The Firing Line Forums - View Single Post - Loading preferences for cap n' ball revolvers

davem · August 6, 2010, 08:33 PM

The Buffalo bullets are definitely better than the bullet designs with a very narrow driving band. My experience has been that when a bullet has a narrow driving band it can twist out of alignment during its seating into the chamber- obviously not good for accuracy. Along the same lines that's why I think a slightly larger ball- the type that shears off a ring during the seating, is good- a little more contact area with the rifling. I think the bullets will normally beat the balls at the longer ranges although in rifles some guys shoot very good groups at 100 yards with a PRB.
A few years ago I made up about 100 small paper tubes with fitting caps. I use a reloading scale and weigh every charge (I use black powder not volumetric substitutes). All the tubes go into a reloading box- kept upright and taken to the range. It may be mental but I have had better accuracy with the carefully weighed charges.
On the wads. I cut some of my own and experimented with various lubes. Now I use the pre-lubed wonder wads. I think the biggest benefit of the wad is it helps prevent gas cutting and improves accuracy.
As I said, I tried the cream of wheat fillers, etc but the heavier charges seem better in my case so I omitted the filler. With the thick wads the charge is moderately heavy- I can hear a slight crunch in seating the ball.
As I said, I put a line on the ram to seat the balls at the same depth. The idea about being near the end of the cylinder is to reduce the "jump" into the rifling and therefore have better accuracy.
I've only shot pistol in a couple of State Events and one hand- off hand was my recollection, the guy next to me on one event had a flintlock and if I recall at 50 yards off hand he was getting around 6" groups. In any event I'm sure you can better 4" off a rest. As far as other handguns, my experience has been better than 4" groups at fifty yards when using a rest.
I've never weighed the balls to check for voids, etc but that would be one more step towards accuracy.
Speed up lock time? I suppose the hammer could be lightened or a stronger replacement spring used. I too would be interested in knowing what others do for top accuracy.
And...some other things would pertain to handguns in general. A range rod can test chamber alignment with the bore. The forcing cone angle might play a role as well.

August 6, 2010, 08:33 PM	#32
davem Junior member Join Date: October 4, 2004 Posts: 458	The Buffalo bullets are definitely better than the bullet designs with a very narrow driving band. My experience has been that when a bullet has a narrow driving band it can twist out of alignment during its seating into the chamber- obviously not good for accuracy. Along the same lines that's why I think a slightly larger ball- the type that shears off a ring during the seating, is good- a little more contact area with the rifling. I think the bullets will normally beat the balls at the longer ranges although in rifles some guys shoot very good groups at 100 yards with a PRB. A few years ago I made up about 100 small paper tubes with fitting caps. I use a reloading scale and weigh every charge (I use black powder not volumetric substitutes). All the tubes go into a reloading box- kept upright and taken to the range. It may be mental but I have had better accuracy with the carefully weighed charges. On the wads. I cut some of my own and experimented with various lubes. Now I use the pre-lubed wonder wads. I think the biggest benefit of the wad is it helps prevent gas cutting and improves accuracy. As I said, I tried the cream of wheat fillers, etc but the heavier charges seem better in my case so I omitted the filler. With the thick wads the charge is moderately heavy- I can hear a slight crunch in seating the ball. As I said, I put a line on the ram to seat the balls at the same depth. The idea about being near the end of the cylinder is to reduce the "jump" into the rifling and therefore have better accuracy. I've only shot pistol in a couple of State Events and one hand- off hand was my recollection, the guy next to me on one event had a flintlock and if I recall at 50 yards off hand he was getting around 6" groups. In any event I'm sure you can better 4" off a rest. As far as other handguns, my experience has been better than 4" groups at fifty yards when using a rest. I've never weighed the balls to check for voids, etc but that would be one more step towards accuracy. Speed up lock time? I suppose the hammer could be lightened or a stronger replacement spring used. I too would be interested in knowing what others do for top accuracy. And...some other things would pertain to handguns in general. A range rod can test chamber alignment with the bore. The forcing cone angle might play a role as well.