Right Round Ball

[BigSkyRambler]

I have an antique rifle with a bore that is .426/.438. Is it a .44 or .45? What would be a good ball patch combo?

 

[Grenadier1758]

I would think that @BigSkyRambler's rifle is a 42. I would be looking for a 0.420 or 0.415 ball and 0.020" patch.

 

[BigSkyRambler]

I cannot seem to get my brain to function on this problem. Been working with my unmentionable bullets too much.

 

[Griz44Mag]

I cannot seem to get my brain to function on this problem. Been working with my unmentionable bullets too much.

LOL - yup - we have a very different set of rules for the muzzleloaders!
Took me a while to get used to that too!

 

[Grimord]

I would slug the bore to verify the caliber. Place a 4-6" piece of 3/8" brass rod in the barrel, then take a ball that is larger than bore diameter and pound it into the barrel with a dowel and wooden mallet. Shake the barrel up & down vertically to get the brass rod to act as a slide hammer and knock the ball out. Now you can measure the land and groove diameters to determine actual bore size and get the appropriate sized ball to shoot. Generally .010 smaller than actual bore size so you have room for a patch.

 

[Notchy Bob]

I have an antique rifle with a bore that is .426/.438. Is it a .44 or .45? What would be a good ball patch combo?

Just so I'm sure I understand, is .426" the land-to-land measurement, and .438" groove-to-groove? So, grooves are .006" deep? That's a bit shallow for an old round-ball rifle, but sometimes you find one that must have had a rough bore, and a previous owner tried to clean it up with emery cloth on a rod. This would polish to lands and remove more or less metal, increasing the land-to-land bore diameter, but the net effect would leave rough, shallow grooves.

If that is the case, it would probably do the old rifle good to get it properly "freshed out." There may be others who do this work, but Robert Hoyt is the only one I know of.

Best regards,

Notchy Bob