Oh If Only I Had A .39 Caliber

[nkbj]

Ideal #386179
This is such a neat design it's shame to not have a rifle for it. I'll end up trying to paper patch it for the .40 GPR just for grins but it comes out of the mold a bit small at .388".

 

[cynthialee]

just have a barrel bored or sleaved to .39

 

[Zonie]

You shouldn't have too much of a problem finding some paper that is .0025-.0030 thick.
The catch is, the paper must be the kind that shrinks when it is applied damp and then drys.

When you paper patch a bullet, after rolling the bullet on the paper to fully wrap it around it, it will have two layers of paper on it.

A .388 diameter bullet + 2 layers of .0025 thick paper on one side and 2 layers of .0025 paper on the other side will become a paper patched bullet that is .388+.005+.005=.398 diameter. The perfect size for a .400 caliber bore muzzleloader. :grin:

Using .0030 thick paper will produce a paper patched bullet that is .400 diameter with that bullet.
That can make loading just a bit challenging but doable.

 

[nkbj]

Yep, gonna have to try even though my faster twist forty has rifling made for mechanically fitted bullets. :\

 

[Zonie]

If you or your wife ever bought a pattern for making dresses or shirts, although it's thinner than .002, that paper is excellent for wrapping bullets.

Just use a fine spray squirt bottle for the water, cut the paper to size and give the paper a spritz.

Then roll the paper onto the slug, twist the tail and set it aside. In 10 minutes it will be tighter than a gnats posterior stretched over a rain-barrel.

 

[nkbj]

After seeing you were using it I asked her for some old pattern paper a while back but I haven't tried it out yet. There's some designs to try out in the fast twist forty that it might work good for because it will minimize how much the castings need to be sized down before they are patched back up. The thicker paper would require a smaller starting diameter, making it more difficult not screw up the bullets.
If I get a medium twist .36 barrel I know it with have to get tried out for sure!

 

[Alden]

Well, I will admit, I have bought a rifle to go with a bayonet. But I was sure I never got one to go with a bullet mould. I mean, that would be crazy! Oh, I had to think about it for a minute, sure, but... Uh oh! Sure enough:


First


Second



Think I got another swage subsequently too.


Anyway, yes, that proper-twist rifle to go with the mould is in your future.

Is there something wrong with us?

 

[MSW]

there is nothing wrong with anyone involved in shooting sports of any kind.

anyone who says otherwise is obviously 'off their meds' in a pretty big way..

heck, they're your hard earned, overtaxed, God-entrusted dollars, to spend as you see fit, so why squander that money on stupid junk like groceries or mortgage payments?

some people just don't 'get it!!'

:blah: :surrender: :rotf:

make good smoke!

p.s. nice looking rifle, and really pretty tools!

 

[nkbj]

Well, I will admit, I have bought a rifle to go with a bayonet. But I was sure I never got one to go with a bullet mould. I mean, that would be crazy! Oh, I had to think about it for a minute, sure, but... Uh oh! Sure enough:


First


Second



Think I got another swage subsequently too.


Anyway, yes, that proper-twist rifle to go with the mould is in your future.

Is there something wrong with us?

That's lovely. There's something very right with us!

 

[nkbj]

This year in the totally separate venue of fire lapping the corroded bore of a Dutch carbine I've honed my paper patching skills in .26 caliber. It's gotten me to thinking those dangerous thoughts about just how small of a caliber could the techniques be useful in a muzzleloading rifle.
Seems to me that the expansion of a bullet into the rifling would progressively become a greater percentage of it's diameter as the bore size is decreased, perhaps introducing greater eccentricities from shot to shot. Don't know this, just speculating.
Moving into small bore territory is as much fun as the big 'uns.

 

[Joel/Calgary]

If you or your wife ever bought a pattern for making dresses or shirts, although it's thinner than .002, that paper is excellent for wrapping bullets.

One can often find clothing patterns that have not been cut out in thrift stores for cheap. Even the cut-out ones will make a LOT of patches.

Regards,
Joel

 

[theoldredneck]

Be careful looking at the small bore stuff. I haven't been playing with this stuff that long but figured out the shorter handgun barrels are easier and more forgiving to stuff things down. I have started questioning myself when I was rolling a .17 caliber swaged lead bullet in paper and measuring it.

 

[nkbj]

Seventeen! :haha: Nope, I aint been bit by the bug at all!