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Conical bullets?

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Gooddaytoya!

40 Cal
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This forum is very interesting! Some of the statements conflict with what I've "learned" from others over the years. No big deal, it's bound to happen. One instance of that is the talk on this forum about using conicals or mini balls. I've read many times, including I think from October Country, that no one should load any boolit the rifle is not specifically designed for. Comments anyone?
 
For an example, a slow twist barrel like a 1/66 is ideally suited for a patched round ball not a conical bullet.
Generally speaking, the faster twist barrels are designed to shoot conicals.
 
For an example, a slow twist barrel like a 1/66 is ideally suited for a patched round ball not a conical bullet.
Generally speaking, the faster twist barrels are designed to shoot conicals.

Minies also like a slower twist.

In black powder you can shoot pretty much anything that will fit down the bore within reason but there's no guarantee of anything resembling accuracy. Some twist rate/rifling depth/# grooves, etc are better suited to one type of boolit over another. I've also seen two supposedly identical guns shoot completely different loads. Go figure. Welcome to the weirdness.
 
Was the Hornady PA Conical designed for the TC Penn Hunter which has a slow twist? Always heard they were.
It's possible. I always thought it was a kinda copy of the old Buffalo Bullet Company "ballette" conical.
At any rate, I have good luck with the PA conicals in a couple of my pistols.
 
The Hornady PA conical and the Buffalo ballet both shoot reasonably well out of some of my slow-twist rifles. At least in my case, they both shoot considerably better with a wad over the powder and shoot very nearly as well as patched round balls in some of my rifles.
 
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