More blown patches

[tiger955]

I didn't want to hijack Wolfeyes' thread so started a new one. I have been fooling with an old TC Hawken with the factory 1-48 shallow groove barrel lately.
I am using home cast balls from WW that mike out at .492 (same as I have been using in my other 50's for years), I started with .018 ticking, good accuracy but had to literally pound the balls down the barrel. I tried some .010 precut patches I bought long ago, they showed lots of blow-by, fouling the barrel, and poor accuracy.
I got some linen the other day that mikes out at .014. Loads tight but not too hard, accuracy is good, seems like a good combo, except, picking up fired patches most all have a big hole in the center. They do not look burnt at all, just a shredded hole about 1/4" in diameter right in the center of the ball imprint.
I am using the same Hoppes black powder lube I use for patch lube in my other guns and the patches that come out of them look like I could use them again. I also tries a few with some old Lehigh Valley lube I have left over, same thing. I don't think it is the lube. Could it be the patch material is not strong enough?

 

[roundball]

I am using the same Hoppes black powder lube I use for patch lube in my other guns and the patches that come out of them look like I could use them again. I also tries a few with some old Lehigh Valley lube I have left over, same thing. I don't think it is the lube. Could it be the patch material is not strong enough?

Based on using several TC x 1:48" barrels for a few years, T/C's .015" patches survived plinking loads OK, but would sometimes fail with stout hunting loads of Goex 3F. To remedy that I simply started using an Oxyoke lubed wad over the powder and that served as a solid firewall to protect the relatively thin .015" patch.

Then I moved to T/C's .018" pillow ticking patches...they did fine by themselves and gave me smaller groups at the same time. The tighter PRB combos require that I use a short starter of course, as I have with all my PRBs ever since that time, regardless of the barrel.

 

[Rifleman1776]

Pounding hard balls down the bore will never end with good results.
You need to cast soft pure lead balls and start over.

 

[tiger955]

I am starting with what I consider a moderate load of 60gr of Goex 2f. What were you using as a "plinking" load, and a "stout hunting load"?
I find in my other rifles that a snug patch/ball combo works best and have always used a short starter. My reasoning for this combo is that for a deep groove roundball barrel use a thick patch to fill the grooves better,and for a shallow groove barrel as a TC used a larger ball with a thinner patch to grip the rifling better. Does this sound logical? Or am I backwards here.
I don't have a ready source of pure soft lead to cast balls with so I have been using the wheel weights I get at work free for years. Am I correct that swaged balls are pure lead? I believe I saw some Speer balls at a local gun shop recently, perhaps I'll try a box.
I appreciate the advice. I have been shooting muzzleloaders for over 20 years now and am still learning.

 

[roundball]

I am starting with what I consider a moderate load of 60gr of Goex 2f. What were you using as a "plinking" load, and a "stout hunting load"?
I find in my other rifles that a snug patch/ball combo works best and have always used a short starter. My reasoning for this combo is that for a deep groove roundball barrel use a thick patch to fill the grooves better,and for a shallow groove barrel as a TC used a larger ball with a thinner patch to grip the rifling better. Does this sound logical? Or am I backwards here.
I don't have a ready source of pure soft lead to cast balls with so I have been using the wheel weights I get at work free for years. Am I correct that swaged balls are pure lead? I believe I saw some Speer balls at a local gun shop recently, perhaps I'll try a box.
I appreciate the advice. I have been shooting muzzleloaders for over 20 years now and am still learning.

For 25/50 yard plinking loads at the range, I follow that old rule of thumb of basically just using "the caliber" as the powder charge.
ie: a .50cal, I use 50grns Goex. My hunting loads are near max at 90grns.

I always use .010" under bore size balls in rifles (.490" in a .50cal)...and as I said, settled on the .018" pillow ticking...same in both TC 1:48" and TC 1:66" barrels.

Started out with Hornaday/Speer swaged balls, but got to shooting so much and they were so expensive I switched to cast balls from Eddie May, a commercial caster in Chatsworth, GA.
Bought 1000 .490" from him just a couple months ago for half what Hornadys/Speers would have cost.

Other examples from Eddie May:
(a few thousand .395"s for my .40cal at $43.xx/1000)
(a few thousand .520"s for my .54cal smoothbore at $87.xx/1000)

 

[tiger955]

I am going to try a box of swaged balls with thicker patching, sounds like the ticket. I was wondering mainly about why my patches have holes blown in them with no signs of burning. I have read many times of guys using linin patch material with no problems.