Below are thompsoncenter arms suggested loads from a paper publication of theirs, printed in october of 1980. Hello tomahawk you could buy the patches from any gun store. My concern was that most people use this powder under a round ball or a sabot in big bores. If shooting a tc or other make percussion rifle with a compromise twist 148 round balls loose accuracy with heavy loads, loads in the 85 90 grn. Ok then, thinking about this some more, i just pulled my speer reloader 10 manual 1979 and there it is. The problem with such heavy loads is that few shooters will put up with them. The most common calibers used for target shooting are.
I have mostly used it for hunting when i wanted to use a rifle, so never really took the time to work up a good load using a patched round ball. So to keep this simple ill use some bullseye, seat a ball below the neck, add some lube around the edges and roll crimp for easier insertion. Btw, ive carried it with me several times hog hunting and have yet to have a shot opportunity. Round ball accuracy at 50 yards in a modern inline muzzleloader. In trying to imagine what the changes mean, i wondered if it might be possible to do away with the patch altogether and shoot just a. Major ferguson of the british army was killed at kings mountain by a 40 ball. Nov 27, 2009 below are thompsoncenter arms suggested loads from a paper publication of theirs, printed in october of 1980. Precision made from special tightly woven cotton, to insure uniformity. How in the world did some of our countrys patriots, in the late 1700s and early 1800s, make reliable head and chest shots on british officers at 200 to 300 yards using patched ball rifles, thus, cutting the snakes head off, as it were. Fast forward to today when i load paper patched bullets in larger calibre rifles 308, 3006, 3855. It was by far the most accurate load in that gun, and while labeled light by a lot of guys, it killed with alacrity. I made up some rat killercat sneeze loads using aprox 1 gr of bulleye under a round ball id squeesed down to. The internets best resource for shotgun information. I read a claim that the best twist for swaged conical lead bullets are 1.
You will have to find a good working load for your particular rifle. A round ball doesnt touch the rifling itself, the patch does. When i first read this i thought i could save a couple of bucks for some slow plinking, but looking at round ball prices, i may as well use regular lead cast bullets. Round ball loads are interesting to develop, and work well. Double crimp groove for 38 357 in n frame short cylinder. Precision shooting patches for round ball track of the wolf. I am in the project of developing a good roundball and conical load for the rifle for hunting. Ive been thinking about it for awhile and id like to try them as a cheap plinking load. I in 48 is usually an adequate compromise for both. Also, traditional muzzleloader only shooting orgnizations generally require the use of patched round ball only during official muzzleloading target competition. This leaves the slow twist shooter with only the task of finding proper ball size and patch thickness without having to worry a whole lot about exact powder charge.
Would like to cook up some short range plinking loads using round balls from the lee. Apr 30, 2008 how to load a round ball into a muzzleloader. Traditionalmldata2 north american muzzleloader hunting. My main focus is on target shooting with percussion pistols and round balls. This may be mindless wandering, but as the patch comes off the ball after firing, would the shape of the patch, or its lack of concentric fit over. Muzzleloading has come a long way from spit patch round balls, soap and water. Round ball loads specify tc patch material lubricated with tc no.
They can be just as powerful as many high power pistol loads and are plenty potent at close range. The castor oil patches load easily and dont leave enough residue to accumulate fouling as quickly, so i can go more rounds fired before needing to swab, without. Patched round balls punched 2inch groups at 75 yards with 70 grains of goex ffg blackpowder and goex ffffg primer. So with that large a ball, you have a thinner patch than you would with a. Bumping a round ball to the proper diameter is the only way to get any accuracy from them.
For me, round ball loads tend to shoot higher than point of aim in a revolver and lower than point of aim from a rifle. Mar 01, 2019 multi ball loads for muzzleloaders tis184 theidahoanshow. My jackrabbit load is now 30 grains of alliant mz over a thinpatched round ball seems good out to 5060 yards. The wide range of round ball loads for plinking and small game hunting make the rifle versatile. The rb in a smooth bore has very little sidewall fiction and medium to fast burn rate powders seem best in the shorter barrel, unique works well. Loading round balls for plinking loads shooters forum. My 50 flintlock likes 80 grains of swiss 2f black powder. Heres your one stop muzzleloader information treasure chest. Since a round ball in a smooth bore has very little sidewall fiction therefore a medium to fast burn rate powder will be desireable. Somewhat the opposite is true with round balls in fast twist barrels. January 16, 2009 january 27, 2009 brent macarthur charles leave a comment on pumpkin ball slug loads, single lead round ball loads. My understanding of the reason why patched round balls typically do. My forty ball shooter has taken many deer with 65grs. Aug 06, 20 1in 60 is the usual 50 caliber round ball twist but some old originals were as slow as 1 in 72.
