what the heck is this thing?

[deerstalkert]

I just finished my whatzit build and baptized it yesterday with holy black and lead.
the weirdness started when i couldn't get a .315 ball into the muzzle. Patch or no patch it wasn't swallowing it.
got some .310 balls out. patched, nope! not having it. unpatched bare ball had to be driven with force with the short starter.
after swaging the ball into the bore it seated with the RR about like a patched ball does.
first shot low and right 4 inches.
next i put a lubed felt wad under the ball. right 4 inches not so low.
same for the next 4 shots.
I mic' ed the bore and it comes out .305 groove to groove, and .298 land to land. as soon as the browning is done i am going to pop the breech plug and slug the bore to have a definitive measurement .
what do i call .299 ? a 29 cal or a 30?

 

[Cattywompuss]

Dunno, but your Lee quote is only part of a letter that he wrote, and thus, out of context. As to the caliber... what was it supposed to be?

 

[solitare1340]

1st production .29 cal
Good news is you can buy .283 round balls . Maybe a tad small though

 

[deerstalkert]

fully aware of Lee's letter. still stand by those words.
no idea what the barrel was supposed to be as i got it in a trade. eyeball inspection appeared to be a 32 cal like my others. my old eyes don't discern a couple thousandth's as they once did

 

[deerstalkert]

1st production .29 cal
Good news is you can buy .283 round balls . Maybe a tad small though

where and who sells the .283 balls?

 

[solitare1340]

Track of the wolf

where and who sells the .283 balls?
[/QUOT

 

[deerstalkert]

Thanks Solitare1340!
i don't know why i come on this site! more often than not it ends up costing me some money!

 

[Cattywompuss]

fully aware of Lee's letter. still stand by those words.
no idea what the barrel was supposed to be as i got it in a trade. eyeball inspection appeared to be a 32 cal like my others. my old eyes don't discern a couple thousandth's as they once did

Same way I got a .40 cal I thought was a .36. No one's eyes are as good as they think. Especially the Hon. Gen. R. E. Lee, who said those words long before anyone alive was born, and yet, our republic stands, despite the machinations of monarchist traitors last year.

 

[Cattywompuss]

Forgive me for the political commentary. It is not relevant to this post and was out of place. I ardently hope that you find a ball and patch combination that fits your new rifle.

 

[Brokennock]

I just finished my whatzit build

Just and FYI,,,,, a "whatzit" is actually trademarked. Lol
I know, it's hard to believe.
It is actually a fishing lure. They were handmade one at a time by a gentleman who has since passed.
His little granddaughter would watch him making them (I think she was around 3 or 4 at the time) and repeatedly ask, "what's it?" So that is what he called the lure when he sold them to small local tackle shops.

Just a true funny story I had to share when I saw you use the term and spelled it that way.

 

[deerstalkert]

Forgive me for the political commentary. It is not relevant to this post and was out of place. I ardently hope that you find a ball and patch combination that fits your new rifle.

no problem at all Cattywompuss. i ordered some .300 and .283 balls from track to try. the wife supplies me with patch material of all thicknesses so i can play around with different combo's.
I have never fired round ball naked before and somehow it just seemed wrong! i suppose with a heavily lubed wad it would be no different than a conical.
when the temperature gets back above single digits i am going to play with it more.
i loaded inside, dashed out and fired, then back to the warm house to reload.
sorry, i lied. i don't dash anywhere anymore!

 

[deerstalkert]

guess i'll have to rename it to a whozit?

 

[TreeMan]

Tanner molds at ballmolds.com will make you any size mold if you need some sort of oddball size.

 

[deerstalkert]

this one certainly qualifies as an odd ball(no pun intended) in my book. just took me totally by surprise.
this whole build has been just one odd ball .
its pretty and shoots nice. the trigger broke the first time i pulled it, ground one out of plate stock . hammered a finger pad on it and it actually is very crisp on the let off. somehow i got the butt stock contoured so that when i shoulder it the sights are in perfect alignment. wish i knew what i did, i would do it again!

 

[Grenadier1758]

fully aware of Lee's letter. still stand by those words.
no idea what the barrel was supposed to be as i got it in a trade. eyeball inspection appeared to be a 32 cal like my others. my old eyes don't discern a couple thousandth's as they once did

I know the reliability of my eyeballs. That's why I rely on my Vernier calipers and micrometers. I have a set of ball gauges as well to reach inside a bore to get past crowns and cones and wear at the muzzle. Once again, I'll make my recommendation to invest in a digital vernier caliper of the $20 variety. It may not be as accurate as the $400 versions, but its good enough for what we need to measure.

 

[deerstalkert]

I know the reliability of my eyeballs. That's why I rely on my Vernier calipers and micrometers. I have a set of ball gauges as well to reach inside a bore to get past crowns and cones and wear at the muzzle. Once again, I'll make my recommendation to invest in a digital vernier caliper of the $20 variety. It may not be as accurate as the $400 versions, but its good enough for what we need to measure.

yep! all three of mine say the same thing. this was acquired in a horse trade of sorts and i just didn't suspect it was anything but a .32 until i tried to load it.
still going to keep it i think. it just fits me so well.

 

[ebsails]

Thanks Solitare1340!
i don't know why i come on this site! more often than not it ends up costing me some money!

I know what you mean, I spend more here than Amazon !

 

[Grenadier1758]

Just looking at the picture, @deerstalkert, keeping it seems like a very good plan. Not many have a 29 caliber. Talk about a pea shooter. If lead is banned, you could hunt with frozen peas.

 

[Eric Bye]

No. 2 buckshot from Hornady (and other sources, I believe) has a nominal diameter of .270". If ready-made buckshot can be made too work (i.e., by experimenting to find the right patch material) you will be relieved of the task of casting tiny round balls. If the rifle fits you nicely and you like it of course you should keep it. I think the small calibers are as much fun to shoot as the ones most people are used to, and they are very economical.

 

[Mark Herman]

I have a .29 caliber Bill Large barrel on a rifle and use .285 RB from a Lee mold.