round ball troubles

[hawg]

When using Pyrodex the best you can expect is two shots without cleaning,

That's funny right there. I don't care who ya are.

 

[Ugly Sauce]

I make my own .50 cal. wool wads soaked in Bore Butter under the patch which gives the ball some extra distance, too.

I like to put a waxed-wool wad (dipped in hot wax) over the powder, and then a lubed patch over that. A lubed wad directly over the powder will contaminate it to some extent. More so the longer the rifle is kept loaded.

 

[woodnbow]

Deformed ball on loading. To tight a fit require more force to seat the patched ball.

Ball becomes not round, poor accuracy.
Between shots clean with a bronse brush, 5 to 10 strokes knocks loose the fouling. Load with lubed patch.

5" groups at 100 yards ok with iron sights.

Sam Fadala did an experiment years ago with purposeful deformation of the ball and bullet as the case may be. His results showed minimal effect on accuracy when the nose was deformed. The base or rear of the bullet/ball is extremely important for best accuracy. It essentially steers the projectile. Since then, I’ve always loaded ball with sprue up and take very good care of the base of bullets when using them.

 

[Ugly Sauce]

Experiments with modern bullets/firearms have shown the same. Beat up the nose, meh. Beat up the base...accuracy goes to pot. Out the window. Gone like a cool summer breeze.

I've noticed when I chew/rasp my smoothbore balls, that it eliminates the sprue. I wonder if it would be advantageous to do so to a rifle ball, for that purpose alone. As far as I know, chewed balls don't effect/affect accuracy in a rifled bore negatively. ? or? In a smoothbore, it's debatable as far as improvement, but it seems to me, in my smoothbores, it does. It does effect the size, (increase) so that would have to be taken into consideration.

 

[woodnbow]

I’ve heard of chucking a load of cast balls into a tumbler and run them until the sprue disappears. Never done it but I guess it would work. I’m more concerned with weighing the balls so I start with identical balls.

 

[Savage30L]

I think you are using too much powder which is causing the PRB to skip across the lands of the bore resulting in poor accuracy. The Traditions guns have shallow rifling and too much powder will cause the ball to skip over the rifling. I have had fine accuracy using 80 grains of powder, and no deer hit in the vitals is going to go far using that load.

I agree also. 100 grains is much more than needed. 70 grains will drive the ball clear through a deer.

I used to have a CVA Hawken that would put 5 balls through the same hole at 50 yards with anything from 70 to 90 grains of FFFg or Pyrodex, using a .490 patched round ball. OP should just back off the charge until he finds a good accurate load.

Edited to add: You might want to try a .490 ball instead of the .495, using pillow ticking. I also had great results with muslin and linen (the latter would be too expensive to use nowadays) cloth. Bore Butter was my preferred lube.

Echoing Armored Farmer, I think this entire thread should be made sticky. It's a great example of the collective wisdom available at THR, and an illustration of why I picked this firearms forum out of the crowded field, to join.

 

[hawg]

I agree also. 100 grains is much more than needed. 70 grains will drive the ball clear through a deer.

I used a 1:48 .50 caliber with a 90 grain charge and a PRB for about 30 years. I killed a lot of deer with it but I was never happy with the percentage of exit wounds. I moved up to a .54 with a round ball twist and the same 90 grain charge. I haven't killed nearly as many deer with it as I did the .50 but I've never failed to get an exit wound with it.

 

[Thomasss]

I like to put a waxed-wool wad (dipped in hot wax) over the powder, and then a lubed patch over that. A lubed wad directly over the powder will contaminate it to some extent. More so the longer the rifle is kept loaded.

It really depends on when and how it is used. It's that I don't disagree with Ugly Sauce, but there are so many options in using wool wads it, I could write a book on the subject. First after applying the bore butter I wrap about 20 in paper toweling and nuke them in a microwave for 30 seconds to draw off most of the excess Bore Butter. Another way to do the same thing is to heat the Bore Butter up and mix in 15% pure bees wax or deer tallow which can stiffen it to resist contaminating the charge. During deer hunting in Wisconsin it's cold enough that Bore Butter will harden up like candle wax anyway.

 

[Savage30L]

During deer hunting in Wisconsin it's cold enough that Bore Butter will harden up like candle wax anyway.

Then your deer tallow must be like flint.....

 

[Ugly Sauce]

Oh I agree. During the hunting seasons (I've been skunked the last two years! ) My rifle(s) often remain loaded for a long time. (This year I did unload once, after hunting in wet weather)(didn't need to, if popped off just fine, as usual) Even in a good year, my rifle might be loaded for weeks or a month before I kill something. So that's when I notice a weak charge with a lubed wad over the powder. A wad dipped in pure wax pops off the same after one day, or one month, for me. Or longer, I still have not shot my rifle since this last season. !! It's still loaded, as is Bessie, and the long barrel for the TC.

I like the micro-wave idea. When I lube wads, I dip them in melted lube, then place them on a paper towel.

 

[hawg]

I lube my patches with olive oil and I have left it loaded for over a week with no noticeable loss of power. They feel dry to the touch. I use pillow ticking and they do scorch in the middle and fray around the edges but they don't burn or smolder.

 

[Pat Riot]

I am new to muzzleloaders. I am learning a great deal from this thread. Thank you all for your advice and input.