TC 56 smoothbore load?

[Hunter66]

I have a TC 56 smoothbore that I have been playing around with and can't seem to find a single repectable load. I have been using .530 and .535 balls I had on hand and a variety of patch thicknesses and powder charges. I was thinking of getting some .550 balls and trying those. Anybody have some kind of working load that I can use as a starting point? I need to do better than the shotgun patterns that I am getting now. Maybe I am just doing something wrong though too. This is my first experience with a smoothbore and I have treated it like I would any of my other rifles with a PRB.

 

[rabjr]

http://www.muzzleloadingforum.com/f...d/213216/post/483304/hl//fromsearch/1/#483304

 

[roundball]

70grns Goex 3F
Oxyoke .58cal wonderwad
.015" lubed patch
.550 ball

A tight patch/ball combo and a good short starter is needed but was very accurate in my .56cal SB.

(.010" patches would probably work too since the Oxyoke wonderwad is there to protect it)

 

[Flint62Smoothie]

I used to use 0.550" RB in my T/C 56 smoothbore, as that was all that was legal (smoothbore that is) for a cap gun (flints were OK) when Mass first started their MZL hunting seasons.

I used that with pre-lubed pillow ticking patches and though tight as Roundball agrees and a short starter was necessary, it would produce < 2" groups at 50-yards from the bench. Mine wore a aperture 'peep' rear sight on a staff from the tang and it was incredibly accurate!

 

[taylorh]

70gr pyrodex, .018 patch, wonder lube, and .535 roundball. The first shot will hit a paper plate on the first shot at 50 yards with the following shots getting progressivly higher as the bore becomes fouled. Mine is still my favorite of three TC rifles. I have some .550 round balls but they are too hard to load.
Regards,
Taylor in Texas

 

[WV MZL HUNTER]

I have a 56 T/C Smooth Bore and I shoot 75 gr. 3f goex or 3f triple 7 with a .530 rb. and a 18th patch. 3 inch group at 50 yds. and 4-5 inch at 75 yds. It jumps around too much at 100 yds. to take a chance on game for me. Good luck, half the fun is trying to get it to shoot and getting it to hit where you want.

 

[nightwolf1974]

.530 ROUNDBALL
(2).010 PRELUBED PATCH
100 GRAINS FF

Cheaper to shoot, accurate, and a ball to shoot.

 

[walruskid1]

how many .550 you got leftover? :hmm:

 

[Blizzard of '93]

is the .56 sb a factory original? reason I ask is I have a New Englander .50 with a poor bore, thinking of contact T/C to see if they can bore it out to the .56?

 

[roundball]

is the .56 sb a factory original? reason I ask is I have a New Englander .50 with a poor bore, thinking of contact T/C to see if they can bore it out to the .56?

Yes, TC made a .56cal to take a .550 ball to satisfy a pretty odd law in the state of Mass that a round ball had to weigh a certain amount or be a certain diameter or something odd like that...I think that law has since been done away with and nobody makes a .56cal smoothbore anymore.

I'd bet big money TC would not bore out the barrel but a few barrel maker / gun smith types would do that...Ed Rayl in West VA would be a good place to start asking...others may know of alternatives...I guess you would probably not want to go larger than a .54cal in the 15/16" barrel, like GM does.

W. E. Rayl, Inc.
18 Otter Lane
Gassaway, West VA, 26624
304-364-8269

 

[Blizzard of '93]

thanks 4 info, I'll give a check on. :thumbsup:

 

[nightwolf1974]

In some states you can only hunt with a smooth bore muzzleloader, I think. Just like some you can't hunt with a rifle and have to use a shotgun with slugs.