Really hard to load.

Where can I get a .487 RB mold for my rifle. Its a flfty but I have to drive a .490 down the bore. Rips the Heck out of the patch. What am I doing wrong?

How thick is the patch? Have you measured the bore?

Commercial TC patch of.10. Hornady ball .490. drove in a Maxi ball and pulled it and unless I am reading it wrong it looks to be a.50 barrel.

I don't know of any commercial mould-makers producing any to cast .487" round ball, although you can get a custom mould in virtually any size from Larry Callahan or Tanner. About the closest you will get in a ready-made, commercial mould is the .480" six-cavity Lee Precision mould from Track of the Wolf.

However, you can get pre-cast .487" round balls by Missouri Bullet Company from Graf & Son. I would not rule out .480" balls, either. It won't hurt to try them. Hornady is still producing swaged balls in this size, and they are widely available. We have discussed this at least a couple of times, and it turns out that several of us here on this forum prefer to shoot .480" round balls in our .50 caliber rifles and pistols.

It may also be helpful to know what kind of rifle or barrel you are shooting. It is not uncommon for the actual bore diameter to be slightly smaller than the nominal or stated size.

Best regards,

Notchy Bob

I would lap the barrel with some polish compound. I use a paste for stropping knives.
Propably make it easier to load and clean.

jd945043 said:

Where can I get a .487 RB mold for my rifle. Its a flfty but I have to drive a .490 down the bore. Rips the Heck out of the patch. What am I doing wrong?

Click to expand...

You haven't identified the make of the barrel, but that is really of little consequence. Is the barrel new or used? New barrels often are delivered with very sharp edges at the crown and the lands.

Is the ripping of the patch round or cuts from the lands?

The circular cuts mean the crown is too sharp and needs to be smoothed. The cuts from the lands indicate the sharp corners of the lands need to be polished out.

All you need for the crown is some 320 and 400 grit wet or dry sandpaper and your thumb. Put your sandpaper over your thumb and rotate the muzzle under your thumb until the crown is smooth.

A bit trickier for the lands, as you should have a smaller caliber jag (a 45 for the 50 caliber barrel) and some green Scotch Brite abrasive to run up and down the barrel about 200 to 400 times to polish out the sharp corners. Change the Scotch Brite often to keep the abrasive fresh.

I'm going to echo in this conversation.
I have been shooting a T/C New Englander .50 this summer and fall.
Using a .490 Hornady with blue pillow ticking at .012.
Always takes strong effort to seat enough to cut the patch.
Ugh ! Then a mallet to get the ball started. I can't believe this. And I know it should not be.
I've never had a bore so tight as this.
Funny thing is that those patches - lubed with Mink tallow are recovered in great shape. No tears or rips.
Next time out I'll try a .010 patch.
After that start over with .480 RB.

jd945043 said:

Commercial TC patch of.10. Hornady ball .490. drove in a Maxi ball and pulled it and unless I am reading it wrong it looks to be a.50 barrel.

Click to expand...

If you are having issues, make sure you know the exact bore size. Measure the bore or slug it, and measure the slug. You will then know what you are dealing with.
Good luck!
Larry

I’ve had two almost identical guns from the same maker (Lyman) have variations in the bore size. One loaded .490 balls fine, but the other was ungodly tight. If you can’t measure the bore, you can try a box of .480’s and see what they’re like.

Trying ball of .480" is a good way to go. Polishing the barrel crown will help if patches have tears. Sharp crowns are more often than not the cause of patches tearing. Even if the patches are in fine shape a good polishing of the crown can often help with tight loading.

Notchy Bob said:

However, you can get pre-cast .487" round balls by Missouri Bullet Company from Graf & Son. I would not rule out .480" balls, either. It won't hurt to try them. Hornady is still producing swaged balls in this size, and they are widely available.

Click to expand...

Good suggestion. Order some and try. Once you determine ball size that best suits you, do order a mould from Tanner. Highly reccomended.

I use .480 balls, with pillow ticking patch.

If it is loading hard now, .003 isn't going to help.

Thanks Men I knew you would have sage advice

jd945043 said:

Where can I get a .487 RB mold for my rifle. Its a flfty but I have to drive a .490 down the bore. Rips the Heck out of the patch. What am I doing wrong?

Click to expand...

Try this site. In England, but shipping is quick and quality high.

Frosty

https://www.ballmoulds.com/

No expert here, but I had the same issue on a 50 cal pistol. I took a Dremmel with a small grinding stone and crowned the muzzle. Bingo! No more using the ball starter as a mallet

If your patches are lubed with bore butter or similar, add some hoppes or other liquid lube. The balls will load much easier.

I use sandpaper on a dowel to polish the edge of the muzzle. You just have to round the edge of the crown and the grooves. There are also some small sandpaper rods available in the plastic model dept. at Hobby Lobby.
I just ordered some .487s from the Missouri Bullet Company. $14.50/100. www.missouribullet.com