Maxi question

[petew]

How easy or hard should a maxi go in the barrel compared to a Patched round ball in a 50Cal ?
Should they be able to be started with just thumb pressure?

When they go in easy by hand/ thumb and can be sent home with a light to moderate stroke of the ram rod, will they properly seal on firing?

Pete

 

[rabjr]

Been a while since I used them but I remember being able to push them in up to the forward band with just finger pressure and then using a ball starter or ramrod to apply enough pressure to engrave that forward band and continue loading...

 

[misher]

I find it works best if you do it slow and steady. No sudden shoves that ruin the slow spin as it goes down.

 

[BrownBear]

Been a while since I used them but I remember being able to push them in up to the forward band with just finger pressure and then using a ball starter or ramrod to apply enough pressure to engrave that forward band and continue loading...

That's been my experience with the ones that give the best accuracy. If they're too easy to push in as described by the OP, I've had accuracy problems with individual guns.

 

[Spikebuck]

I've used the T/C Hunter, Buffalo Bullets and Ball-ets, and Hornady Great Plains. In all cases I can push in by hand up to the last band or with just about 1/3 of the bullet above the crown. Then I just use a short starter with a quick hit to groove the bullet into the lands and from there they go down easily with the ramrod.

I find they push down easier, once grooved, than a tightly patched roundball.

Personally, I've had better luck accuracy wise with the kind having the "skirt" or concave hollow against the powder which I think expands and seals better when shot than the solid flat base of the T/C, but whatever works in an individual gun....

 

[Horizontal Hunter]

I've used the T/C Hunter, Buffalo Bullets and Ball-ets, and Hornady Great Plains. In all cases I can push in by hand up to the last band or with just about 1/3 of the bullet above the crown. Then I just use a short starter with a quick hit to groove the bullet into the lands and from there they go down easily with the ramrod.

I find they push down easier, once grooved, than a tightly patched roundball.

Same here. I have found that a felt wad or "bore button" between the powder charge and the Maxie will improve accuracy.

Bob

 

[Rat Trapper]

In my TC 50 cal Hawken the Hornady great plains bullets load real hard, but are tack drivers. If a conical loads too easy, accuracy will suffer. Always use a felt wad under the bullet. I have found conicals seem to like heavy charges often a max charge.

 

[Vaino]

The Maxi in theory is designed so that the smaller dias compress on ignition and the larger dias then expand to seal the bore. Does this happen, I don't know but may be the reason that stiff loads are more accurate. I switched to the .50 cal 410 gr. Buffalo Bullet {knurled surface} because of easier 2nd shot loading and found it and the Maxi to be very accurate. My objection to both was that w/ a clean bore, both moved off the powder charge, sometimes as much as 6 inches. During hunting this became a constant "check" that I no longer wanted to do so went to a PRB. These were both used in a TC Hawken.....Fred

 

[Dphar]

How easy or hard should a maxi go in the barrel compared to a Patched round ball in a 50Cal ?
Should they be able to be started with just thumb pressure?

When they go in easy by hand/ thumb and can be sent home with a light to moderate stroke of the ram rod, will they properly seal on firing?

Pete

Maxi-balls and other "naked" and PP bullets in MLs and often in BPCRs "bump up" or expand at initial acceleration, which with BP is pretty violent, to seal the bore. There is no gas leakage of any significance.

The problem with loose bullets is they can slide away from the powder charge if the rifle is carried muzzle down while walking or if bumped with the muzzle down. They also do not seal out water if snow gets in the bore and melts.
So Rbs are safer.

And:
Elongated bullets that start hard in a ML require sophisticated means to get them straight in the bore.
These reasons are why the RB was the projectile for the vast majority of hunters until the advent of the breechloading hunting rifle.
The Minie was useless off the battlefield and the picket bullet requires a starter fitted to the muzzle or a false muzzle AND a fitted starter.
They are also less accurate at hunting ranges based on my experience and that of others.
Dan

 

[Spikebuck]

My objection to both was that w/ a clean bore, both moved off the powder charge, sometimes as much as 6 inches.

Interesting. I've used conicals a lot and have had that concern and therefore have checked with my ramrod from time to time but have never yet had one move, not any amount even after a little jar to the gun. I've even tested by holding the gun muzzle down (and pointed safely) and shaking it, but no movement. But I see two that have posted having this issue, so I guess is can happen and I guess I'll keep checking!!!

I wonder if the type of rifling (round bottom vs square) and depth have an impact on potential movement. I would think that could make quite a difference.

 

[larry wv]

prob happens but I have never had a conical move either. Doesn't hurt to check and I do once in a while. Larry

 

[rabjr]

Probably depends on the gun used. I never had a maxi ball move off the powder in any T/C gun I ever owned.

 

[pchwcf50110]

i've never had a bullet move off the charge either. whether Whitworth, Alex Henry, or Rigby rifling a one diameter bullet .001" over bore size has always stayed put. this is in a clean barrel, no fouled bore. i have seen a maxiball slide up the barrel in a friend's rifle. i think his barrel (not T/C)was a couple thousands bigger than an average T/C's and it was about half way up at the end of a long day of deer drives.