I had to use a ball starter with hammer, then used a hammer with the provided ramrod. I am having problems trying to believe that our forefathers had to use a hammer to load while the British were approaching. Am I missing some old way of doing things. I am using a .530 RB and .10 lubed wad on top of 30GR of black powder. Or maybe I am an old man that just don't have the strength.
What are you using for a patch with that ball? The wad may not be necessary with a well-lubricated patch of the proper thickness.
If you have a micrometer, I would also recommend measuring your balls. Quality control among ammunition makers is typically pretty good, but it would not be impossible for some mis-labeled balls to pass the inspectors.
If you cast the balls yourself, there are a couple of possibilities. Round ball mould makers, in their fine print, sometimes advise customers that their moulds may not be spot-on, to the thousandth of an inch, although they are generally pretty close. Also, round ball moulds are made to cast
pure lead. If you are pouring scrounged or recovered range lead, it will likely be of a harder alloy, and your mould will drop oversized balls. Either way, I would recommend that you mike your balls, so you know what size you have, and make sure you are using soft, pure lead.
Finally, it would be good to know your pistol's true bore size. The best way to determine this is to slug the bore, which requires removing the breechplug and is therefore not an option I would recommend. Measuring with calipers will guarantee an undersized measure. A gunsmith or machinist may be able to measure it for you with plug gauges. You could also try sanding down a slightly oversized wooden dowel until it is just a slip fit in the bore, then measuring that. This will probably not be exact, but it should be close.
You are right, the old timers would not have tolerated that much difficulty in loading. I do know that the standard military load for .54 caliber rifles shooting patched round balls called for a .525" ball. Track of the Wolf sells .526" balls, which is close enough, and as
kje54 suggested, .520" balls (from the same supplier) may also be an option.
Finally, if you do have to drive those balls down the bore, I would recommend using a wooden or rawhide mallet rather than a hammer. You can get wooden mallets cheaply from leather craft suppliers. I keep one in my range bag and have found it useful on occasion.
Good luck with it, in any event! Let us know how you do.
Notchy Bob
