funktion and accuracy of maxiballs

[PreglerD]

Could any body explain how a maxiball would really work, because it has no hollow base like a minie bullet. Are there wads necessary and which influence have the twist of the barrel on accuracy?

Greetings from GE.

 

[silverfox]

I'll give it a try. The Maxi Ball should be very close to bore diameter. Some of the driving bands should be engraved into the rifling when it is loaded in the bore.
Upon shooting the soft lead will compress a little and seal the bore. The base will swell to fill the rifling.
Your last question yes some people are getting better accuracy when they put a felt wad on top of the powder this helps seal the hot gas from the base of the Maxi and prevents gas cutting or blowby.
Twist in the rifling makes a lot of difference along with length and weight of the Maxi. Most Maxis need 1-48 or faster to shoot well. The longer and heaver the bullet the faster the twist. A short lighter bullet may work in a slower twist you will have to experiment as every barrel is different.
What kind of gun do you have and what twist barrel will bring you closer answers as to what you need to use.
Fox :thumbsup:

 

[PreglerD]

I use a Investarm Hawken cal. 45 and .54. MB are only used in the .45. Further more I have ordered a GPR in .45. The .45 has a 1-48''twist.Seems to work with MB.

 

[BrownBear]

Watching a couple of hunting pards with TC Hawkens (1:48 twist) I can verify that Maxi's are plenty accurate. One of them swears by the felt wads and the other cusses them, so no clear answer till you try them.

On the terminal end, it's hard to criticize the Maxi's for effectiveness on game. Though both get their deer reliably, only one has ever recovered a maxi from a deer. It hit head on in brisket of a good sized buck and traveled full length, stopping under the hide in one ham. A little bit of expansion and virtually no weight loss, but penetration enough for things a lot larger than deer.

 

[PreglerD]

I think the effectivness belongs to the driving bands, comparable to the modern bullets like impala (a full brass or copper bullet). There the bands produce only shock waves to the deer's body and so it is killed. A maxiball could work the same way if it is fast enough. I tested a .45 MB with 75 grs of Swiss No.2. The muzzlevelocity was about 560 m/s similar to 1680 fps.

 

[Mad Monk]

Kirrmeister,
Gruss Gott

The Maxi-Ball design was introduced here when the shallow-groove 1 turn in 48" twist was used by T/C and others.
While the hollow-base minie will work in the same barrel they are sensitive to the powder charge used. Thin skirts not working well with large powder charges and thick skirts not working well with light to moderate powder charges.

If you look at the Maxi-Ball you see that the middle of the projectile has what might be described as a wasp waist design.
As the Maxi-Ball begins to accelerate in the bore it will shorten as the waist expands from the bullet's resistance to being accelerated. This causes the bullet to "obturate" and engage the grooves in the rifling.
This Maxi-Ball design is not as sensitive to different powders and powder charges as is the basic minie design.

The Maxi-Ball is sometimes noted for too much penetration and will sometimes go straight through a deer with a broadside shot.

Your Swiss #2 powder is sold in the U.S. as 3Fg. Tread lightly on how much of that powder you use behind the Maxi-Ball. Your 560 m/s is pushing it a bit fast. If you cannot get acceptable accuracy you might reduce the powder charge or change to a larger grain size. I would suggest the Swiss #4 powder.

If you get a ring of hard fouling in the bore down near the breech it is an indication of too much powder or too small of a grain size.

Are you in Upper Bavaria?

 

[boar]

The TC max-ball and max-hunter only seal in the bore by the top band, when I use them I tap the bottom lightly, this makes them a little harder to load, but they will fit tighter, less chance of them drifting in barrel while hunting. The max-hunter was made for more expansion in deer size game. I use to put them in freezer, heat beeswax in microwave in saucer, drop them in the wax,used a fork to get them in and out. The reason you chill the bullets is so you get a thicker coating on them. These make a quick reload. If real cold out best to carry next to body so don't become to brittle. We have dug these out of wood block and wax still with the bullet. Killed afew deer with these, they work. Been using RB last 10yrs. Dilly

 

[PreglerD]

Hi Mad Monk,

I come from southern bavaria, about 40 km south of Munich near Rosenheim. Do you know the area?

 

[Mad Monk]

Back in 1966 I spent two months in Waldkraiburg at Elastonwerke Bayern. Near Muhldorf am Inn.

In your postings you did not mention what you are going to hunt. Roe deer or Red Deer?

My memory of the deer I saw at night around Waldkraiburg was that they were a bit smaller than the white tail deer we see here in southeastern Pennsylvania. Of course some nights my vision was a bit clouded by a good bit of Thurn und Taxis "mertzen" beer.

My caution in your use of the Swiss powder rests on the strength of the Swiss powder. That powder is every bit the equal of the old sporting powders "Mit Nassbrand" that had been used extensively in Germany during the latter-half of the 1800's. The Swiss plant, process and raw materials closely match that of the old German powder works at that time.

When the Swiss learned that I had been shooting 70 to 80 grain charges of the #2 powder in my Investarms .50 caliber Trade Rifle they thought I was a bit crazy. They suggest the #2 powder (our 3F) be used up to .36 caliber and then the #3 powder (2F) for .45 and .50 caliber.
The Swiss powder is very powerful compared to the WANO shooting powders you have available to you.

 

[PreglerD]

Hi Mad Monk,

the deer you saw were roes. In the area of Waldkraiburg there are no red deer herds at all.I'm hunting in my own hunting ground near Holzkirchen, about 30 km south of munich. The area round Mühldorf I also know, because in Mühldorf there is a station of the Federal Police, where I'm serving.
ML-hunting is not very common in GE.I try to changge this. I use a Investarm Hawken cal.45 and .54.
You are right swiss powder is very hot, but good. I shoot my .54 with .533410 minie and 90 grs Swiss No.2. Brings 1350 fps at the muzzle.

 

[Mad Monk]

Herr Pregler,

I will contact you by private message. What we will discuss is out of the area of this message board.

 

[PreglerD]

Certainly we will do so.Hope to hear from you soon.

 

[Dphar]

I have never bothered hunting with Maxi-balls but some Canadians who have used them on moose and such report that with a 48" twist they become unstable and fail to track straight through the animal. This can effect their killing power since an aimed at vital spot inside the animal may be missed.
This tendency to veer off course is what was found with the slow twist used with Minie balls when they were in use by the worlds militaries.
The maxi will upset to fill the grooves if used with BLACKPOWDER. Some "replica" BPs may not do this.
The hollow base is not needed to upset bullets with BP. I have fired bullets up to .010" under bore diameter with good results from cartridge guns.
The hollow base in the Minie was thought to be necessary but this was a false assumption. Its balance is like a "rifled" shotgun slug, however, and thus it could be used in 6 foot twists typical of the 58 caliber rifle musket of the mid-1800s.
The 58-62-66 round ball is a better hunting projectile than the maxi-ball when properly used. The 54 is little light for animals much over 400 pounds live weight.

Dan