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Round balls in muskets...help.

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I have several repro muskets and I want to try some round ball in them for hunting.

Any suggestions would be appreciated. I have seen discussions that the rifling may present issues...if that’s the case, how do you work around it?

I have .570 balls and lots of patches of different sizes. Was thinking of starting at about 70 grains of 2F to see what I get.

Anyone have some experience to share?
 
I’m very confused.
1. If your guns have rifling, they’re not muskets
2. You talk about using .570 balls, but don’t say what caliber the guns are.
3. Several- are they all the same caliber
4. I suggest you start again. What guns are you talking about. What caliber(s) Are they flint/percussion. Are they rifled or smoothbore.what do you want to hunt.
 
I used to have a Traditions 12 guage shotgun (single) that I fired PRB out of and I could hit an oil can at 25 yds on demand, offhand, maybe a little further. If you're using a rifled musket in .58 caliber you can expect good accuracy at least to 100 yards, but you will have to experiment with powder charges. 70 grains of ffg sounds like a good place to start. I once witnessed some outstanding shooting with 1842 smoothbore muskets and buck and ball loads. They were devastating...P.S. I believe Mike Venturino once had an article in Guns and Ammo magazine called 'A Sporting Battle Plan' that explored using Civil War repro muskets for deer. Main problem he had was the sights on the guns, as I recall. Good luck in your quest, and keep us posted!
 
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IF you are shooting a smoothbore and it is a 75 caliber, this is what I shoot in an India made Bess Long Land:
70-75 gr 2f real black, an overpowder card from TOTW, a .735 home cast round ball patched with a .010 mink lubed cotton.
Out to 50 yards, I would have no issues taking a deer with this. It will consistently shoot a 3" group. Beyond 50, it becomes erratic.
BTW - I added a "temporary" buckhorn sight to the gun for the sole purpose of using it to hunt next season.
 
Brazosland,
Sounds like maybe you have an American Civil War [ACW], rifled musket in .58 caliber, since you posted this in the Percussion Rifle section, yes?

So a lot of guys try .570 round ball, and use a .010 to .015 thick patching material, lubed. (Sometimes though folks get good results with patching as thick as .018)

The lube can be spit, but a lot of folks when hunting, and some when target shooting like to use something else. For hunting I like to use a mixture of 1/3 beeswax, and 2/3 olive oil. I melt the beeswax as I heat the oil, mix them, and then allow them to cool. This makes a soft grease, and I rub this into the cloth patching material only on the side that touches the barrel. The side that touches the ball, I leave "dry".

I think you should start out at 60 grains of powder, and depending on how your adjustable powder measure is marked, increase upwards by either five or ten grains as you test accuracy. 60 grains and higher is just fine for deer..., so whatever you find is the most accurate will be the trick.

LD
 
Hi,
I have shot a .570 round ball in a .58 Cal. Zouave rifled musket for years.
70 grains of 2f with a lube as mentioned above will take moose and deer ( elk most likely ) with ease at seventy five yards.
BUT! You have to practice, and practice a lot. If you cannot hit a quart can at seventy five yards, ten times out of ten, you have not practiced enough.
3/4" metal plates make fun targets, the smaller the better. Those targets have to be thick metal, because those .58 balls will tear most metal targets apart. That .58 ball and 70 grains of powder started the magnum craze of years gone by.
Those rifled .58 cal. guns can shoot.
I replied to this topic thinking you were speaking of the same.
Fred
 
brazosland:
The usual 3-groove, shallow type of rifling used in most rifle-muskets does not lend itself to shooting patched round balls. However, with experimentation you can probably find a load combination that will give acceptable hunting accuracy. What works for my with my guns may not work for you with yours, but generally, the tighter the patch/ball combination the better the accuracy. I use a .575 home-cast ball with .018 pillow ticking patch and 60-80 grains of FFg black powder. I also use one or two 24 gauge "over-powder" card wads under the ball. This combination shoots reliable 5 to 6 inch groups at 50 yards when loaded in my Springfield and Enfield rifle-muskets. When working up a load, check your fired patches for burn-through. Gas leakage past the ball destroys accuracy.
 
Assuming you're referring to using a .58 cal rifled musket for deer(?) hunting, you won't find a better projectile than a properly cast and sized mini ball. A 450-500 gr minie is devastating on deer and you don't need a ton of powder to push one through a deer. My original 1863 Springfield will shoot one big hole at 50yds with a 500gr minie and 50 gr of Swiss 3F. Why would I need to try a different load? I used it to take a buck at around 70 yds. He took two steps and fell over. I though I'd missed him. Patched balls can be made to shoot in a 3 groove barrel but you'll have to deal with a number of variables before you get a good load. Lube, patch thickness, ball size, powder charge, powder granulation. You can use a ton of powder getting there. Another advantage of the minie is that it is MUCH faster to reload than a tight fitting patched ball.
 
