PRB in a Fast Twist at Short Range

[Coueswhitetail]

I've been doing some reading in regards to shooting PRB in my 1:28" side lock. It seems like tinkering with light loads MIGHT produce good accuracy, but I couldn't find an answer to accuracy at close range. I guess my point is, at a maximum of 25 yards, is it safe to say the the PRB will shoot consistently in a 1:28"? I'm okay to play around with charges to test for longer range accuracy, but is it safe to say I'll hit what I aim at within 25 yards with a ball in a fast twist? It's been fun letting other people shoot my rifle, but I'm starting to realize that it gets spendy and difficult to replace conicals and would love to be able to let them plink with the cheaper round balls. Let me know. Thanks!

 

[Nameless Hunter]

Caliber?
Offhand, I would say yes, depends on groove depth, ball diameter, patch thickness, and powder charge.

 

[TreeMan]

I’ve always wondered about the Jager rifles with the fast twist barrels that are touted as match grade round ball shooters.

 

[biliff]

Pistol shooters do it all the time with faster twists than that. 25 yard bullseye target, flintlock LePage with a 1/18" twist. Off the bench it will do even better.

 

[Okie Hog]

During the Revolutionary war the British fired round balls from fast twist rifles with success.

i tried patched round balls in a rifle with 1/28" twist using 70 grains of powder, rifle did not shoot well.

This shooter fired patched round balls from a fast twist Green Mountain barrel with great results:

round balls in a 1:28 fast twist lrh green mountain barrel | Graybeard Outdoors (go2gbo.com)

 

[Tom Compton]

Nameless is correct. Depends on caliber, thickness of ball/patch, depth of rifling and powder charge.

IMO, Way to much thinkin’ about twist rate and ignoring rifling depth.

 

[deermanok]

Worth a shot or two, so to speak to find out. Lol

 

[SDSmlf]

Way to much thinkin’ about twist rate and ignoring rifling depth.

Have found deeper rifling depth to be important, but most important is you have to shoot your gun and see what happens. Answer can not be figured out vicariously on a forum.

 

[mooman76]

Yes, what the others said. I've shot PRB in my 54 with a 1-20 twist and yes, I hit what I aimed at, at 25y. No one can tell you what your gun will do. It's more of a educated guess, but yes it should, try it and see.

 

[The Crisco Kid]

I've shot round balls out of several modern rifles with twist rates as fast as 10" with excellent accuracy. They work best at low velocity. I'm no expert by any means but at target shooting velocities I do better with faster twists and less powder. 32 and 45 calibers in 48 twist were a lot more accurate than the same in 66 twist.

 

[LawrenceA]

Here is some theory. The longer the bullet the faster the required rpm to achieve stabilization.
Once a bullet is spinning faster than it NEEDS to then any inconsistency will be magnified. The same as an unbalance car tyre.
Just because a bullet is travelling faster than required does not mean it will be inaccurate. It just means any flaw that effects its accuracy will be magnified.
Give your s a go. You may be surprised!
You should get hunting accuracy no worries. Target accuracy will be harder.

 

[SDSmlf]

Had the opportunity to shoot some original shorter barreled (30” +/-) faster twist (approximately one twist per barrel length) guns while in Germany. They were using heavier charges of a powder finer than what the experts recommend under a patched roundball in their relativity deep rifled bores and accuracy was beyond impressive.

You need to shoot your gun to understand what it is capable of.

 

[Notchy Bob]

What kind of rifle is it? Is it the Austin & Halleck you were telling us about a while back? What caliber? I understand that most of the fast twist muzzleloader barrels have shallower rifling than those intended for patched round balls. So, a relatively thinner patch may be the way to go. This may require a tighter ball and a lower powder charge to prevent stripping (i.e. that ball simply skates over the lands without engaging the rifling).

However, even if you are not getting optimal accuracy, the rifle will not be unsafe to shoot with a patched round ball. You and your friends should be able to have some fun with it. Get some balls slightly under bore size and some .010" patching and try it out.

Good luck!

Notchy Bob

 

[necchi]

I guess my point is, at a maximum of 25 yards, is it safe to say the the PRB will shoot consistently in a 1:28"?

Uhm,, "consistently" is a good word to use with your question,, so Yes, plinking or fun shooting at soda cans @25 should be relativley consistent,, but don't expect a 50 point10X target accuracy from it,, you might be able to hit a 9" paper plate at 50 a few times,, it's just the nature of the game,

 

[Woody Morgan]

If I can't hit a paper plate at 50 yards with a rifle, I'll quit.

wm

 

[Siringo]

I had a Pedersoli Missouri River 50 caliber. That had a 1/24 inch twist barrel. It would accurately (less than 1 1/2”) shoot round balls at 50 yards. Load was 50 grains of
old Eyensford 3Fg, 0.490 ball and 0.020 patch. Nothing else would group, just pattern.

 

[megasupermagnum]

The way I look at it, is that even the worst loads I've tried in rifles have at least been comparable to decent smooth bore accuracy. Nobody has any issues with smooth bores at 25 yards.

 

[necchi]

If I can't hit a paper plate at 50 yards with a rifle, I'll quit

Ok, your right,, but your not going to hit a pop can at 50yrds with the simple combination as described in the original post, I'm sorry I used that analogy for my description,, even the group in the pistol target photo used above is larger then a pop can.
The OP simply asked if he could use a less expensive combination for fun shooting of his rifle with some reasonable reliability,,
All I did was answer with practical and observed experience.

 

[necchi]

Nobody has any issues with smooth bores at 25 yards

Sure,, but smooth bores don't spin a "ball" projectile at the improper rate for stability.

 

[Eterry]

IMHO round ball are much less sensitive to ROT and much more sensitive to Depth of rifling. Conicals are sensitive to ROT AND Depth of rifling....YMMV.