Patch/Ball Combo for Colerain Bbl's

[Java Man]

I have two rifles with Colerain barrels that I have not shot all that much. What ball diameter do you shoot in .40 and .50 cal? From my heavy target shooting days and Green Mtn barrels, all I have tried is .400 and .500 RB's.

Thak you,

Java Man

 

[Rat]

Don't know if this will help, but my .62" Colerain barrel is real tight. Talking to others with the .62" and trying .610"s and .600's it definately wants the .600". My patch material is .018". That .600" sounds a long way from .620" doesn't it?

Be aware that I am more of a hunter than a target shooter, so I definately don't want a ball that has to be pounded down the barrel. I like to target shoot, but really all my target shooting is preparation for the hunt, knowing the rifle, etc. Just one whack of the short starter is just right for me. I probably would not want a ball so loose as to just thumb-start though. My "one whack" rule seems, to me, like a good compromise between good accuracy and reasonably easy reloading in the field.

Hope that helps but I don't know if the .40 and .50" barrels are as tight as the .62", or if you are looking for hunting accuracy or target accuracy.

RAT

 

[Java Man]

Thaks Rat,

Mostly target accuracy, but I will probably hunt with both guns.

On the .40, with a .400 ball and ~.017" patch, its starts way too hard, but then slides right down a clean bbl.

On the .50 (has a coned muzzle), with a .500 ball and same patch, it starts real hard at the end of the cone, and has to just about pounded all the way down.

Going to try some .490's in the .50 cal. And maybe get a coning tool for the .40 (Gonna try .395's 0r .390's first though). Who sells the coning tools?

I have a .58 cal Montana bbl, that slugged at .573. I shoot thick patches and a .570 ball, which works pretty good. Barrel needs to be kept fairly clean though. That combo has laid low quite a few deer.

Java Man

 

[Rat]

Yes generally I lean towards a smaller ball, and figure you can always find a thick patch if you need a tighter fit.

In fact the way I have Bloody Bess set up for hunting is to load the first ball into the clean barrel with a thicker patch, but then the two reloads or balls in my loading block are wrapped in a thinner patch. But she just shoots best with a tight ball/patch combo for some reason.

Will probably do the same with the .62", but I have a lot of shooting to do with that to find what she likes still.

Well on both your .40 and .50 it sounds like you might want to at least try some smaller balls, and play around with different patch thickness. ??

Rat

 

[Java Man]

Found a highly likely reason the Colerain barrels might like smaller dia balls than Green Mountain bbls. On the Colerain bbl's, the lands are about twice as wide as the grooves. On the one .54cal GM bbl I have and a .58 cal Monatana, they are about equal, and fairly narrow. So there is a lot more ball being compressed with the Colerain bbl's. The GM and Montana both start and load easily with .005" under ball and .017" patch.

I shot the .40 on Friday, and it sure did clean up easy. Gonna order some .390's and try those.

Gregg

 

[Herb]

Coning tool, the only one I know is by Joe Wood, (806) 352-3032. E-mail: [email protected]. I shoot .390 balls in my Colerain and other .40's, even .380's, on account of that is the only double ball mold Lee makes for .40 cal. They are easy to load in the field. I use .015 pillow ticking and lube made of half Murphy Oil Soap and half isopropyl alcohol and can shoot as much as I want (say, 40 to 50 shots) with no wiping or cleaning between shots. Only ever shot .490's in my .50 calibers.

 

[doverdog]

I have a French fusil that has a .58 rifled Colerain barrel. I tried some .570 balls when I first got it and they would not even start down the bore, using .015" patches. I bought a Lee mold that ended up throwing .565" balls and they worked OK with the .015 patches. Trouble was, when I upped the charge to 100 grains for hunting, the patches didn't hold up. I bought a used Lyman mold that threw .557" balls and used them with .024 patches. They work great and have accounted for lots of match wins and 5 deer so far, with all 5 of the deer being complete pass throughs. From just this experience with a single barrel, I would hazzard to guess Colerain barrels are tighter than Dick's hatband. Try the smaller ball, thicker patch route if all else fails.

 

[Java Man]

I started a .400 ball with a .010 patch. And it started in the barrel nicely. 400's are all I have at the moment. They worked great in the Green mountain bbl I used to have. Good enough for a 50-4x off the sticks at 50yds one time.

Got some .490's for the .50 cal. With the .018" patch, they start nicely also.

Have not shot either gun with the new combo's yet. Hopefully next week when I get some time off.

Thanks,

Java Man