40cal tulip RB's

[ss1]

40cal, GM barrel, 1/48. .020 & .015 telfon patches. .400 rb [+ - .003 ]. Short nylon starter, light hammer, cut patches at muzzle. Ball is deformed.Each barrel Land pushes lead up. The rn ball looks like a TULIP! About 8 little TULIP leaves sticking up. Sone of petals a litter taller than others[ ball slightly out of round ?] Ofcouse, the effect is worse with the .020t than the .015. WHAT IS GOING ON ? IS THIS NORMAL ? Plan to slug barrel today. .395 & .020t also makes tulips. .395 / .015 appears to be ok.

 

[bwhoffman]

I have been shooting homespun .395 from pure lead, no alloy, .015 cotton patches. this is in my GM barrel on the TC. I cant thumb start them but I dont have to whack them hard either.
No cut patches, they look pretty good when I go look at them.
I also have a .400 mold for a 41 smoothbore and there is noway those are going in my GM!
I also found .010 patches too think and cut easily on the lands.

 

[paulvallandigham]

First, DO measure the bore of that new barrel. Second, many shooters use the .390 Diameter balls, with the .015 Patches. Easier loading, less cutting of both patches and the ball, and excellent accuracy. The .40 cal. is a high performance caliber, and the loads tend to send that ball out the barrel in the " Gee-Whiz " range of speeds, often approaching 2000 fps. That little ball gets bumped pretty good so that it pushed out and fills the grooves with that patching well to seal the bore. If your rifle is a little wider in diameter, you may want to use the .390 with a thicker patch, say .018 ", or 020 ". The very last thing you want to do is recrown that muzzle.

 

[ss1]

If others can shoot bore sise balls with .020t, why can't I??

 

[roundball]

Mic your barrel land to land...maybe it's a few thousandths undersize.
I use .395's in my GM .40cal and have to use a short starter but it's deadly accurate

 

[ss1]

Thr barrel measures, with digidal mike, .424 and .402 ! .011 groves sounds ok.

 

[Stubert]

try .010 UNDER ball to start, with a .015 --.018 patch

 

[paulvallandigham]

Becasue you are cutting patches now. Maybe if you change how you lube the patches, or change something else, it will work. But not now. I had a foreign made gun with a very sharp muzzle. I wrapped fine emery cloth over the handle of a file, and used the butt end to knock off the sharp edges on my rifleing so I would stop cutting patches. The rifling consisted of " scratches " in the barrel, with virtually no depth to the grooves. So, I used a .445 ball, and .010" patches in that gun. It was very accurate, after I rounded that mozzle to stop the patch cutting. I tried using .440 " diameter balls and a .015 patch, and while they shot okay, I did not get the accuracy I did using the .445, and the smaller patch. They were also harder to seat, as there just wasn't any room for the extra material of the .015 patch to Go, as there would have been with cutting rifling and deeper grooves. My brother has a new .45, with an American-made barrel, and is using .440 balls and a .015 patching, and the combination loads easily, and seems to shoot as good as anyone could dream. Patches look fine when we pick them up and examine them. He wants to play around a little with .018, and .020" patches , just to see if a tighter patch will produce smaller groups.

Roundball is right about measurements being second only to hands on experience. You have to take the gun out and shoot it to figure out what will finally work the best. The loading data and suggestions on combinations we give here will generally get you on the paper at 50 yds. However, only playing around with different powders, loads, patches, lubes, and different diameter balls will you be able to find what works with a given gun.

Best of luck to you.

 

[ss1]

I have been told to day that the TULIP design WILL NOT affect accury. Just bore size balls deforming. Will get better as shot.

 

[renovato]

Did you slug the bore and measure the slug? You can't accurately measure the bore itself. Sounds like the balls are too big. Try the next size down. I've ran into similar problems in the past when trying to work up a load. If it doesn't effect accuracy, don't let it worry you. It did effect mine.