How big should my balls be?

[Jamie]

Chaps,

I've been shooting ball from the club in my .58 Harper's ferry smoothbore thus far, .54 (ish!) the first trip and .50 (ish!) with a thicker patch this time but it's time to buy my own supply - what would be the best size to begin with? Should the patch and ball add up to bore diameter or should there be some windage to allow for loading and fouling?

All this 'ish' business is a bit disconcerting, I have to say!

Jamie

[tacfoley]

Chaps,

I've been shooting ball from the club in my .58 Harper's ferry smoothbore thus far, .54 (ish!) the first trip and .50 (ish!) with a thicker patch this time but it's time to buy my own supply - what would be the best size to begin with? Should the patch and ball add up to bore diameter or should there be some windage to allow for loading and fouling?

All this 'ish' business is a bit disconcerting, I have to say!

Jamie

Depends on about ten gazillion things -

1. What is the actual bore diameter of your gun?

2. What results did you get with what you shot?

3. How often you wipe out the bore.

4. What patching material did you use and what lube, if any?

5. Whether or not you are going to cast your own.........at about a tenth of the cost of buying store-made.

and more......

tac

[Jamie]

Thanks Tac

1/ I don't know...will get hold of some callipers - I assume a muzzle measurement is enough?

2/ Both of them seemed similar in accuracy, the smaller ones were a wee bit better but that was second time out rather than first so maybe me getting used to the gun. POI was pretty similar too.

3/ I haven't been wiping the bore during shooting, they all seemed to load fairly easily.

4/Patches were canvas ('thinnish' with the bigger balls, 'thicker' with the small ones!). No lube.

5/ May well cast my own eventually, possibly not in the immediate future though.

So much bloody easier with centrefire, 8mm for the 8mm, 6mm for the .243, etc, etc, etc! Flintlock is very cool however!

Jamie

[steve medlock]

As a very general rule, go for the largest ball with the thinnest patch that you can still practically load. As above, you need to measure the actual bore, but .54 sounds too small

[tacfoley]

QUOTE=Jamie;6652397]Thanks Tac

1/ I don't know...will get hold of some callipers - I assume a muzzle measurement is enough?

Digital calipers are good enough - they should be able to determine within a thou. I concur with Mr Medlock - .54 is WAAAY too small and the patch needs to be the thinnest that you can get away with to prevent windage

2/ Both of them seemed similar in accuracy, the smaller ones were a wee bit better but that was second time out rather than first so maybe me getting used to the gun. POI was pretty similar too.

Could be you, but tight-fitting is ALWAYS better than loose. Have you a recovered patch that you can tell us what it looks like, please?

3/ I haven't been wiping the bore during shooting, they all seemed to load fairly easily.

How many shots have you fired without wiping the bore?

4/Patches were canvas ('thinnish' with the bigger balls, 'thicker' with the small ones!). No lube.

I don't understand what you mean by 'canvas' - that's the stuff used on deckchairs and sailing boats, right? You SHOULD be using stuff called pillow ticking - striped cotton that you can buy from Dunelms, wash a couple of times to remove the sizing, and then either cut to the shape that suits you best and lube using something like Bore Butter or similar - even saliva. Pillow ticking is usually available in two thicknesses - depending on quality - 10 and 15 thou. The ball plus the patch should be a hard whack on the short starter, and somewhat lesser whack on the long starter, and then a steady firm push down the bore to the powder - THAT's why the patch is supposed to be lubed.

5/ May well cast my own eventually, possibly not in the immediate future though.

kay.

So much bloody easier with centrefire, 8mm for the 8mm, 6mm for the .243, etc, etc, etc! Flintlock is very cool however!

Yes.

Jamie[/QUOTE]

[Jamie]

Thanks Gents.

Seems I have some homework to do!

Callipers ordered, I haven't picked up any patches, will do next time I'm at the range.

Jamie

[loiner1965]

Not genned up on muskets loading but a fellow forum member called bill Curtis recommends this formula if my memory serves me right.
Use a good stiff load of bp
Cut 2 piece of thick wads same size or slightly larger than bore
Place first wad in bore then place ball on top followed by the second wad with ample lube on then push them all down the bore
But before you do this please do some research as its from memory I am reciting.
Again it's a good stiff load of bp
If I find a link about this I will paste on here
Read this...
http://britishmilitariaforums.yuku.c...s#.VRmiNWt5mSM

[tacfoley]

Read what Mr Curtis has to say - he is a national treasure as far as BP shooting is concerned, and then watch Mike Beliveau doing it for real with a Charleville musket of around the same era as the Brown Bess - actually, what the opposition was using in the AWoI - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wYu03XUbAyY

The load with wads is 100gr of FFg, period.

Enjoy!

tac

[Jamie]

All most interesting, many thanks. While I wait for the callipers to arrive, what is a 'good' group for a smoothbore at 50m?

Jamie

[loiner1965]

if you hit the sand then that's a good shot
Joking aside a chap at my club with his flintlock rifle hit within 2 inches of his target at 110 yds but I never saw the rest of his group

[tacfoley]

All most interesting, many thanks. While I wait for the callipers to arrive, what is a 'good' group for a smoothbore at 50m?

Jamie

I shoot a .54cal custom Lancaster County replication over the way, and offhand - the only way you can shoot in competition - I usually get eight out of ten inside the eight ring of the NRA centre-fire pistol target - so, about 3 -4". Only 50 yards, though, 'mercans don't do metric.

I've never won a thing, either.

tac

[Jamie]

Christ, I wasn't expecting that level of accuracy from a smoothbore!

[tacfoley]

Christ, I wasn't expecting that level of accuracy from a smoothbore!

Yes, but I'm a good shot. It just comes naturally after 63 years shooting, I guess.

tac