.995 :shocked2:
What kind of a gun are you loading with that ball.
A Wall Gun?
:hatsoff:

Claypipe has a 1 inch Hand Gonne... a cannon on a stick. :grin: (Mines only a .56... :shake: )

Cheers,

DT