Hi,
I have shot a .570 round ball in a .58 Cal. Zouave rifled musket for years.
70 grains of 2f with a lube as mentioned above will take moose and deer ( elk most likely ) with ease at seventy five yards.
BUT! You have to practice, and practice a lot. If you cannot hit a quart can at seventy five yards, ten times out of ten, you have not practiced enough.
3/4" metal plates make fun targets, the smaller the better. Those targets have to be thick metal, because those .58 balls will tear most metal targets apart. That .58 ball and 70 grains of powder started the magnum craze of years gone by.
Those rifled .58 cal. guns can shoot.
I replied to this topic thinking you were speaking of the same.
Fred
Since I do a LOT of steel plate shooting, please buy only rated targets and hang them properly. AR500 steel is highly recommended. The bigger and faster the projectile, the thicker the plate. Softer steel will dish out or get pocked. Any deformation in the surface can (and will) cause errant splatter and pieces to go places you do not want them to go. (Dismount soapbox)
 
Some of y’all sure are quick to assume someone doesn’t know much. I have been slapping .54 and .62 caliber balls into deer/hogs/elk and one antelope for the last 27 years.

My oldest son (11) has just become interested in the ACW after a trip to Gettysburg last year for the re-enactments, so now we have four .58 caliber rifled muskets. Two have Hoyt barrels. One of those is an 1841 I had fitted with a Benton screw sight and with paper patched Pritchett bullets we are on a 10 inch plate at 300 yards. The goal is that plate at 600.

Anyway, I wanted to experiment with patched balls since they are cheaper, take less lead, and I think hit just as hard at normal hunting ranges.

Thanks for the helpful replies. I think a very tight patch and lighter loads may be the answer for the shallow rifling in these bores.
 
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I have a number of originals with Hoyt relines, including an 1841 that had been rebored to .58. If you deal with Bobby, then you're obviously an experienced shooter. If I may make a further suggestion, Bobby normally puts progressive depth rifling in his barrels, so a patched ball that is tight, with the patch into the shallow grooves at the muzzle, may have blow by at the breech end and burn patches where the rifling is around .015. A 20 guage fiber cushion wad over the powder might take care of that potential issue. Enjoy your experimenting.
 
Great idea. Thinking about it, I can see how that would be a real problem.

My favorite rifle right now is an 1841 with an original lock and barrel (stock and furniture is all new production...but a premium piece of curly maple) in .54 with the original barrel inside. It shoots amazingly well for a 170 year old barrel. Palm sized groups at 100. It was one of the 1100 Washington arsenal barrels fitted with Benton sights and later converted to a Type 3 sight (which i put on it now). Not really HC with that maple stock, but there isn’t much that’s prettier than an 1841 in a high figure maple stock!
 
Some of y’all sure are quick to assume someone doesn’t know much. I have been slapping .54 and .62 caliber balls into deer/hogs/elk and one antelope for the last 27 years.

My oldest son (11) has just become interested in the ACW after a trip to Gettysburg last year for the re-enactments, so now we have four .58 caliber rifled muskets. Two have Hoyt barrels. One of those is an 1841 I had fitted with a Benton screw sight and with paper patched Pritchett bullets we are on a 10 inch plate at 300 yards. The goal is that plate at 600.

Anyway, I wanted to experiment with patched balls since they are cheaper, take less lead, and I think hit just as hard at normal hunting ranges.

Thanks for the helpful replies. I think a very tight patch and lighter loads may be the answer for the shallow rifling in these bores.
My apologies for sounding negative, but if you re read your original post, there is very little information to go on. Now I see where you are coming from, I’ll leave it to those with far more experience than me. Good luck with your hunting
 
Gemmer: You are correct about this.
"Bobby normally puts progressive depth rifling in his barrels, so a patched ball that is tight, with the patch into the shallow grooves at the muzzle, may have blow by at the breech end and burn patches where the rifling is around .015."

My P-H 2-band Enfield has progressive rifling and would not shoot patched ball loads until I included a 50-grain (measure) of Cream of Wheat filler over the powder charge. That made all the difference in the world as the COW seals powder gasses behind the ball better than a card wad.
 
Some of y’all sure are quick to assume someone doesn’t know much. I have been slapping .54 and .62 caliber balls into deer/hogs/elk and one antelope for the last 27 years.

My oldest son (11) has just become interested in the ACW after a trip to Gettysburg last year for the re-enactments, so now we have four .58 caliber rifled muskets. Two have Hoyt barrels. One of those is an 1841 I had fitted with a Benton screw sight and with paper patched Pritchett bullets we are on a 10 inch plate at 300 yards. The goal is that plate at 600.

Anyway, I wanted to experiment with patched balls since they are cheaper, take less lead, and I think hit just as hard at normal hunting ranges.

Thanks for the helpful replies. I think a very tight patch and lighter loads may be the answer for the shallow rifling in these bores.


Depending on the groove depth and how smooth the corners are, that shallow three groove rifling can be about like a smooth bore in bad condition. Some shoot round ball great and some are real boogers. Haven't tried round ball in the five groove musketoon yet but bet it works great.

Got one .69 that I'd thought about having a single groove cut in each land. It wouldn't have hurt minie accuracy and could give a little grip'um to cloth patches. Instead I squandered the funds on modifications to a minie mold to make it work better; bigger diameter bands, lengthened front band, alternative designed plug. Now I just need plane ticket to that little island where the dinosaurs are.
 
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