loads for .62 smoothie with tow

I would like some suggestions for loads in my .62 Fusil de Chase,using tow and bare ball. (.595) I know how it shoots prb offhand at 25 yds. but would like more help for the more traditional load.
thanks, God Bless <
Old Thunder

Mine likes 65 grains. I take the tow and grease it with mink oil or lard, then start it it to the bore, leaving a bit of fluff hanging out of the muzzle. Then push a ball in to the nest. So it makes a nest Ram it home. It holds tight in the woods and shoots as well as a patch.

tenngun said:

Mine likes 65 grains. I take the tow and grease it with mink oil or lard, then start it it to the bore, leaving a bit of fluff hanging out of the muzzle. Then push a ball in to the nest. So it makes a nest Ram it home. It holds tight in the woods and shoots as well as a patch.

Click to expand...

Have you ever had any problems with the tow starting fires? Have seen grease patches start a few, would think tow would be worst. I live out here in Calif, things are already getting dry.

I have shot round ball wadded with tow a fair amount from my 20 ga. flintlock smoothbore. When I first started working on those loads I simply loaded power-tow-ball-tow, and had pretty good results. I noticed the loads tended to shoot a bit lower than loads with modern wads, and that the recoil was not as heavy. Tow is pretty porous stuff, so I decided I was getting some gas blowing through it and it wasn't giving me a good seal. I tried loading one 1/32" overshot card over the powder before the first tow, and could see a definite improvement. Now I always load some kind of an overpowder wad, frequently just a folded piece of brown paper, and my results are good. I do this for both ball and shot. My overpowder tow wad is big enough that it makes a 1/2" thick wad when well rammed.

I shoot .600" self-cast balls and 85 grains 3F Goex.

Twenty-five yard 3-shot groups of less than an inch from a casual rest are typical for me with tow.

Spence

I live out here in Calif, things are already getting dry.

Northern AZ starting stage II fire rstirctions friday. That means no nuthing that sparks, even pellet guns banned ("unless involved in a legal hunt"). So If I wanna shoot I have to shoot at a bunny as thats all that is in season. If the catch me using a BP gun I may be awhile gettin back to these posts :shocked2:

The next stage means YA DONT GO INTO THE FOREST PERIOD

Fire near sons house at noon, he got an e-mail to get the heck home and grab animals and papers etc. We arrived within about 20 min and they had it out. Teacher strike here so kids playing in the forest and started a fire in our 30 MPH gusting winds :shocked2:

Seen that on the news today, hope your son will be ok, out West we have to think about where we shoot in the dry season, which is most of the year.

juice jaws said:

tenngun said:

Mine likes 65 grains. I take the tow and grease it with mink oil or lard, then start it it to the bore, leaving a bit of fluff hanging out of the muzzle. Then push a ball in to the nest. So it makes a nest Ram it home. It holds tight in the woods and shoots as well as a patch.

Click to expand...

Have you ever had any problems with the tow starting fires? Have seen grease patches start a few, would think tow would be worst. I live out here in Calif, things are already getting dry.

Click to expand...

I’ve had plain tow hold a spark and smolder after shooting. After greasing I never had that problem

just started shooting a 20 again Ive been using 70 of 2 f adry wad of tow with a 600 ball with a bedsheet patch,goes down easy,I think Ill try just catching some tow threads like what was mentioned above,I did that with a 69 musket that seemed to work well.

I am going to go out on a limb here. Every period piece about loading a fusil is unpatched ball on a wad. And we read of blanket wads used and fired at mountain men by Indian fusils. So wads are right for a smoothie.
However riflemen often were forced to use a smoothie a musket or a fusil. And smooth rifles were well known. Someone who loaded for years with a patch may not have been quick to give it up. It’s clear that wads are the only thing mentioned as being fed to smoothies, but I ain’t convinced PRB was not shot from them at times

repeated by mistake

tenngun said:

And we read of blanket wads used and fired at mountain men by Indian fusils. So wads are right for a smoothie.

Click to expand...

But I recall reading at least one account of a battlefield littered with smoldering blanket wads....

It's my further impression that they probably weren't lubing their hunks of blanket, so as with tow, the lack-o-lube might be the culprit.

Be safe AZMTNMN!

I shoot a 595prb out of my 20ga but when I use tow and a bare ball I shoot a 610 ball. It seems to fit good in fact I usually need to push it down with my rod.