That was a mistake, mister squirrel, i thought to myself as i shouldered the rifle. Precision shooting patches for round ball precision shooting patches. I found this relatively easy to do when using a rest. Offered as dry, oiled, wonderlubed, or premium lubed on select sizes. I havent tried it with 357, but i recently got some. I believe 1 40 was the optimum twist in the old paper patched round ball squirrel guns. Loading round ball in a black powder 45 long colt cartridge. These are both common deer hunting loads for this rifle. Because it is the rifling or barrel twist that dictates whether a gun uses a sabotconical or patched round ball most effectively, both inline and sidehammer guns can be manufactured to shoot any kind of projectile. With 6070 grains of powder it took an evilly tight patch and ball combo that was heck to load to get reasonable accuracy. You can punch cardboard spacers, or purchase fiber cushion wads from bpi.
I accept no responsibility or liability for the accuracy or lack thereof of the following load information. I shoot round balls in several pistol caliber carbines and factory twists work well enough for plinking, small game hunting. Accuracy from a shotgun slug or round ball is a function of two things. The 5 calibers to claim the most powerful handgun in the world title reupload duration. Gently used condition lee brand round ball mold for casting a sprueless. Pounding the rb through the hole left of flattened on the base with a. I became interested in round ball loads and multiple round ball loads several years. Loading the plr or muzzleloader with a patched round ball duration.
Round balls in fast twist rifles white muzzle loading. Constant thickness, weave, diameter, weight and thread count help eliminate these variables from your shooting. Do not test any loads of modern powder in your muzzleloader unless you are. With 8 ounces of pressure, the hammer fell, sending the 45grain patched round ball skyward in a plume of white smoke. Large variations in powder charge dont seem to make much difference. Snapping the settrigger, i eased the hammer back to fullcock and settled the front bead low into the heavy buckhorn rear sight. A big thanks to the posters who reminded me that speer lists round ball loads. My normal ffg loads are 100 grains for patched round ball and 120 grains with a 600 grain conical. Even so, youd probably be better off just using a regular slug load. This chart amply demonstrates why round balls are such poor long range projectiles. Therefore, the only real advantage of one design over the other is personal preference. Serious target competitors commonly load with a ball thats just. Without that jig my round ball loads using donut wads would probably be a headache to make and load.
I have looked all through my search results and cannot find this, so if it has been covered before, at least i tried. The patching material is the key to be accurate with a round ball load. A good patch is made of good quality, dense natural material. Dec 23, 2007 1 oz is about 437 grains, i doubt that your round ball was that heavy. This evening i skinned and quartered the carcass of the deer. My doc white leman weighs over ten pounds and will easily proof a round ball black powder charge of 200 grains. I am going to do some experimenting, varying my round ball patch combination from. Now im not sure if the patch gets spun off the ball or if patch and ball just skims the rifling but either way a round ball wont shoot for squat out of a fast twist barrel unless you cut the powder down to an absolute minimum which makes it impractical for most purposes. Imagine what happens when you load your gun with a salivalubricated patch and. It starts with the 1 38 twist in my 1894 marlin 44 mag cowboy. With the powder charge in the 20 which his usually no more than 3 drams, it looks like youd be safe. The round balls have two over powder cards, a lubricated felt wad, and a lubricated 0. Patched round ball gun and game the friendliest gun. Paper patched bullets have been around for a looooong time.
Choose a design from our catalog or submit your own custom design. You can buy good quality patches in your local blackpowder shop, but you can also make your own. Out of a quality bore, a properly loaded patched round ball can prove deadly accurate at the ranges it was truly intended for and that is 25 to 50 yards. The 4045cal were the preferred deer round ball in the eastern half of the usa. I generally save the patched balls for new shooters not hunting loads. Poking a long hole in any animal smaller than a fullgrown holstein will put it on the ground.