Smoothbore TC .56 caliber

[Stony Broke]

Anyone shooting one of these and having good results? The local club I shoot with has decided to add a smoothbore leg to the match...and they say anything smoothbore will be okay. I have a smoothbore canoe gun, but don't think it's accurate enough to compete with, so I was thinking about trying the TC. I have one laying around here that I've not done a lot of shooting with, but when I took it out results weren't as good as I hoped for. I tried 50 gr. of 3f, using a .595 RB and pillow ticking patches that are about .018 thick. I think the whole load might benefit from a thicker patch maybe, as the ball seems to not be a tight enough fit in the bore to me.
Anybody having better results with one of these?

 

[Maven]

"I tried 50 gr. of 3f, using a .595 RB and pillow ticking patches that are about .018 thick. I think the whole load might benefit from a thicker patch maybe, as the ball seems to not be a tight enough fit in the bore to me." ...SB

Are you really using a .595" RB + .018" patches or did you mean a .550" RB? I have a R/C .56cal. Renegade SB and a .550" RB mold, but my gun uses a .010" patch + a thin OP wad + 70gr. FFFg or 80gr. FFg and is quite accurate @ 25 yd. (50 yd. testing is a work in progress.) Three suggestions: bump the powder charge up to 65 - 70gr. FFFg; try a cardstock OP wad; and possibly a thicker patch, although a loose fitting patch isn't so much a problem in a SB as it is in a rifle.

 

[Grimord]

My T/C .56 SB likes 80 grains of 3f with a .550 ball and .015 patch lubed heavily with Mink oil. My muzzle is slightly coned, so starting the patched ball is easy. I get 3" groups at 60 yards pretty consistently from the bench with iron sights. Haven't tried it for longer shots, but at 25 yards I am seeing 1.5" groups.

 

[nhmoose]

How big a mallet to get that combo started? If you mean a .495 ball no wonder groups don't measure up. that would be way to small. I use .535 and denim patch in mine and at 50 yards 3-4 inch groups work for me.

 

[Britsmoothy]

More powder and a wad of some kind.
If that don't work get some larger balls.
If that don't work make sure the barrel is not touching the lock plate....in fact, do that first.

B.

 

[Stony Broke]

Guess my old brain just wasn't working right when I posted the questions ! I wasn't using the .595 in that one, I was using a .530. I might have to try using some denim for patches or something like that to get a little tighter fit. I'll either get it under 3" at 50 yds., or have to let it reside in the safe some more as it won't be competitive enough for me.

 

[Britsmoothy]

Guess my old brain just wasn't working right when I posted the questions ! I wasn't using the .595 in that one, I was using a .530. I might have to try using some denim for patches or something like that to get a little tighter fit. I'll either get it under 3" at 50 yds., or have to let it reside in the safe some more as it won't be competitive enough for me.

Dude, try it without a patch, you may be surprised.

 

[Stony Broke]

I think some .535's might be the way to go...or at least that seems like the next thing for me to try.

 

[Stony Broke]

Scrubbing on some pits I found in the barrel of my .56 this afternoon and a thought hit me. I called Bobby Hoyt and he is going to ream the barrel out to a .62 smoothbore for me and I think my problem will be solved.

 

[Grimord]

Bobby is the guy to do the job for sure. He will verify the depth of the sight holes and tenons to see if there is enough left over to bore out to 62. T/C was inconsistent in the depth of their sight holes and sometimes they goo too deep for a safe re-bore. Bobby will check it out and will only do what is safe.

 

[Stony Broke]

Sounds good to me...I have heard only good stuff about his work. It's packaged up and ready to go in the morning.