From conicals to balls

[tward2]

I haven't been shooting black powder rifles for long, been shooting pistols longer. Up until today I had been shooting Great Plains bullets in my Hawken .50 and I tried .490 round balls with .010 lubed patches today and I think I am hooked on patched round balls now. The trajectory is flatter, recoil is less, fouling is much less, and ramming down the barrel is easier.

 

[Jamie from Alberta]

Sounds like your on to something :wink:

Soon you'll be casting your own balls, cutting your own patches...making your own lube.....crazy is'nt :thumbsup:
Enjoy!

 

[Little Wattsy]

Made that journey myself... ended up sellimng all my connicals, bought 100 lbs of lead and a lee mold... Will never go back.

 

[BrownBear]

Bump that patch up a little thicker as an experiment, and I'm betting you'll be even more impressed. I'm assuming you've got a TC Hawken, and mine is sure fond of .018 patches with a .490 ball.

 

[tward2]

Bump that patch up a little thicker as an experiment, and I'm betting you'll be even more impressed. I'm assuming you've got a TC Hawken, and mine is sure fond of .018 patches with a .490 ball.

It's actually a Traditions kit gun. What do you like about the thicker patch?

 

[BrownBear]

What do you like about the thicker patch?

It's a little harder to load, but not so hard that I even have to slap the short starter, much less use a mallet. The payoff is it's a lot more accurate than thinner patches.

Have you recovered any of your .010 patches after firing? If they're intact, you're probably alright. But if they're torn or have holes in them, it's a pretty good sign you can expect better accuracy going to a little thicker patch.

Another factor in my choice of .018 ticking patches- I got the ticking cheap from fabric stores. I haven't found any thinner material that's so cheap. I just did the math, and you get almost 600 1.5" patches from a square yard of ticking, which you can sometimes buy for 2 or 3 buxx on sale. At $3 for 600 of the boogers, that's like half a cent each compared to commercial patches.

 

[tward2]

Interesting, I did not recover the patches. I will make a greater effort to recover them next time.

I definitely had to slap the ball starter when I was shooting the Great Plains bullets but with the ball/patch setup I was using I could push it fully into the top of the barrel (such that the ball was even with the muzzle) with my thumb.

 

[rafterob]

The Traditions has pretty deep rifling so you want a thicker patch to help seal up those rifling grooves (for best performance).

 

[BrownBear]

Interesting, I did not recover the patches. I will make a greater effort to recover them next time.

I definitely had to slap the ball starter when I was shooting the Great Plains bullets but with the ball/patch setup I was using I could push it fully into the top of the barrel (such that the ball was even with the muzzle) with my thumb.

Sounds about right, both for the Great Plains and for the ball with a .010 patch.

No big rip if you're happy with the RB accuracy you're getting, but it's kinda fun to wonder how much it could improve with a thicker patch.

Aw shucks, more shooting! :grin:

 

[tward2]

Damn, I hate shooting, especially shooting a gun that I built myself Hopefully, I'll be a PhD in May and I would be ostracized from that community if I didn't love to experiment. Besides, as we all know, one of the great things about black powder is that it is cheap to shoot!

I noticed a significant different in trajectory switching from the big heavy Great Plains Bullet to the ball. The point of impact was a few inches higher. So, yes, you got me hooked now, I am wondering what effect different patches would have.

 

[Little Wattsy]

I expirimented with patches from .010 to .020 and balls both .530 and .535. My best groups were the tighter combo.. My load today is .015 patch and the .535 ball. a LITTLE harder to start the ball but not bad and GOOD accuracy in my opinion...

 

[cynthialee]

I started with conicals in my rifles because I was afraid I wouldn't be able to seat a patched ball.
Turns out I was wrong on that one. Now I only shoot PRB as a general rule. If I shoot a conical it is just out of curiosity to see if I can at least hit the paper with it.

 

[loki04]

Sir,

I suspect that the change in trajectory and point of impact is due more to the change in weight of projectile. The great plains bullet is heavier, and so goes slower (initially) than does the round ball.

Regards,
Loki

p.s. good luck with your defense

 

[crockett]

Yeah a PRB eliminates lead fouling and all sorts of problems. As others have said- try the .018 patch. You do have to seat it a little harder but it rams down the bore about the same and it may improve accuracy. You can also try a felt wad over the powder and then seat the PRB. Once again, it may or may not improve accuracy.

 

[George T.]

Another vote for thicker ticking at atleast to give it a try. I have finally got around to trying the .495 balls I bought a while back. They shot better but it was not much harder to get started or seated. Go Figure! Geo. T.

 

[Stumpkiller]

Worst part is you'll have to learn to hunt instead of just shoot. ;-)

Range isn't much more than 100 yards . . . but it's worth it!

 

[tward2]

Worst part is you'll have to learn to hunt instead of just shoot. ;-)

Range isn't much more than 100 yards . . . but it's worth it!

What do you think is the hottest yet safest and accurate powder load you can put in for hunting and maximizing effective kill range (for roundballs not conicals)?

 

[Little Wattsy]

Worst part is you'll have to learn to hunt instead of just shoot. ;-)

Range isn't much more than 100 yards . . . but it's worth it!

What do you think is the hottest yet safest and accurate powder load you can put in for hunting and maximizing effective kill range (for roundballs not conicals)?

The balistic coeffecient is such that it dosnt really make much differance... I would feel safe up to 125 - 130 grains of FFg in my .54 but the extra 15 to 20 yards extended in range on a gun Im still using open sights on is just not that much more then the 90 graisn will do in the same gun. These are just 100 yard guns for hunting like a bow is a 40 yard tool.. Yah some can do it further but ethically in the field there are just limits.
The sights, in my opinion, are the MOST limiting. open sights on a 7mm Mag is still a 100 - 125 yard gun not a "400 yard (plus) gun" as it might be with a quality scope

 

[tward2]

Worst part is you'll have to learn to hunt instead of just shoot. ;-)

Range isn't much more than 100 yards . . . but it's worth it!

What do you think is the hottest yet safest and accurate powder load you can put in for hunting and maximizing effective kill range (for roundballs not conicals)?

The balistic coeffecient is such that it dosnt really make much differance... I would feel safe up to 125 - 130 grains of FFg in my .54 but the extra 15 to 20 yards extended in range on a gun Im still using open sights on is just not that much more then the 90 graisn will do in the same gun. These are just 100 yard guns for hunting like a bow is a 40 yard tool.. Yah some can do it further but ethically in the field there are just limits.
The sights, in my opinion, are the MOST limiting. open sights on a 7mm Mag is still a 100 - 125 yard gun not a "400 yard (plus) gun" as it might be with a quality scope

Good point about the sights. As my father said the other day "putting a scope on that gun would be sacrilegious."

 

[Mad Professor]

Manufacturer should have information on listed max loads for PRB and FFg/FFFg powders.

You will have to experiment patch/ball combos and different volumes of powder. When you find a good ball/patch combo, work your way up to max load in 5-10gr increments then fine tune from there.

Remember an accurate shot is better than one off the mark going a little faster.