Anyone Double Patch thier round balls? Shooting Charleville Smoothie!

I'm having trouble getting the right size balls for my 1766 Charleville. Well, truly, I don't even know what is the right size. Some have said .625" is about right. I don't like the idea of shooting .675" round balls without a patch due to leading. I know some folks do that and just hold the ball in with tow.
How much will the patch twill compress? Double patch more compression I'm thinking. I'm probably going to order several sizes when I do order. Also, in my mind as crud builds up having the next size smaller ball would allow you to continue shooting before a clean, up. I ordered some from Dixie, but they ran out in the mean time and now I have to re-order. TOTW has a good selection.
What say you Charleville shooters?

You won't have any leading. Your not going fast enough.
A felt or leather thin wad wet with vegetable or animal oil or fat will keep the fouling nice and soft.
Your over thinking it pard.

In saying that in desperation I have double patched a .562" ball in my .630" and it does work but would I substitute that when I have a choice? No way. Give me a .600"+ any day.

PluggedNickel said:

I'm having trouble getting the right size balls for my 1766 Charleville. Well, truly, I don't even know what is the right size. Some have said .625" is about right. I don't like the idea of shooting .675" round balls without a patch due to leading. I know some folks do that and just hold the ball in with tow.
How much will the patch twill compress? Double patch more compression I'm thinking. I'm probably going to order several sizes when I do order. Also, in my mind as crud builds up having the next size smaller ball would allow you to continue shooting before a clean, up. I ordered some from Dixie, but they ran out in the mean time and now I have to re-order. TOTW has a good selection.
What say you Charleville shooters?

Click to expand...

Firstly, find out what the bore of you musket really is. Then decide if you want to shoot patched ball, wadded ball, or cartridge. When you’ve sorted that, there’ll be two dozen different recommendations on sizes of ball for each. Lol. Seriously though, you need to know what your bore size is first. Good luck with your smoothy

I often do it as a matter of course, stacking thin and thick to come up with new thicknesses for tests. Never have seen a problem with accuracy or any other reason not to do it.

There was the day I showed up at the range with a 58 caliber rifle and .490 balls. I was less than a mile from home, but decided to experiment rather than drive. I can't recall exactly how many .018 patches it took to make up the size difference, but surely up around 10. And once the combo got tight in the bore accuracy was normal.

Another time I got into the hills with a 62 caliber rifle and no spare patches. And needed a second shot. Started to just bare-ball it, but on second though started whacking chunks off my t-shirt to make a patch. That one I recall. It took 6 hunks of t-shirt to make a tight load. Finished the deed of cleaning up after my bum shot.

Your Charleville ought to be a 0.690" diameter bore. The 0.675 ball with a lubricated 0.015" (tight) or 0.010" patch should work just fine without the need to bare ball. A nest of tow will also position the ball in the barrel and keep it in place. If the ball is wrapped in a paper cartridge, the paper used a a wad and the paper surrounding the ball is a good choice. I will dip the ball end of a paper cartridge in a melted bee's wax and olive oil mix for lubrication of the paper cartridge.

As stated by others, leading at the low velocities will not be a problem.

Found the bore on my 45 Kentucky to be .459. Was having accuracy issues at range using .440 and .010 patch. Got home and figured it and tried a .018 out back. Still a bit wanky. Didn't have thicker so I used 2 .010s. Fit was real good. Test fired and on the money. Shot was bit sharper too. Going to try a .451 and 1 .010. Think if the patch and round can be thumb pressed to flush to barrel then fit too loose is good general rule.

I foul the bore of my Charleville and shoot a bare .670 ball until starts to snag (12 or so rounds) then run a dry brush and dump the fouling.

Thanks to all. Lots of ways to skin a cat! As I said I’m having troubles finding the size I want in stock. Being able to double patch seems like a good way to make do with a smaller ball if I can’t get what I need. My Charleville is .690” bore
It seems a ball with sprue cut would cause inaccuracy in a smooth bore. Perhaps not if patched tightly?
Yes, Brit I tend to overthink it. It is a lot to sort out for a newbie, and I hadn’t expected finding my balls would be so difficult. Then again, at least one member is of the opinion I couldn’t find my ass if all ten of my fingers were flashlights!