Odd caliber

[brianpa40]

I have a .577 caliber percussion rifle I've had for years but have been on the fence about round ball size and patch thickness.
Any suggestions.
Thanks

 

[SDSmlf]

I have a .577 caliber percussion rifle I've had for years but have been on the fence about round ball size and patch thickness.
Any suggestions.
Thanks

I have always used the general rule of thumb to start with a ball .010 under bore diameter (.567” ideally in your case) and patch material that when compressed fills the windage between the ball and bore (.010”/2 or .005”) plus the depth of rifling. What is the depth of the rifling and the twist rate in your gun?

I’m not sure where you could find .567” roundballs, but you could order a custom mold or possibly try a .562” roundball mold from Lee for less than $40 and make up the difference with patch thickness. This assumes you have a twist rate and depth of rifling suitable for patched roundballs. You would need to provide more information about the bore of your rifle before a better recommendation could be made.
https://www.trackofthewolf.com/Categories/PartDetail.aspx/1202/2/LEE-562-DC

 

[TDM]

Listen to what @SDSmlf says on this. He is correct.

 

[brianpa40]

I have a .562 mold and have shot som

I have always used the general rule of thumb to start with a ball .010 under bore diameter (.567” ideally in your case) and patch material that when compressed fills the windage between the ball and bore (.010”/2 or .005”) plus the depth of rifling. What is the depth of the rifling and the twist rate in your gun?

I’m not sure where you could find .567” roundballs, but you could order a custom mold or possibly try a .562” roundball mold from Lee for less than $40 and make up the difference with patch thickness. This assumes you have a twist rate and depth of rifling suitable for patched roundballs. You would need to provide more information about the bore of your rifle before a better recommendation could be made.
https://www.trackofthewolf.com/Categories/PartDetail.aspx/1202/2/LEE-562-DC

I have a .562 mold and have shot some with .15 patch and it is ok but I was just wandering if there was some other size that might work better.
Thanks for the input

 

[TFoley]

I have a .577 caliber percussion rifle I've had for years but have been on the fence about round ball size and patch thickness.
Any suggestions.
Thanks

Who made your .577cal rifle? You know, of course, that they were not designed to shoot a ball of any kind.

 

[brianpa40]

Who made your .577cal rifle? You know, of course, that they were not designed to shoot a ball of any kind.

I've had this for years. The stock, lock and trigger are from 1859 ( date inside lock with town name in France where it was made )
It started as a musket and was changed to a breach loader then to this (minus the scope). No name on the barrel but the rifling is 1 in 66 and is around .043 deep. Barrel is 32 inches long and 1 1/8 inches across.
I have no idea how old the barrel its self is. Gun weighs 13Lbs.