Need information.

[mudd turtle]

Sometime ago I posted a post about not being able to get a dry ball out of my barrel. I had to pull the breech plug and drove the ball out the muzzle.Since I have the breech plug out I sluged the barrel and found that it measures after being mic to be 44.5 and I am thinking that a ball should be 440.00. The barrel on the bottom land is marked 45 cal. I need to know about patching material. I thought I could just run down to walmart and buy pillow ticking and use it for my patches. What caliper of patch material will I need for a 440.00 ball. I plan to have Rapine to make me a bag mold for my rifle. How is the caliper of pillow ticking measured? I had some round ball stored in an old tin and found that I could start some of them with my thumb. If you can thum start the ball do you need to patch the ball? Some of the ball in the tin mic to 45.5 . I have tried to start the ball with my thumb but they wont go. They are to big but I took my short starter and drove them down the bore They were hard to start but when they got down the barrel I could push them all the way down with my ram rod but it took some force. The ball That I could thumb start when all the way down the barrel and with the barrel held up to the light you could see light behind the ball looking from where the breechplug would be. I think that ball needs a patch so it will be a better seal. The ball that is 45.5 you can,t see light behind so it is sealing-but when you drive the ball out the muzzle and look at it it is deformed from the pounding from the short starter to start it. Will a deformed ball shoot well when it is fired? My guess is that it will not. After I get the rifle put back togeather and have patching material and the correct ball size I plann to test shoot the rifle to see what effect the ball size and patching material will do. I hope some of you can help me get this all togeather. mudd turtle.

 

[paulvallandigham]

I would recommend you buy some .430 and .435 " balls to try using .015 patch material. Use a good lube, and clean between shots. If you reshape the short starter so that the fitting has the same curve as your ball, you will reduce the amount of deformation of the ball. How accurate or inaccurate a deformed RB is depends on the gun, the load, the distance to the target, etc. For instance, Chunk Gun shooter fire at 50 or 60 yd targets, but shoot for a string count-- the shortest string wins. Those guys hammer oversized balls down their barrel, on top of maximum charges of powder, to get the ball to the target as fast as possible. That means a relatively flat shooting load. They don't care if at 100 yds, that elongated, nose deformed " ball " loses velocity faster than if it were round, or if its less accurate at that longer range. ( some are, some aren't.) The size ball, and patch is chosen for its performance over a certain amount of powder, at this fixed distance. The guns are relatively heavy, have long barrels, and would not be your first choice to take deer hunting. They use shaders over the front and rear sights, for instance. Many are underhammer guns. Will they kill deer? OF COURSE! In a New YORK Heartbeat! Are you going to want to carry that gun into the woods half a mile or more and then throw it to your shoulder to take a shot at a running deer? I don't think so.

Check with TOTW. They sell small lots of balls in various sizes JUST for the purpose you need. To try a few out and see how they shoot with your rifle, patching and powder charges. When you find the right diameter ball for your gun, THEN order them in quantity, or buy a mold to cast your own.

 

[nchawkeye]

Mudd...You need to establish what shoots best in your rifle before ordering a mold...I don't know what brand barrel you have, but some have different diameters and the rifling depth might even be different....

I have switched to the WalMart pillow ticking, didn't ever mike it, but I'd guess it's .018...
I have some left over Ox-Yoke precut patches in my bp kit...I have .010, .015, .018 and .020....These are in .54 caliber, but they would work to check the "fit"...I also have some Speer .440 balls left from when I shot a .45....

I'm just down the road from you in Asheboro...
Might be best for me to drop 15-20 balls and patches in the mail and ship over to you....From what you describe, I'm thinking a .440 ball and a .015 patch might be too tight for a hunting load in that barrel...Also, I haven't had much luck with .010 patches, they burn through in my barrels....

I've heard the best way is to drive an over sized ball through the barrel and have it miked, I just use trial and error....Figure if I buy the wrong size balls, I'll mold them into the right size...

Let me know if you want me to drop some of my excess in the mail....Good Luck

 

[silverfox]

Turtle: Believe what Paul said it's good advise.
As for ball sizes I have a rifle that says .45 on the barrel but it shoots .433 to .437 balls and won't load .440s without a big hammer. I also would not load a bare ball even if it seals the bore. You will then get lead in the bore and probably lose accuracy also. Always use a patch and if only target shooting and the combination is a little tight just make the lube a little wetter and it should go in easier.
No reason to buy a mold until you find the right ball size for your rifle.
Keep working with different ball and patch combinations until you get the right one and have fun doing it.
Fox :thumbsup:

 

[mudd turtle]

That would be fine if you could do that Certianly would be faster than waiting for Track of the Wolf to send me some. Where can different sizes of patching material be found. Does a ball have to be patched.How is the patching material measured.mud turtle.

 

[mudd turtle]

SilverFox: Thanks for your reply. It will be some time before I get the flint lock rifle back togeather but plan to do as you both have suggested. May sound like a dumb question but can.433 ball drop a deer.Mudd Turtle