.92 Belgian Trade Gun

[William Naquin]

We're talking smoothbore. To my knowledge, no lands or grooves, right? So, from smoothbore diameter of .92, subtract what number to determine ball mold caliber? I only own guns that shoot, and I make my guns as serviceable as possible. Never know when an escaped rhinoceros is going to lumber into my yard...

 

[Stumpkiller]

If it's smoothbore it's all groove and no lands. Or is that all land and no grooves . . . I'm not too sure. ;-)

I shoot 0.648" balls well in my 0.662" smoothbore. I paper patch (in cartridges) to make a snug fit.

 

[tc1969]

Perhaps trying a thicker patch material should get you a better fit in the barrel. It will also increase the pressure. When I shoot my 1842 musket a .678 bareball will come out of the barrel with a noticable decrease in speed compared to a patched one.Can you give an indication of the power/performance of this round?

 

[tc1969]

I read somwhere that in the advertisements for these guns it was said that the stock spike was there so that a hunter could run up under an elephant stick the spike into the ground and fire into the beast! :rotf:

 

[Matt85]

i would try the thickest possible patching material that you can still get the ball down the barrel with.

in your case maby .018 or even .020 and possibly larger as its hard to say without seeing the barrel.

-matt

 

[rafterob]

Felt is not a great patch material,it is not woven. May be thick but it will separate easily. As mentioned .018 or .020 should work well. Look for cotton duck material, heavy denim and the like. WIth a ball that large an overpowder wad would more than likely help.

 

[William Naquin]

I don't think I will attempt that just yet...

 

[BillinOregon]

Well I for one am jealous. What a neat old cannon. Get a pal to take a video of you shooting it and put it on Youtube. I am not surprised that it is starting to "come alive" at 160 grains plus. Samuel Baker listed 14 drams of powder as typical loads for 4- and 8-bore elephant guns in the mid-19th century. That's 382 grains!

 

[Grandpa Ron]

I shoot a ball .020” under bore size, with a .020” patch. That is a .600” ball in my .620” barrel with a .020” pillow ticking patch. Such a combination is a snug load as you are compressing the patch to half its thickness. The ball certainly should not fall out.

As mentioned wool of felt are generally not good patch material.

It would be helpful to know some information about your barrel. Some Blunderbuss barrels are a long taper from bell to breach so a tight fitting patch loosens as the ball travels up the barrel.

If you cannot get a good ball/patch combination you can always switch to a powder/wadding/ball/wad load.

I have used shredded sisal rope or tow for wadding. I use a thickness equal to the bore diameter between powder and ball and a thin layer on top to hold the ball in place.

Good luck

 

[Britsmoothy]

I would be concerned about a soft lead ball obturating to much in your gun. I have issues in 12g sometimes! As the ball mass increases the more it wants to turn cylindrical! May need a haeder ball!

Just cut some various fabrics an try. Simple cottons and demin may be all you need considering the steady pace etc plus a good lube.

B.

 

[Robert Egler]

Never know when an escaped rhinoceros is going to lumber into my yard...

:rotf: :rotf: Dang right! I hate it when that happens! Ya gotta be prepared for that sort of thing! :thumbsup:

 

[Wes/Tex]

I heard that too years ago...nice to know it's till getting laughs. The actual "thingy" on the butt plate provided a method to help prevent the barrel from drifting down while shooting competitively and usually goes by "Swiss Federal" or "Schutzen", which would indicate Swiss or German origin. Since these guns were originally designed for 'the trade', I'd suspect somebody thought, "Those little guys need all the help they can get."

 

[Flint62Smoothie]

If it's smoothbore it's all groove and no lands. Or is that all land and no grooves . . . I'm not too sure.

You meant, of course, to say the lands = the grooves!

 

[Stumpkiller]

That works too!

0.000" groove depth. Round bottom no less. ;-)