Shooting my Parker Hale .451 Volunteer

[Effigy]

A quick question - I've previously shot RPB through my Volunteer, but now I've cast my own bullets. Do I need a wad between powder and bullet?

Sorry - all this is new to me :redface:

 

[ResearchPress]

It is common to use some form of wad with these rifles. I just used a plain card one when I had a Volunteer, some lube the card wads and others will use felt wads.

Cleaning between shots can be done by loading powder, seating a tight fitting wad, then wiping the bore down to the wad before seating the bullet. The wad will seal the powder from moisture from whatever cleaning fluid you use.

If you wipe the bore right to the breech before loading powder it would be worthwhile capping off on the firing point before adding powder to be sure the flash hole is clear.

David

 

[paulvallandigham]

Many of these bullet guns are designed to shoot a PAPER PATCHED bullet. The diameter of the bullet compared to your bore diameter will tell you what you need. If the mold gives you a set of grease grooves, its generally not intended to be PPed. A PPed bullet will be undersized, to allow for a couple of layers of thin paper wrapped tightly around the bullet, behind the Ogive.

 

[TFoley]

Many of these bullet guns are designed to shoot a PAPER PATCHED bullet. The diameter of the bullet compared to your bore diameter will tell you what you need. If the mold gives you a set of grease grooves, its generally not intended to be PPed. A PPed bullet will be undersized, to allow for a couple of layers of thin paper wrapped tightly around the bullet, behind the Ogive.

My Parker-Hale three-bander came with the Lyman multi-groove bullet mould and push-through sizer die-set.

I have never tried to shoot patched bullets through it, as IMO they would simply not fit the bore. The sized bullets, on the other hand, are a perfect fit.

I use card wads made from the one-side shiny cardboard that comes with every shirt. Seems to work just fine for me. So do beer mats soaked in Trex- a cooking fat over here in UK, and NOT kosher, as my mom [RIP] used to feel she had to remind me.

tac

 

[TFoley]

Many of these bullet guns are designed to shoot a PAPER PATCHED bullet. The diameter of the bullet compared to your bore diameter will tell you what you need. If the mold gives you a set of grease grooves, its generally not intended to be PPed. A PPed bullet will be undersized, to allow for a couple of layers of thin paper wrapped tightly around the bullet, behind the Ogive.

My Parker-Hale three-bander came with the Lyman multi-groove bullet mould and push-through sizer die-set.

I have never tried to shoot patched bullets through it. The sized bullets, on the other hand, are a perfect fit. I load my charge of 80gr of 'borrowed' BP using a loading tube, thereby avoiding the barrel sides.

I use card wads made from the one-side shiny cardboard that comes with every shirt. Seems to work just fine for me. So do beer mats soaked in Trex- a cooking fat over here in UK, and NOT kosher, as my mom [RIP] used to feel she had to remind me.

Since I'm the only one in my club who has one, I don't have the convenience of trying out a paper-patched bullet of any kind, except for my P-H Whitworth, and I'm not going to experiment with a different bullet mould at this stage in the game.

tac

 

[TFoley]

Many of these bullet guns are designed to shoot a PAPER PATCHED bullet. The diameter of the bullet compared to your bore diameter will tell you what you need. If the mold gives you a set of grease grooves, its generally not intended to be PPed. A PPed bullet will be undersized, to allow for a couple of layers of thin paper wrapped tightly around the bullet, behind the Ogive.

My Parker-Hale three-bander came with the Lyman multi-groove bullet mould and push-through sizer die-set.

I have never tried to shoot patched bullets through it. The sized bullets, on the other hand, are a perfect fit. I load my charge of 80gr of 'borrowed' BP using a loading tube, thereby avoiding the barrel sides.

I use card wads made from the one-side shiny cardboard that comes with every shirt. Seems to work just fine for me. So do beer mats soaked in Trex - a cooking fat over here in UK, and NOT kosher, as my mom [RIP] used to feel she had to remind me.

Since I'm the only one in my club who has one, I don't have the convenience of trying out a paper-patched bullet of any kind, except for my P-H Whitworth, and I'm not going to experiment with a different bullet mould at this stage in the game.

tac

 

[nkbj]

A quick question - I've previously shot RPB through my Volunteer, but now I've cast my own bullets. Do I need a wad between powder and bullet?

Sorry - all this is new to me :redface:

Yep, you got it Effigy. Cards makes a big difference under heavy gooshie soft hunks of lead. I kind of cook mine in melted beeswax and punch them out after draining and cooling, preferring to use a punch that's significantly larger than the groove depth.

 

[Idaho Ron]

tac, yes there are paper patched bullets that will work in your gun. All you have to do is wok at it a little bit. You get a .446 bullet wrap it and size it to .448, .449, or .450 what ever you need. Ron