.54 ball in a .58 smoothbore

has anyone ever used a .54 ball in a .58 smoothbore? I ahve been casting .575 balls with a .010 patch and she shoots great! but seating the ball past the muzzle is a down right bear of a job. after its past the muzzle however it loads smoothly as long as I swab between shots. I have alot of .54 cal balls on hand and was wondering if anyone had ever used them in a .58 and how it worked out. Tried shooting a bare ball....disnt work out too well

Try a .570 ball.

No, never tried that...that's a lot of windage to make up with patch material but I guess if you have the right consistent thickness of patch material every time for a good snug fit, it may well be fairly accurate.

But a more conventional approach, based on my experiences with a similar situation in .54cal smoothbores, would be a .562" ball with a .020" patch...should be ideal in a .580" smoothbore.

When I tried .530"s in a .540" smoothbore...(only .010" under bore size)...without grooves for the excess patch material to get down into the PRB combo was still too tight. Dropped down to .520" balls...(.020" under bore size)...with .020" patches and it's a very accurate PRB combo.

Smoothies get gunky with subsequent shots. Even the old Brown Bess was issued with considerably 'undersized' balls just for that reason.
If you put yer .54 ball down a .58 bore and shoot, it will come out. Accuracy may not be great but it will shoot.

I have shot 445 balls with triple patching in a fifty caliber when I ran out of 495's. Actually shot better with the 445's!

I have in paper cartridges....it works good with a light news print wrap....it's also small enough that a fowled barrel doesn't really effect it....I just bee's wax the head of the cartridge and it slides right down...

By using your thumb and wet n dry sand paper up to 600 grit you can dish the crown of the muzzle and ease the transition into the bore, this the treatment I do with all of my personal muzzle loaders as it works like a charm.

In my .50 I load a .495 ball with .026 denim patch, in my 19ga with a .625 bore I am loading a .600 ball with the same .026 denim patch.

Just rotate the barrel while you rotate your thumb and you will not make an out of round crown.

Will get a pic up later of the muzzle on my NWG.



This is the muzzle on the wifes rifle.

Try the .54 ball with a thin leather patch in your 58. Grease the patch up and let fly. The leather patches may be reusable.

I was trying .562 in my .629 by double patching and a wad....I wuddna like be a game animal this side o' 40yds!

B :thumbsup:

Bryon said:

...54 ball in a .58 smoothbore?....

Click to expand...

I tried some .490's in a 58 cal rifle for a lark, after arriving at the range with the wrong ones. Don't recall how many patches it took (a lot) to take up the slack, but it worked. Nothing I'd do again.

I'd go to TOW and get samples of .570 and .562 balls and try both with assorted patches. most of my 58's shoot just fine with .562's and .022 patches. Fine with .570's and .018 patches, too.

I have never got a ,570 patched into a smoothbore! Always had to bare ball them on a wad!

Just sayin.... :thumbsup:

B.

The radiused crown really helps to ease the transition of a tight ball/patch combination into the bore.

Agree...the lack of grooves doesn't allow enough space for all the folded over patch material and tends to force another step down to a smaller size ball

58cal smoothies are suppose ta shoot a 562 ball. adjust tension with appropriate patch

well then I see where I may have gone wrong ...I purchased a .575 mold .....oooops! I never even thought about how a patch would behave in a smooth barrel....I just was thinking in terms of rifle....darnit! well I guess ill ahve to buy me a .562 mold

man messing with the end of the barrel scares me though. If anyone could screw it up it would be me, what grit paper should i use....or should I start coarse and go fine up 600

Shoot those .575 balls with a lubed wad, no patch.
It just might work.
..

I started out with 320 and went up to 600, the key is wet n dry paper wetted with wd-40 as a lube and to keep the barrel and thumb moving at all times.

I would twist the barrel back and forth 5 to 7 times and then clock the barrel a quarter turn and again and again, the key is being consistant with your motions.

I invested about an hour to an hour an a half of time to the process and am most pleased with the results.

It really is a simple process and I am sure that many scoff at the idea but it works, it works great actually.

I still have to use a ball starter but I can load a very tight combination after doing this work.

OK, I believe you did that and all is fine.
But, the thought of doing something like that freehand scares the stuffins out of me. :shocked2: I ain't gonna try it on my guns.
BTW, what happened to the nose end of that rilfe?

I do it.....I walk around the gun while using my thumb rotating back and forth.

.570 are tight in a .58 bare balled....be careful with those .575s! At least try and make a sizer @ .570!

U :thumbsup: