Small ball

[tenngun]

Ramshackle Homestead is a you tube site I just subscribed to
He puts a good presentation of frontier life in colonial/federal times
If your an old dyed in the capote Gray Beard your not going to learn anything you haven’t heard before, but it’s still fun to watch and you just might pick up something…. In spite of your self
Well,
This fellow talks about shooting a loose load, in his vid on field cleaning he talks about shooting a loose load, for ease of loading. A .475 in a .50
Black powder Maniac also shoots a looser load. A .485 in his .50.
Mark at BPM is just fun to watch. His vids are him or a group doing the fun shooting type I like. Random targets at random ranges , but….. lots of misses
Well,he is shooting off hand, he is shooting for fun and not the smallest group. And you won’t get the smallest groups off hand, though ther’re a lot of boys that shoot better offhand then I do from a rest.
Any folk out there who shoot a smaller then average ball, thick patch?
How do you do?
When I’ve tried it I shoot comparable to my smoothies.
How do you all do?

 

[EC121]

I always shoot a smaller than standard ball. .480 in a 50. .526 in a .54. .562 in a .58. All with a thicker patch. No drop off in accuracy.

 

[smoothshooter]

Ramshackle Homestead is a you tube site I just subscribed to
He puts a good presentation of frontier life in colonial/federal times
If your an old dyed in the capote Gray Beard your not going to learn anything you haven’t heard before, but it’s still fun to watch and you just might pick up something…. In spite of your self
Well,
This fellow talks about shooting a loose load, in his vid on field cleaning he talks about shooting a loose load, for ease of loading. A .475 in a .50
Black powder Maniac also shoots a looser load. A .485 in his .50.
Mark at BPM is just fun to watch. His vids are him or a group doing the fun shooting type I like. Random targets at random ranges , but….. lots of misses
Well,he is shooting off hand, he is shooting for fun and not the smallest group. And you won’t get the smallest groups off hand, though ther’re a lot of boys that shoot better offhand then I do from a rest.
Any folk out there who shoot a smaller then average ball, thick patch?
How do you do?
When I’ve tried it I shoot comparable to my smoothies.
How do you all do?

I shoot a .433 ball in a .45

 

[user 49399]

When I make paper cartridges for my .62 caliber Fusil de Chasse, I use .495 round balls. I can hit a coke can at 25 yards with it. Not at 50 yards though.

In my .50 caliber Kentucky rifle, I load powder, wad (jute, or wasp nest), bare .495 round ball, topped off with another wad. Easy and quick to load and I can hit a coke can at 40 yards with this combo.

In my .45 caliber Kentucky pistol it’s powder, wad, .440 round ball and wad. Best load ever for this pistol.

Since I’m a plinker, ease of loading and short range accuracy are more important to me than small groups at long range.

 

[ohio ramrod]

Smaller balls and thicker patches will work well if the right combination is found. I once shot a trail walk with a man who had run out of his fifty caliber balls and finished using forty five caliber balls and double patching them. He shot better with the forty fives than his usual fifties!

 

[Grenadier1758]

On one of my trips of the range I decided to experiment with undersized balls and thin patches in my 1803 Harper's Ferry rifle. I shot comparison targets. I would take one shot with my 0.535 ball and 0.017" cotton drill cloth and the next shot was with a 0.520" ball and 0.010" patching. I wanted to compare a target load with an out of the pouch load for trail walks. I was surprised by the results.

The loading was very easy. The patches were shredded but a sort of reasonable group.

The shots with the 0.535" ball came up with a slightly smaller group and intact patches.

The point of impact was very close for both ball and patch combinations. I did try to load the 0.520 ball with the 0.017 cotton drill, but that load could not be easily thumb started.

The conclusion from this effort was that the 0.520 ball and thin patch combination would be good for steel targets where loading from the pouch was required.

 

[Timber Wolf]

I have used .535 and a .010 patch for plinking in my .56 SB Renegade at 25 meters on a 10” plate and found them very easy to load and accurate enough for what I was doing. I have not benched them for group so don’t know what kind of real accuracy the load is good for. I have since bought a .550 (throwing .548-.549 with my lead) mold so probably won’t shoot up my limited .535 balls but will save them for my .54.

 

[Omahkapi'si]

I usually shoot a .490 ball with a .015 patch. Good results, but the 6th one or so down the barrel starts to get tight (Triple 7 powder) and only 3 or so with Goex.

Last weekend tried .480 ball with .015 patch, and quite liked it. At least 8 before a swab with good results. Nice to load for sure.

Sometimes shoot .495 ball with .010 patch, that is about the same as the .490 with .015 patch for results & shots between swab.

Today shot .490 ball with .010 patch and although great to load over and over again, I was not happy with the accuracy. Maybe just me and not the load today.

Think if I could shoot .480's all the time that would be ok with me.

 

[Flintlock Whiskey]

I always shoot a smaller than standard ball. .480 in a 50. .526 in a .54. .562 in a .58. All with a thicker patch. No drop off in accuracy.

I got a Pedersoli Kentucky in .50 and could never get it to choke down a .490 as was recommended. I had to get a .480 from Callahan Bag Moulds to be able to load it. Great mould maker btw.

 

[Omahkapi'si]

480’s work for me.

 

[Des52]

Both my Pedersoli Frontier and Kentucky pistol have tight bores and I use a .345 in the .36 Frontier and a .526 in the .54 Kentucky. Thinking of using .480 in my .50 Tradition Frontier too.