T/C .56 SB Balls

[Bill from NJ]

With the weather changing for the better everyday, I was getting in the mood to start playing with my
T/C .56 SB Rifle.

I just finished making 40#’s of ingots. So, before I got too tired, I also ran 200 shiny balls from some of the additional lead left in the pot.

I took a small break from the action and began rummaging through the tons of manure I have put away in boxes in the basement. I found 100 nicely packages balls made by a “Professional”, sold at a well known store. This find was labeled .550 round ball.

I thought cool, I will weigh the found professional made balls and compare them to my old new in the box Green Mountain .550 Dia. mould.
I want to see how good I was compared to the big boys.

I discovered something interesting”¦. To confirm what I have found, I had to look things up on a lead round ball calculator found on another web site.

My balls weighed in at 249 thru 251 Grains. I then used the micrometer to verify the actual diameter.
My actual dia. was right on the money at .550

Now for the “Professionally Made” balls:

I weighed them and the weight was 260 grains. The diameter came in at .557

After reading so many complaints from other folks that their patch and balls are extremely difficult to load in this particular rifle. I can see why people use the .535 via balls and heavy patch. They purchased balls of the wrong size, and using patch material too thick.

Since I will not use thin cigarette papers to patch my .557 balls. I guess I will have to melt them down and run them through my .550 mould.

Any other suggestions on using these .557 balls in my .56 cal?

What uses a .557 round ball?

 

[nkbj]

Do you hunt?
Might save them for a quick reload (powder, ball, stuffing) on a fouled bore.

 

[nhmoose]

Use wads with no patch may shoot good same as other smooth bores.

 

[Tom Compton]

Yep, shoot bare ball, melt and cast or get a .60 cal (always need an excuse for another gun).
TC

 

[Bill from NJ]

All good ideas.

Thanks guys for the info.

 

[Docgp]

Might try making some chewed balls with them also.

Doc

 

[Docgp]

Oops, ignore previous comment if it's a rifle.

 

[BrownBear]

Since you have both diameters on hand, it would be really interesting to compare your patched .550's with bare .557's loaded over a wad. Lotsa supposin and buttscratching over the question of patched balls versus bare, and you have the perfect opportunity to do some shooting rather than supposin.

 

[Maven]

I have one of those Renegades as well and was fortunate to find a pristine Lyman mold for it which actually drops a .550" RB. I use .010" (compressed) 100% cotton cloth for it (got it at JoAnn fabrics) and don't see why you wouldn't try it with the .557" RB's you have. Btw, you can improve accuracy a bit by using either a wool felt (Duro Felt is an excellent source) or cardboard over powder wad with the patched RB.

 

[Bill from NJ]

Since you have both diameters on hand, it would be really interesting to compare your patched .550's with bare .557's loaded over a wad. Lotsa supposin and buttscratching over the question of patched balls versus bare, and you have the perfect opportunity to do some shooting rather than supposin.

Sorry I do not know how to do multiple quotes:

Maven: cardboard over powder wad with the patched RB.




I Was thinking about this all day at work.

I thought about using my thick 28 GA shot wad over powder, then another shot wad over the .557 ball.

My fuzzy math tells me I have .003 to try this opportunity.

Thanks gentlemen, I feel better now others have the same idea to play around with this combo.

Murphy's law and me: Whats the worst that can happen... I'll be laughing all the way to the Hospital Emergency Room.

 

[Bill from NJ]

Oops, ignore previous comment if it's a rifle.

Smooth Bore Rifle.
(.56 Cal Ball, or 28 Gauge Shotgun)

 

[coloradoclyde]

Snider chow?

 

[Bill from NJ]

Snider chow?

Do you mean to slightly roll the ball to decrease a few thousands and then patch it?

Elongated balls. Possible.

Thanks for the education.

 

[coloradoclyde]

No!...I thought maybe you could use them in a Snider enfield....But I guess not....Maybe they would make 28 gauge slugs... :idunno:

 

[nkbj]

At one point I wanted .595's and didn't have a mold, just an out of round oversized one. So I sized those balls down to .595. And it worked OK just putting the sized belt at the crown as long as I got the alignment right. And some folks size balls way more than that, almost making lozenges. Not saying that's the suggestion for Bill from NJ but as others have noted before me, an elongated ball is just a ball that went into a tight bore / patch loading. I've since snagged a .595 ball mold for the .62 Hawken flinter and love the way she bellers with big smoke.

 

[coloradoclyde]

I do remember reading test reports from a famous 19th century ballistician that showed football shaped projectiles out performed a round ball...
However, the name escapes me at the moment.