New to smoothbore and what I like for a RB loading charge

[Larry (Omaha)]

Finished making my sighted Kentucky style 48" barreled 20 guage flintlock this spring. Yesterday I finally got it out again for the third time. The first two times out proved the mechanical aspects are good. Round ball shooting the first two times were not so good. Yesterday I found what worked for me shooting at 25 and 50 yards. I didn't have a bench, but had a nice tripod and chair. Not what I prefer, but got my homework done.
Anyway, after trying different combinations of patch or wads I settled on what was easy and worked for my gun. Tow was not tried, I do not care for that approach.
What I finally settled on was this: 25yrds, 60gr 2F, bare .600 RB, pre lubed 1/8" cushion wad, in that order. 50 yrds all the same, except the charge was 70 gr.
Any of you smoothie shooters out there use a similar load?
Larry
PS The little lady of the house made the case!

 

[Johnny Too-Tall]

My NWT likes 75 grains 2f a .600 round ball with .015 lubed patch. It does ok with bare ball and a nitro card on top but the grouping is better with prb.

 

[Dave Marsh]

Very nice gun and case. If I am reading it right, you put the 1/8 cushion wad on top of the roundball. I'm getting ready to try roundballs in my 20 gauge. Thanks.

 

[Daryl Crawford]

I'm using 70gr of 2f,.595 roundball with a pretty loose patch (.010‐.012). On a bench I'm keeping 3 shots in vitals, but my group is probably 4-5 inches at 50 yards.
I'm still messing around with it.

 

[Cruzatte]

I use a 2¼ dr. (drams) 2 fg, a leather wad, .610 ball, and a moistened tow wad. The top wad can be anything, from moist paper napkins to used cleaning patches. Perhaps a bit unconventional.

 

[rchas]

Pretty gun!

My 20 gauge fusil absolutely detests patched balls; regardless of patch thickness, size of the ball, or powder charge they will not group.

The most accurate load is a .610 ball directly on top of 70 grains of 2f. This load will give me a 2-3 inch group at 50 yards but it is over a foot low.

The most useful load is 80 grains 2f, a 1/8 nitro card, .610 ball and a thin overshot card to keep the ball in place. This gives me a 3-4 inch group at 50 yards directly at point of aim.

 

[Sooty Scot]

My .62 Fusil de Chasse seems to work best w/ a wadded .60 RB. I'm still working up the best charge bthe ut am currently using 80 gr 2F & working at lowering it. Until I can cast some, those balls seem a bit hard to find and make long sessions a bit expensive.

Surprisingly, it kept 8 rounds of wadded .575s with about 80 gr 2F, which I shot, before i got the .60's, clustered around the center of a 2x3 target board. Lethally accurate for deer or man, at that range.

No accuracy problem with it; only my limitations.

 

[WALT53]

My .62 Fusil de Chasse seems to work best w/ a wadded .60 RB. I'm still working up the best charge bthe ut am currently using 80 gr 2F & working at lowering it. Until I can cast some, those balls seem a bit hard to find and make long sessions a bit expensive.

Surprisingly, it kept 8 rounds of wadded .575s with about 80 gr 2F, which I shot, before i got the .60's, clustered around the center of a 2x3 target board. Lethally accurate for deer or man, at that range.

No accuracy problem with it; only my limitations.

So far with my smoothbores I couldn’t hit a bull in the behind with a scoop shovel .But on the other hand I got patterning shot pretty far so I’ll take it.

 

[Sidney Smith]

Do you get a lot of lead deposits in the bore using a bare ball? I want to try bare balls out of my smoothbore one day but not if it's going to foul the bore full of lead. I've cleaned modern shotgun bores that we fire punkin balls through and what a PIA to clean the lead out. I'd prefer to avoid that. I may just use a patched ball instead.

 

[hanshi]

You have a beautiful smoothrifle! My smoothbore is a 20 ga and shoots well with about any charge from 60 grains of 3F up to 75 grains. It has a rear sight which is a big help for my shooting. The most accurate load I use is 60-75 grains of 3Fwith a .600" ball and lubed .010"-.012" patch. I shoot 50 yard 3-shot groups and the average is well under 3".

I shoot bare ball loads rarely but seem to do well with this. over powder card wad to start. Then a lubed felt/fiber wad & ball with over ball card wad seated as one unit. Average with BB is around 5" (+ or -) at 50 yds.
Left bare ball 2-3/4", right is prb 1-3/4".

 

[wiscoaster]

For .58 cal smoohbore I use 70 gr 2F load with a .570 paper-patched and lubed round ball.

I find with that load that it's a great 50 yd shooter, but not so much at 100 yd. At 100 yd I could kill or severely wound an enemy by aiming at his belt buckle, but I sure couldn't hit a rabbit or a squirrel for my supper.

 

[Leatherbark]

Actually, if the leading was consistent and not clumpy it might make the bare balls more accurate. If I were going to shoot bare balls out of a smoothbore and was worried about leading, I would do like the NSSA boys do. Rasp the balls between two rough files and coat them with liquid alox.

Bob

 

[Collie]

Shooting bare ball in the NSSA I've never had any problems with leading. A bare 678 RB with 60 grains of 3fg gives me pretty good accuracy in my 69 cal.

 

[RiverRat]

Do you get a lot of lead deposits in the bore using a bare ball? I want to try bare balls out of my smoothbore one day but not if it's going to foul the bore full of lead. I've cleaned modern shotgun bores that we fire punkin balls through and what a PIA to clean the lead out. I'd prefer to avoid that. I may just use a patched ball instead.

I normally shoot patched round balls from my 28guage/54cal smooth rifle. Accuracy was good. My clean up was easy. My last outing, I tried bare balls and the accuracy wasn’t anything to write home about. My cleanup was really bad. The bore was scored with lead. I had to use steel wool on a jag attached to a drill to get the lead out. I’m going to stick to patched round balls.

 

[tenngun]

I like 65 grains and a .600, I shoot tow or paper wads or PRB
That seems a sweet spot, the gun came with a recommendation of 80 grains. That shot ok I went to ninety and got bigger groups and 70 for same size.
After reading some folks on the forum who tried 65 I tried that and my groups shrunk a little.
Dualist 54 got some real good groups with a large charge on a bare ball. 110 grains. Theory is hot gas acts like a patch and keeps the ball centered.
I tried it and my groups were the same as 65-70
11 Bang Bang channel got some find shooting with big big charges, 180 grains in a .75
I like my shoulder where it’s at so I’m not going to try that

 

[Smokey Plainsman]

Love those barrel keys!

 

[Larry (Omaha)]

Love those barrel keys!

Smokey Plainsman,
Thank you. I make my own, along with the escutcheons. Really, they are not hard to make. A chunk of flat steel cut to width and lenght, a vice, a ball peen hammer and file.
Larry