Turning a V8 into a V6?

[lbothell]

Soooo it’s been a while since Iv posted but I think I’m getting back into shooting more again and I’m at the same dilemma I was at a couple years ago ha. So I have a nice light NWT gun made by Curly, it was one of his early guns had a Lott lock and the barrel is pretty simple! Love this gun but I’m tired of running .69 round balls through it, I talked to Mr. Hoyt and I know I can get a sleeve put in it but I know he is busy and don’t want to have to wait the wait hahah. He is a great guy by the way and does great work! So my question is has anyone had much luck running something as small as .58 Round balls through their .72? Iv tried a couple times but didn’t have the time to really sit down and do it. So has anyone had any success doing this?? I know it was probably talked about before but I wasn’t able to find it so I do apologize! Thanks for any information

Luke

 

[russellshaffer]

I have the same question. Hope you get some good ideas out of this.

 

[bud in pa]

I have a 62 fowler, I shoot 575 balls out of it in a paper cartridge. I chose to use a French style paper cartridge. When I am finished making them I lube the ball end with Lehigh Valley Lube, of which I am down to my last. I have gotten 15 shots before getting resistance to loading, and I can hold a 4 to 5 inch group @ 50 yds. off the bench.

 

[russellshaffer]

I saw somewhere a guy was getting good results from a 12 gage with a patched .570 in a plastic shot cup. That combination should take up all of the windage between the ball and bore. The inline folks shoot very undersized bullets in plastic sabots. I also think Bud's paper cartridge method might work with heavier paper or more wraps.

 

[lbothell]

Now there is an idea with the plastic shot cup. Iv used them before but in a rifled barrel and wow what a mess of plastic in my groves haha trying to get my 45 caliber to be a .410 hahah but I bet the plastic shot cups would be fine in my smoothie. I’m still kicking around the idea of getting a sleeve in it I really like the idea of that but was wanting to see my options first. Thank you guys for the reply’s so far!

 

[Dale Allen Raby]

I've tried things like a .490 round ball in a .54 caliber gun. If you put enough patches around it, you can sorta hit your target, but it would be easier to just use a .50 caliber. A .690 round ball in a 12 gauge bore seems to work OK, patched or unpatched, but if you shoot "bare balls" you need wadding... and don't expect much accuracy.

One of the more interesting experiments is using .357 - .358 lead pistol bullets in a T/C .36 caliber Seneca. Unpatched they fit loose in the bore, so you have to keep it muzzle-up until you shoot it. They are surprisingly accurate all things considered, but do better when paper-patched. I haven't really done enough experimentation to draw any valid conclusions as of yet, but summer is a coming!

 

[Comfortably_Numb]

Sounds like a good excuse to get a new gun.

 

[SOLANCO]

Sounds like a good excuse to get a new gun.

You need an excuse?

 

[springfield art]

Soooo it’s been a while since Iv posted but I think I’m getting back into shooting more again and I’m at the same dilemma I was at a couple years ago ha. So I have a nice light NWT gun made by Curly, it was one of his early guns had a Lott lock and the barrel is pretty simple! Love this gun but I’m tired of running .69 round balls through it, I talked to Mr. Hoyt and I know I can get a sleeve put in it but I know he is busy and don’t want to have to wait the wait hahah. He is a great guy by the way and does great work! So my question is has anyone had much luck running something as small as .58 Round balls through their .72? Iv tried a couple times but didn’t have the time to really sit down and do it. So has anyone had any success doing this?? I know it was probably talked about before but I wasn’t able to find it so I do apologize! Thanks for any information

Luke

I haven't shot it yet, but my Curly is also a .72 and seems it would want .69 ball with .15 patch. I've got the Lott (Pedersoli) lock and a nice bbl. between 41 and 42 inches. Only weighs about 6-1/2 lbs.. I only got "into" trade guns about a year ago and have been fascinated with their history. I've heard nothing but positive comments about Mr. Hoyt; our hobby is blessed to have a tradesman/technician/machinist that understands the niche market of muzzleloaders and can provide services in a timely, financially reasonable manner. BTW, I saw somewhere here a mention of the source for many of Curly's barrels; anyone know what the source was? One comment said he may have made his own, was just wondering.

 

[tenngun]

I shot .575 In military cartridge in my .62, and it does ok. I could use it for deer at fifty yards, and THINK it would do the job as I can keep it in the black at fifty yards. However I shoot PRB for deer hunting.
Dualist 54 has a vid of him shooting .600 in his charley. And his shooting was definitely deer hunting accurate.
Smoothies can shoot almost rifle well at fifty yards, not match shooting but good’nuf for plinking and woods walks. And smoothies are far more forgiving of loads than rifle guns.
Lack of rear sight gets my shooting in the toilet more then what I feed it.

 

[rich pierce]

I’m now shooting my big bores into a piece of pine tree trunk. Gonna collect the balls and melt them down.

 

[user 49399]

If this helps. When I got my first .62 caliber smooth bore, I didn’t have round balls for it, so I experimented with .495 balls using different types of wadding. The best groups were using brown paper for over powder and over ball wads. When I say ‘best’, that was basketball size groups at 25 yards. Only good enough for plinking, maybe.

 

[2 shots]

tired of running .69 round balls through it,

why are you against using the proper size balls?????

 

[lbothell]

why are you against using the proper size balls?????

At the time I didn’t have to money for a smaller caliber and was just trying something different to see if I could accomplish that. So no real particular reason guess I’m just a rebel

 

[2 shots]

guess I’m just a rebel

nothin wrong with that.

 

[SDSmlf]

Guess you could just keep increasing the number of patches around the ball until you get a snug fit in the bore, then check for accuracy. It may look like laundry day when your shoot.

 

[lbothell]

Guess you could just keep increasing the number of patches around the ball until you get a snug fit in the bore, then check for accuracy. It may look like laundry day when your shoot.

I think it’s very doable, I accomplished the accuracy I wanted from my .40 shooting .311 round balls out of it and as long as compression wasn’t lost and I engaged the rifling in that gun all was good. I think the same is with this, good compression and keeping the ball in a consistent place as it go down and exits the barrel