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I don’t know anything about rasped ball. Is there a problem of the patches sticking to them? Otherwise they sound interesting. Also can you put a .69 cal ball in a .69 cal barrel with a patch?

I’m asking these questions just to learn.
 
The claim is made that the marks from the rasps act like the dimples on a golf ball, but there is no study that has verified that the rasping of a round ball will imprive the air flow over the surface of a golf ball. As Loyalist Dave pointed out the rasping will raise the surface of the round ball allowing the ball to be better centered in the barrel.

Some shooters see improvement in accuracy and others see no change. I believe that the ball needs to be close to the bore size for rasping the ball to be effective.
 
So if your barrel measures 0.69, what size ball do you start with before you rasp it?
I shoot my smoothbore with rasped balls. I use a ball that is .005 under bore size. So my gun measures .600 so I use a .595. I wad with Spanish moss on top and below the ball. Once the fouling starts to build you could just use an in un-rasped ball. I usually use the rasped ball when deer hunting or the first few shots of a match. I have gotten great accuracy using this method. I have shot in smooth bore matches against guys pounding tight patched balls down the bore and took 1st place multiple times!
 
Toklo Elee,
So what is Spanish moss? Does any of it get between the ball and the bore or is it just a type of wad? Why do you put it on top of the ball also? What powder do you use?
Thanks
 
Spanish Moss is a parasitic growth found on trees in the coastal south east United States of America. In Europe and most of the US, tow from the processing of flax into linen is a good was material.
 
I wanted to put this information out for others to know and am interested in comments on what members think and if they have heard about or even tried any of these things.

Thanks for your comments.

Greg

WELCOME to the Forum, Greg!

Like Hanshi, I always got my best accuracy from a patched ball in a flintlock smooth bore.

Since you are new here, you might consider a card over the powder, then a lubed wad and finally a patched ball. Another forum member George recommended that and got exceptional accuracy. I've not been able to try it myself, but Spence had loads of good information, so I'm going to try it one day.

Gus
 
I am not in a position to argue over the finer points of comparative accuracy of different systems but the thick felt, ball, cream thin felt is easy and permits multiple shots. For quick and easy loading at the range, making paper cartridges is simple and quick to load. Vide Grenier will provide you with plenty of pre 1850 paper for easy cartridge making Greg in unreadable old books for little cost and they are not as inaccurate as some think if well made and well rammed to form the paper sabot around the ball. However, the individual may choose what they will or try all known methods they wish.
 
Toklo Elee,
So what is Spanish moss? Does any of it get between the ball and the bore or is it just a type of wad? Why do you put it on top of the ball also? What powder do you use?
Thanks
The question to what Spanish moss is has been addressed but you also asked how I use it. The live Spanish moss is rolled into a ball and placed on top of the powder charge(60 grains of fffg ) then the ball next. If I am hunting I put another wad on top of the ball to prevent any load shift. Any fibrous material like tow would serve the same purpose.....the felt wads the other gentleman mentioned would serve the same purpose.
I started shooting Flint smoothbore matches back in the 80s. I loaded using a patched ball because that is what I saw everyone else doing. About 15 years ago I started to get interested in trade guns and how they were historically loaded. That is when I realized that the historic quotes combined with the few extant loaded guns x-rayed to "Wadding". Good luck in your shooting......I find the experimentation associated with muzzleloaders to be part of the reward
Boon Chance!
David
 
I do make a wad of tow, picked hemp, picked wool yarn, picked cotton, and I’ve tried dog hair. A make a ball of the stuff that has to be pushed in to bore but leaving a bit out and ragged. Then push a ball in as it makes a little nest.
 
I have to smoothbores, essentially the same gauge. One likes a patched .600 ball in it's .620 bore, and not a super tight one either. The other,,,,,, no patched ball combo I tried would equal the 1st gun. The closest it came was a .595 ball with a .010 patch, and still wasn't as good, but, easy to load, bore is .615 on that gun.Not good enough.
So based on the experience of Spence and others I started trialing wad and ball combos. Instant improvement. Loading powder, thin card, lubed felt wad, .600 ball, thin card to hold it all in, produced the best groups yet. This was all at 25 yards off the bench, no sense shooting at 50 if it won't group at 25. Tried that load at 50, okay but not good enough, on the right track though. Tried more and less powder, not much change. Different wad, lubed shredded jute twine used like tow (group size grew and went higher), 2 thin cards between powder and wad (slight improvement). Anyway, final solution was a .610 ball in my .615 bore sitting atop 85grains 3f with 2 thin cards and a lubed felt wad, held in by 2 thin cards.
I would like to find a way to get the same results with a simpler loading process, but no luck as of yet.
One advantage is that it is very easy to pull a ball if need be. I've pulled ball due to a few days of hunting in wet weather with no shots taken and questioning the integrity of the load, not once was the powder fouled, and pulling the ball leaves the powder and wads under it in the gun, allowing for a quick switch to a shot load sitting atop the same powder and wad combo.
 
Toklo Elee,
So what is Spanish moss? Does any of it get between the ball and the bore or is it just a type of wad? Why do you put it on top of the ball also? What powder do you use?
Thanks
Driving south I seen trees full of it. It is a strange sight. I would never have thought it as a wad in guns.
 
It makes great wadding......it scrubs the bore as you load so it helps with the fouling. The live moss has moisture inside so when you shoot it helps keep the fouling soft......I get great compression on my shots with plenty of knock down power. Ive killed several deer with that method of loading
David
 
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