Deer Loads for .62 Smoothbore

[TomW]

Hi Everybody just joined forum today. Already read a lot of helpful info.
I'm new at hunting smooth bore flintlock. Just finished completing the gun (after a year).
And have fired it a few times to be certain it didn't blow up. Now I need to ask a couple, maybe dumb, questions.
First of all I've seen are references to a "tightly patched" round ball. Soo what the heck is that.
I have so far fired a .600 ball and a .010 patch. It was snug but probably not "tight", over 70 gr 2F.
Only shooting 20 yds or so initially, but shot to point of aim..
I don't know if larger ball or patch will make a difference. Will it get "stuck".Any recommendations? Thanks.

 

[Britsmoothy]

Congrats on your new build, that's way ahead of me.
In my smoothbores I am avoiding using patches. To fiddly and hard to load (usually but doesn't have to be).
I bare ball on leather or felt or a few things cards and something on top.
Plenty good beyond 30yds on deer for me.
My .45 smooth bore loaded the same I am aiming at rabbits heads to 30+!

 

[BrownBear]

I've clanked exactly one deer with my 62 smoothie. Load was 80 grains of 1f under a patched ball, and the shot was broadside at about 40 yards. It sure did the job, and far as I know the ball is still whistling off through the sticks.

 

[Sparkitoff]

I've tried a # of sizes of projectile and found a .626 fits best in mine. It will not fall down the barrel freely but you can shake it and it will move within the barrel. Pushing with the rod is easy. I do not use a patch. I've tried but got large patterns instead of tight groups. I load a cushion wad that I lightly lube on the sides by hand. No lube on bottom (against powder) or top (against ball). I use a card wad over the ball. My gun is percussion and responds well with 70-80 grains of FFFg. First, there is a 10 grain range because if I load the ball I usually use a volumetric measure. However, when I load shot I use a measured cup. Sometimes I grab one or the other, and the amount of powder varies slightly. With a front sight only it is still dead on at 30-yards with either amount of powder. Next, I know a larger grain powder is usually a recommended starting place but I had slow ignition and FFFg solved that in my gun. I've chronographed the load and it is 1480 fps (with 80 grains). I cannot recall with certainty the ball weight but offhand I think 335 grains. It is accurate enough for deer hunting and has always zipped through southern whitetail deer and medium sized hogs with no issues. I have some Remington Power Piston 20 gauge slugs with the Foster style lead projectile. The box says 7/8 ounce (352.5 grains) and 1410 FPS. That's pretty darn close ballistics to this smoothbore load. I've not shot deer with them but that is what they were designed for. I hope this is helpful.

 

[No Deer]

I use a .60 ball with pillow tick patch (0.20") over 75 grains of 3f powder. This is a fairly tight (I use a short starter) combination, but works well for me. I have taken many deer (I limit myself to 50 yards), and a bear (approximately 20 yards) with this load.

 

[Black Hand]

Hi Everybody just joined forum today. Already read a lot of helpful info.
I'm new at hunting smooth bore flintlock. Just finished completing the gun (after a year).
And have fired it a few times to be certain it didn't blow up. Now I need to ask a couple, maybe dumb, questions.
First of all I've seen are references to a "tightly patched" round ball. Soo what the heck is that.
I have so far fired a .600 ball and a .010 patch. It was snug but probably not "tight", over 70 gr 2F.
Only shooting 20 yds or so initially, but shot to point of aim..
I don't know if larger ball or patch will make a difference. Will it get "stuck".Any recommendations? Thanks.

75-80gr of FFFg, 0.010 Egyptian cotton lubed with Bear grease and a 0.600 ball is what I use. You should not need to hammer the ball down. If your ball went where you aimed it, leave it alone...

 

[Black Hand]

Smoothbores are far less forgiving with tolerance issues since there is no extra space (rifling) for patching to go. In other words, the ball/patch combinations will go down until they won't...

 

[TomW]

Thanks for all the input.
I'll experiment with some of these options. Interesting that some of you don't use a patch, I'll try it. This week-end starts gun season in Ky.
I'll try some different combinations. Where I will hunt will be 30 yds. max. So I should be o.k. if I can get a good broadside shot.

 

[hanshi]

The bore is a little tight in my smoothbore .62. I find a .600" ball, .012" to .015" patch and 70 grains of 3F to be accurate and very effective on deer.