.365 bore dia

[J.D.]

I have always been in disbelief at people who ask what patch/ball/powder charge to shoot in their rifles, however, I have experienced a conundrum of my own associated with a question about ball dia, compared to bore dia.

I just received a barrel from Bobby Hoyt with the bore that mics, .365, with .010 deep grooves.

My experience with smaller bores tells me that a .360 ball is gonna be a hard load using an appropriately thick patch. In the same vein,  I suspect that a .350 ball is gonna be too small to shoot well, unless it's loaded with a very thick patch. Which begs the question of does anyone know of a source of odd size balls for a 36? or am I over thinking this?

Thanks and God bless

[smokinbuck]

JD,
If it turns out you need an odd size mold, contact Tanner molds in the UK. He can make up anything you need and is reasonable. His email can be found on the NMLRA site or from many of the members on this site.
Mark

[mglamb]

Track of the Wolf lists both .360 and .358 round ball on their web site.  I shoot a .395 ball with a .015" patch in my .40 with excellent results and no loading issues.

[northmn]

TOW lists the 358 ball at 7.99 per hundred.  At least you could order them and try them.

DP

[Daryl]

I would use a .360" ball mould for normal equal width grooves and lands.  If the barrel has wider lands than grooves, I'd use the ..358" ball.

The rifling type should indicate which to use.  A .005" under ball will allow a .020" to .022" denim patch (mic, not calipers) with easy loading, if the crown is sufficiently smooth.  this is for equal width lands and grooves, of wider grooves than lands.  If the grooves are narrower than the lands, too much cloth must impress into the ball and therefore I recomend a slightly smaller ball.  Thus, the .358" ball.  With the mentioned patch thickness, it will probably also shoot well in the other rifling styles. 

My Calipers measure larger than the mic.  The .022" I speak of, runs .025", .026" and .027" in my 3 sets of calipers.

[J.D.]

Thanks for those suggestions, everyone.

Daryl,

I have worked over the muzzle, as you have often suggested, so maybe the .360 ball will load easy enough. My only concern is that this is a hunting rifle, so relative ease of loading is a must.

I have ordered a bag of 360 cast balls and will order some .358 balls for comparison. I found some 350 balls that were used for buck loads in  modern shot shells, so I will have some of all three diameters for reference.

The lands appear to be about the same width, or slightly more narrow than the grooves. The rate of twist is supposed to be 1:45" but it appears to be somewhat faster, just from looking into the bore of the 39" barrel. The grooves are a semi-round bottom style, but I can't tell any appreciable difference between this one and the  grooves on any other barrel.

I gotta say, that the barrel arrived before I anticipated, so I am not prepared to test fire it. I don't even have a 36 cal jag, so cleaning would be a bit of a problem too. 

Oh well, an order to track will take care of those details. 

Thanks again, and God bless

[Buzzard]

Your over thinking it.

[northmn]

Thanks for those suggestions, everyone.
I have worked over the muzzle, as you have often suggested, so maybe the .360 ball will load easy enough. My only concern is that this is a hunting rifle, so relative ease of loading is a must.
[/quote

I could start a whole new thread on this, but a good patch/ball target combination can also be a good hunting combination unless you are loading for benchrest.  I have never found "ease of loading" to be that much of a benefit out in the field.  A 36 is basically a small game number such that powder charges will be milder and reloading not as difficult.  Also a small game rifle can use a little edge in accuracy anyway and we rarely shoot that much with a single shot slow loading rifle.

DP