Patch & Ball

[kwhi43]

I've said it before that I always use round balls that are bigger than the bore
of the gun. Some of you question how to load them, or how do I get them
down the bore. Here is a picture I just took of a .323 "Buck" ball after it has
been pushed, NOT hammered down the bore. The bore is .318 across the
lands and .338 across the groove. So the ball is .005 bigger than the bore.
The patch is .010 pillow ticking lubed with a water soulable water mix. I mix
2 oz. oil to 32 oz. water. about a 6 % mixture. You can see a slight mark on
the front of the ball (right side) where the short starter is used to tap it in.
You can see how deep the patch was pushed into the lead. Patches look so
good after shooting, I could use a second time if I was cheap.

[sneeker]

That is obviously a tight fit,what amount of effort does it take to get a fit like that through? Are you really leaning on it (using body weight) or just shy of that?I guess busting a gut is what I'm trying to say. I only have my own experience to go by,for me it seems like it goes in very snug, it's not easy to push in but it's not so hard I'm thinking I need something to stand on to make it happen.I would think the kind of lube being used plays a big part in that.( patch thickness as well)My patches don't look as clean as yours ( it's close)but looking at mine I thought they could be used again as well. It just occurred to me one of the times I dry balled when I got it out I remember seeing little dings like that on my ball also. I thought it was cool to see how the ball conformed to the barrel. So with that in mind could one think I'm at the right fit? When I first shot my flint with the first pack of patches I had which I no longer use I could shoot 20 some shots without cleaning and still get the ball in,( I didn't have the accuracy I'm getting now then) now after 6 or so it becomes quite the effort. I figured that was because my patch/ball was now a better fit. I also have much tighter groups consistently.

[kwhi43]

With this lube (water souable oil mix) you have to lean on it a little. This
lube is just used for our pistols. In our rifles we use Teflon coated patches,
and after you tap them in you can push the ball all the way down in the rifle
with just your little finger on top of the ramrod. I'm talking of a .410 dia, ball
in a Green Mt. .40 barrel. with .022 thick patching. I use a .454 dia. ball in my .450 cal rifle. The short starter has the same radius an the ball your shooting, so no matter how hard you have to tap it in to get it started the
front of the ball will remain round.

[B.L.E.]

I have a .45 caliber TC Patriot pistol and it blows patches even with target loads if I use the normal .440 or .445 patched round ball. Use a .451 round ball and there is no patch blowing plus it is very accurate.

I also shoot bore sized .360 balls in my TC rifle with Green Mountain .36 caliber drop in replacement barrel. Once you get this started in a Green Mountain barrel, it slides down incredibly easily. A lot of the credit for this goes to the precision and quality control of GM barrels.

[kwhi43]

GREAT!! Glad to see others using the correct stuff.

[horseman308]

GREAT!! Glad to see others using the correct stuff.

"Correct" kinda seems like a subjective term, given all the permutations of ball size, patch thickness, lube ingredients, and powder granulation/charge. I'd think that a person's needs/desired results would also help determine what is the best or "correct" load for their rifle or pistol.

For instance, I shoot a .490" rb with .018 pillow ticking and either spit or a beeswax/murphy's oil soap/castor oil lube over 55gr. of 3Fg (by volume) GOEX in my .50 flinter. It gives me about 1 to 1 1/2" groups at 50 yards and 3-4" at 100 yards, depending on humidity and wind conditions. Not a fantastic group, I know. However, I can shoot several shots without having to swab the barrel and it's a perfectly useful load for hunting deer and for shooting woods walks with steel silhouettes without having to mess with too many steps. Just load, shoot and have fun. Don't even need to mess with a short-starter. So, it's what I have determined as "correct" given my needs.

However, I'd be willing to bet you get much smaller groups with your set up than I do. Do you swab between every shot? I know that if I were shooting for score, competitively, or for squirrels heads at 50 yards, I'd be looking for a much different approach. Just my $.02. I might need change

[B.L.E.]

Shooting bigger than bore round balls is the rule rather than the exception when it comes to patched ball heavy bench rest target rifles. These rifles feature false muzzles that are attached for loading and removed for shooting. The false muzzle is lapped and rifled together with the barrel and is coned for the easy loading of the oversize ball.

[mykeal]

"Correct" kinda seems like a subjective term, given all the permutations of ball size, patch thickness, lube ingredients, and powder granulation/charge. I'd think that a person's needs/desired results would also help determine what is the best or "correct" load for their rifle or pistol.

Exactly.

[B.L.E.]

Not every barrel likes oversized balls. With a stock button rifled shallow groove TC rifle barrel, using .451 balls did not result in better accuracy, it only made the gun harder to load.