Newby to the sport. Just recently bought my very first flintlock. Middlesex village Heavy British Dragoon. Hope I don't make a fool of myself with this question, but, what is the correct size ball for a .608 bore? Any help is greatly appreciated. Will post a pic real soon as I am very happy with this pistol and love the service I got from MVTC.
which size ball?
- Thread starter cricket
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You might have good luck using the .600 diameter balls sold by Dixie Gunworks.
Here is a link to them:
Dixie .600 lead balls.
Another source for your ammunition might be to buy a Lyman or Lee .600 dia bullet mould and cast your own.
I would think these balls used with a .005 or .010 thick patch would load fairly easily and give consistent shots.
For a powder load, the nearest thing listed by Dixie is for the .67 cal Tower Flintlock pistol. They suggest using 35 grains of FFFg with a .650 dia ball.
That should give good results and you can use the FFFg powder to prime the pan with.
As you say your fairly new to this, you need to be aware that you cannot use one of the synthetic powders like Pyrodex, 777 etc in your flintlock.
It will not consistently ignite from the shower of sparks created by the flint.
If you use real Black Powder such as GOEX, Schuetzen, Swiss, (or even Elephant) your gun should work fine.
zonie
Here is a link to them:
Dixie .600 lead balls.
Another source for your ammunition might be to buy a Lyman or Lee .600 dia bullet mould and cast your own.
I would think these balls used with a .005 or .010 thick patch would load fairly easily and give consistent shots.
For a powder load, the nearest thing listed by Dixie is for the .67 cal Tower Flintlock pistol. They suggest using 35 grains of FFFg with a .650 dia ball.
That should give good results and you can use the FFFg powder to prime the pan with.
As you say your fairly new to this, you need to be aware that you cannot use one of the synthetic powders like Pyrodex, 777 etc in your flintlock.
It will not consistently ignite from the shower of sparks created by the flint.
If you use real Black Powder such as GOEX, Schuetzen, Swiss, (or even Elephant) your gun should work fine.
zonie
Zonie, thanks for taking the time to answer. Your comments are much apprecitated and I definetly will b e looking to find some real BP for the flintlock. All I have now is the 777/APP stuff. Luckily, I am now in recovery and ready to enter into the world of real BP shooting
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YEP Crickett you are on the Good Path now!
you will enjoy the smell of the smoke..
let us know how that Flinter shoots!
....We are waitin for a range report. :winking:
you will enjoy the smell of the smoke..
let us know how that Flinter shoots!
....We are waitin for a range report. :winking:
metalgreyfox
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I'm new to muzzleloading as well, so please bare with me. So you essentially want to get a shot with about .01 less than the actual bore?
JiminTexas
40 Cal.
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I believe that if you ask ten different people that same question (at least on this forum) you'll get twelve different answers. Just gert out and try as many diferent combinations of ball size and patch thickness as you can. After all that's half of the fun of muzzle loading.
What you want to end up with is a load that you don't have to hammer own the barrel and that does not fit too loosely. Using a variety of patch material (different thickness) and ball sizes you'll eventually come up with a load that will not tear your patch material on firing (the heavier powder loads may require a thicker patch to stand up to the stresses), fits snugly but not too tightly and gives you the best accuracy. Stay away from man made materials for patch material. Some of them may melt (rayon, polyester or nylon for instance) and leave a coating on the inside of the barrel.
What you want to end up with is a load that you don't have to hammer own the barrel and that does not fit too loosely. Using a variety of patch material (different thickness) and ball sizes you'll eventually come up with a load that will not tear your patch material on firing (the heavier powder loads may require a thicker patch to stand up to the stresses), fits snugly but not too tightly and gives you the best accuracy. Stay away from man made materials for patch material. Some of them may melt (rayon, polyester or nylon for instance) and leave a coating on the inside of the barrel.
As Jimin Texas said, you will get 12 answers from 10 people :grin: but I would be looking at a ball size that was .010 to .015 under the bore size for a smoothbored pistol matched up with a fairly thin patch. In my opinion, with a smoothbore pistol, the sum of the ball diameter and twice the patch thickness should be equal to the bore size, or up to .010 larger.
If the pistol was rifled, I would lean towards using a thicker patch with a slightly smaller ball if I could find one. The sum of the ball diameter and twice the patch thickness should be equal to or .010 larger than the groove diameter, the reason being, the patch must seal off the grooves in order to prevent excessive blow by and to be able to grip the sides of the rifleing so that it can impart the twists rotation to the ball.
Of course, this is just my opinion but, generally speaking I would use a .005 to .010 undersize ball with a .015 to .018 thick patch in a rifle . I like the tight combination in a rifle.
A rifle is large, easy to grip, fairly heavy and is loaded with the butt plate resting on something. This allows using a tight ball/patch combination which will require quite a bit of force to start the ball into the barrel and to ram it down the bore.
With a muzzleloading pistol, it is difficult to hold it and start a very tight ball/patch combination like that into the bore. This is why I suggest a looser ball/patch combination for a pistol.
zonie
If the pistol was rifled, I would lean towards using a thicker patch with a slightly smaller ball if I could find one. The sum of the ball diameter and twice the patch thickness should be equal to or .010 larger than the groove diameter, the reason being, the patch must seal off the grooves in order to prevent excessive blow by and to be able to grip the sides of the rifleing so that it can impart the twists rotation to the ball.
Of course, this is just my opinion but, generally speaking I would use a .005 to .010 undersize ball with a .015 to .018 thick patch in a rifle . I like the tight combination in a rifle.
A rifle is large, easy to grip, fairly heavy and is loaded with the butt plate resting on something. This allows using a tight ball/patch combination which will require quite a bit of force to start the ball into the barrel and to ram it down the bore.
With a muzzleloading pistol, it is difficult to hold it and start a very tight ball/patch combination like that into the bore. This is why I suggest a looser ball/patch combination for a pistol.
zonie
mrbortlein
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Cricket,
Good luck finding any one that has real BP. It's almost as scarce as a good price on gasoline.
mrbortlein
Good luck finding any one that has real BP. It's almost as scarce as a good price on gasoline.
mrbortlein
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