QUESTION ABOUT ROUND BALLS + PATCHES

[Jim K]

Oh and 20 gns. Of 2f. Lol yes 2f.

 

[APG]

In my .32 I settled on .315 ball and .010 patch and I swab after every shot.

I'll be trying that combination tomorrow. Got some .315 balls in the mail the other day.

 

[APG]

So I tried the .315 round balls and a .010 patch yesterday and I had a heck of a time getting them started. Ended up destroying the ball in the process. After making a mess of it for awhile I went back to the .310 with .010 patch. Shoots ok. Then I remembered reading somewhere in this forum about someone having the same problem and it was from the patch getting bunched up Making it hard to load. Tried a few and I think it should be fine. But that's for another day. The rifle did perform pretty good, the flaw was in the operator. As usual.

 

[Dale Allen Raby]

Mostly I use .310 round balls with a patch that is .007 - .008 thickness with olive oil and maybe 15 grains of 3f black powder. I don't like having to use a hammer to load and I get good enough accuracy to bullseye squirrels and soda cans at reasonable ranges (thirty yards or so). If I used a thicker patch, I might get better accuracy, but then I'd need that hammer.

 

[APG]

Mostly I use .310 round balls with a patch that is .007 - .008 thickness with olive oil and maybe 15 grains of 3f black powder. I don't like having to use a hammer to load and I get good enough accuracy to bullseye squirrels and soda cans at reasonable ranges (thirty yards or so). If I used a thicker patch, I might get better accuracy, but then I'd need that hammer.

Yea, I'm not into pounding a ball down a barrel. I'll gladly sacrifice some accuracy to keep from doing that.

 

[ETipp]

Mostly I use .310 round balls with a patch that is .007 - .008 thickness with olive oil and maybe 15 grains of 3f black powder. I don't like having to use a hammer to load and I get good enough accuracy to bullseye squirrels and soda cans at reasonable ranges (thirty yards or so). If I used a thicker patch, I might get better accuracy, but then I'd need that hammer.

This ^^^^^^

I shot my .32 Crockett Squirrel Rifle 10 shots last week while squirrel hunting. I had forgot to bring anything to wipe the the barrel with between shots. The 10 shot still went down the barrel easily, minus the crud ring in the bottom but I was still able to get the ball seated.

Indeed, all rifles are not created equal. This one I use a .310 ball and a .015 cotton patch lubed with old stiff Bore Butter and 20 grains of 3F BP. I may or many not be able to obtain better accuracy with a tighter fitting patch/ball combo, but if I have to use a hammer to seat the ball, or wipe between every 2-3 shots while I'm out hunting, then I don't want it.

25 yard target, 3 shot group.

 

[ETipp]

This ^^^^^^

I shot my .32 Crockett Squirrel Rifle 10 shots last week while squirrel hunting. I had forgot to bring anything to wipe the the barrel with between shots. The 10 shot still went down the barrel easily, minus the crud ring in the bottom but I was still able to get the ball seated.

Indeed, all rifles are not created equal. This one I use a .310 ball and a .015 cotton patch lubed with old stiff Bore Butter and 20 grains of 3F BP. I may or many not be able to obtain better accuracy with a tighter fitting patch/ball combo, but if I have to use a hammer to seat the ball, or wipe between every 2-3 shots while I'm out hunting, then I don't want it.

25 yard target, 3 shot group. View attachment 198416

I tried to edit my post above but for whatever reason it will not allow me to do so.

What I would like to add is, I am not against experimenting with different patch thickness, lubes, or powder charges. In fact, as easily as the above combo loads in my ML I am considering trying a .018 patch and see what happens. However, as one poster stated (and is a legitimate point) as small as the bore of a .32 is, as well as the small diameter ramrods, I am concerned about having to pound on it to seat a ball, especially if it will fit so tight that multiple loadings while hunting is not doable without running a cleaning patch down the barrel every other shot or so.

Also, I extended the distance of my target to 35 yards and shot 4 more times with the near same results.

 

[Dale Allen Raby]

This ^^^^^^

I shot my .32 Crockett Squirrel Rifle 10 shots last week while squirrel hunting. I had forgot to bring anything to wipe the the barrel with between shots. The 10 shot still went down the barrel easily, minus the crud ring in the bottom but I was still able to get the ball seated.

Indeed, all rifles are not created equal. This one I use a .310 ball and a .015 cotton patch lubed with old stiff Bore Butter and 20 grains of 3F BP. I may or many not be able to obtain better accuracy with a tighter fitting patch/ball combo, but if I have to use a hammer to seat the ball, or wipe between every 2-3 shots while I'm out hunting, then I don't want it.

25 yard target, 3 shot group.

That is a group that will strike fear into the hearts of squirrels everywhere. I don't often get groups that good, but seem to rise to the occasion when the target is sitting on the forest floor twenty five or thirty yards away eating an acorn.

 

[Mad L]

That's what I was using a .310 ball and .010 pat patch. Seemed to work OK, shot consistently to the right. Heavy crosswind. I used 15 then 20 then 25 grains of 3fg. As far as shooting at 25 yards that a no go at the range, closest is 50 yards. Very limited in places to shoot around these parts. California is not a firearms friendly state. Surprised that they don't make me install some kind of catalytic converter for all the smoke it puts out.

"No go for 25 yards"

Not sure where in So Cal you are located but Angeles range had 25 years steels (25, 50, 75 if memory serves) and a Paper area on the end. This was Before the fire so things might have changed....

 

[Uncle Miltie]

I've watched his videos and there pretty good. Hasn't put any out for awhile.
This is the only patch that I could find being windy that day. Looks alright. The frayed edges are from using dull scissors to trim down the patch from a larger patch. I'll get this thing dialed in eventually. Sure is a hoot shooting it. Got to get use to the fiddly little balls too.

I went ahead and got a stainless steel loading rod just for the fear of snapping a wood rod.

You won't snap the rod if you load properly. Your .010 fired patch looks good. A .310 round ball and that patch will suit your rifle I believe. 20 gr fffg out to 50 yards and 40 gr at 100 yards should work well for you. The problem with stainless rods and small calibers is the rods sometimes flex a bit when loading and can touch the surface of the lands. A good hickory rod, cleaned when you are finished shooting and oiled with gun oil after each use will last a long time and not harm your barrel.

 

[APG]

"No go for 25 yards"

Not sure where in So Cal you are located but Angeles range had 25 years steels (25, 50, 75 if memory serves) and a Paper area on the end. This was Before the fire so things might have changed....

It takes me 15 minutes to drive to the Pala Indian reservation shooting range. I really like it and shoot there once a week. I do wish they hade closer targets for the rifle than 50 yards but that just makes me try harder.

 

[APG]

You won't snap the rod if you load properly. Your .010 fired patch looks good. A .310 round ball and that patch will suit your rifle I believe. 20 gr fffg out to 50 yards and 40 gr at 100 yards should work well for you. The problem with stainless rods and small calibers is the rods sometimes flex a bit when loading and can touch the surface of the lands. A good hickory rod, cleaned when you are finished shooting and oiled with gun oil after each use will last a long time and not harm your barrel.

Your right about the stainless steel rods. So I now wait for a brass one in the mail. Just don't really like the wood ones.