Pedersoli Bess carbine round ball

[chickenmcnasty]

Hey all,

I was reading an article that a member of this forum kindly sent over to me and it has rekindled my interest in working up a roundball load for my Bess.
I am unsure which size roundball would be the best as I have no clue the actual bore size. Any ideas? Any further thoughts on roundball loads would be great too. Thank you very much!

 

[BillinOregon]

Chicken, in my old cut-down Miroku Bess, I had fine luck and surprising accuracy using a ball from a Lyman .710 mold in home-made AWI-era "cartridges" like these, made with grocery bag paper and the ball end dipped in melted beeswax:



Of course, you tear off the tail, pour in the powder (and save a bit for prime), then ram the ball, still wrapped in the paper, home on the powder. The paper and wax help with fouling and take up windage, improving accuracy.

The fool never lets well enough alone, and as I am a first-class, front-row example of a fool, I let that wonderfully reliable Miroku go. Dang.

 

[BrownBear]

...which size roundball ....

There is such a range of bore sizes floating around, the best idea is to mike your bore and go from there. Mine is bigger, and I use a .730 ball, but as you see there are folks using .710. If I recall correctly, there are even some smaller than that.

Mike it and pass on the info here. You'll get answers quick.

 

[Rifleman1776]

For whatever reason, the Ped BB bores are not consistent. Mine is really an 11 ga., larger than the advertised 12 ga.
I use a .731 ball. It loads like a rifle and works fine. But, keep in mind, smoothies crud up rapidly. You should really go with a smaller ball. You should mic. the bore for an exact size then try smaller. To do again, I would go for about a .710. It is not a rifle, don't expect it to shoot like a rifle. But, it will be a good 'minute of deer' out to about 50 yards.

 

[Many Klatch]

I shoot a Pedersoli Carbine. Mine likes a .715 round ball with a .010 spit patch over 90 grains of 2F. I have shot it with 110 grains of 2F and 75 grains of 2F but it likes 90 better.

With the 90 grain load, on a good day when I can see the target, I can keep them in one big hole at 25 yards and I can ring a 36" gong at 100 yards 3 out of 5 times.

Many Klatch

 

[BillinOregon]

Gad. Correction -- my mold was indeed .715. Sucks to grow old.

 

[pargent]

+1 for all the above, go with the .715 and patch to suite . :thumbsup:

 

[Grizzled Roberts]

.715, pillow ticking 70 grains of 3F :thumbsup:

 

[nwtradegun]

mine mics out to 730 I use a 715 rb and 20 thou path 85 grains 3f. good for hog and deer to 60 yard :thumbsup: s. look under my posts for a front sight fix. that was done to mine.

 

[Rifleman1776]

Sucks to grow old.

What would you know about that? :wink:

 

[Loyalist Dave]

I like a .690 ball in a paper cartridge. It shoots very well for a musket. My buddy loves a .730 ball on top of a cumpled paper wad with an over-ball-wad. We don't use more than 80 grains of 2Fg when shooting or hunting with them.

LD

 

[flintlock75]

My Bess carbine has a .729 bore, I have been using a patched .705 ball for many years with 90gr of 3F. I am thinking of upping to a .710 ball. I have used .715 balls with no patch and just a wad over powder and over ball. Without the patched ball the fouling builds up faster.

 

[BillinOregon]

Sucks to grow old.

What would you know about that? :wink:

Well, I cede the point only in relative terms. If my mind isn't 75, my back sure feels like it most days ...

 

[Loyalist Dave]

I am ff but I'll add.. .when you get out of bed in the morning and discover that you are injured, but you went to bed healthy... and the wife and kids haven't said anything about you sleep walking...

LD

 

[chickenmcnasty]

I took Bess out today and tried a roundball load. I had some .69 diameter ball that were laying around. I used a 60 grain charge and doubled over some leftover mattress ticking.
It hit right in the 10-ring but had the unfortunate side effect of throwing smoldering bits of ticking 10 yards in front of the bench. I love this gun!
I also went ahead and installed a homemade rear sight made from size 6 and 8 shot.

 

[Many Klatch]

What lubricant did you use on the patching? I usually use a spit patch and don't have any problem with throwing burning patches.

Many Klatch

 

[chickenmcnasty]

I used moose milk patches but they had dried out pretty bad.