.58 cal. Green Mountain barrel

[ndbilly]

Have not had a chance to fire it yet (weather) but another thread got me thinking. Man had a .58 cal. from someone other than GM that would not swallow .570 RBs. Anyone have any experience with GM barrels in this caliber? I have some .570 and .575 balls and two different thicknesses of patch material figuring that among the four variables I'll find a combination that works. Getting to the range from where I live is a production so I don't want to get there and find that I should have brought along a box of smaller RB's. As always, comments appreciated.

 

[MikeChapin]

I have a GM .58 barrel on a flint Hawken I built a couple of years ago. It shoot well with either a .570 with a .020 patch or a .562 with a .034 heavy denim patch. I don't have any .595 balls but imagine that they would be all right with a .015 or so patch. The thick patches need a rap with the short starter to get them started but go down smooth after that.

For 25 and 50 yard target shooting I use 50 grains 3F and for 100 yard and hunting I use 90 grains 3F.

 

[rabbit03]

I have a 58 GM barrel and it loves the .575 and shoots it well with a .020 thickness patch. I think it would probably shoot the .570's also but have not tried them.

rabbit03

 

[roundball]

I use Hornady .570s + .018" pillow ticking in my GM .58cal Flint barrel...extremely accurate barrel/caliber

 

[chapmans]

I have a .58 GM and it shoots extremly well with .570 Speer and 90 gr. ffg Goex (hunting load)
I use 70 gr. ffg on woods walks and such. I use .017" drill cloth for patch and use spit or Murphy's Oil soap for target shooting and Hodgden's Spit Patch for hunting.
Longball 58

 

[Dillohide]

The 58 Cal Green Mountain barrel on my Renegade loves .570 rb and .18 patch ticking.

 

[doulos]

I use .570 hornadys and .018 patches in my Green Mountain .58. Havent tried anything else this combo shoots better than expected.

 

[roundball]

I use .570 hornadys and .018 patches in my Green Mountain .58. Havent tried anything else this combo shoots better than expected.

And they don't seem to be sensitive to any one powder charge either...so far I've tried 60 & 70grns Goex 3F as plinking loads...80/90/100grns Goex 2F as deer hunting loads...and it seems that all I have to do is get the front end in the general direction of the target and they just go into the bullseye...incredible accuracy

 

[ndbilly]

Music to my ears! Thanks, boys.

 

[Otter]

To my ears, too. After having read about the difficulty in getting a .575 ball down a .58 bore in another thread here-abouts, I was wondering if I had made a mistake in building my rifle with a GM .58 barrel. Thank you all for at least temporarily delaying my fears . . .

 

[Galen Futtrell]

I HAVE BEN LOOKING TO BUY A G/M 58 CAL BARREL, YOU GUYS MAKE ME WANT ONE EVEN MORE. THANK'S :bow:

 

[Swampman]

I'm fixin' to order one for the Renegade I have on layaway. I have a box of .570 Hornadys that I plan to use. I'd like to try some .562s as well. Thanks for the info guys. I'm hoping I can find a good FFF load. I don't like to use FF if I can help it.

 

[roundball]

To my ears, too. After having read about the difficulty in getting a .575 ball down a .58 bore in another thread here-abouts, I was wondering if I had made a mistake in building my rifle with a GM .58 barrel. Thank you all for at least temporarily delaying my fears . . .

IMO, no mistake at all...I think the .58cal is a tremendous caliber...I'm not a competition shooter so I always just use nominal size balls per caliber (.010" under bore) with .018" patches.
.440/.490/.530/.570/.600.

.600" in a .62cal you say? Why, that's .020" under bore size, not .010". Ahhh...but t'ain't so in my .62cals...turns out that GM's .62cals are actually only bored to .610"...thought my first one had a problem when I mic'ed it so I called GM...nope...they bore them to .610".

Nominal size balls and .018" pillow ticking in my calibers are snug enough that I can't routinely thumb start them, but they go in easy enough with a short starter...I want the snug combo to get a good seal and reduced fouling but don't want to have to beat a ball in with a hammer...just need "minute of coke can" or "minute of deer". :wink:

 

[Galen Futtrell]

Well I got me a 58cal g/r barrel findly, useing 575rb 80gr triple 7 great deer load, good acuracy.