More lessons learned from my GRF trade gun

[Maven]

Today I wanted to test some thinner pillow ticking patches (.013" - .014", red & white striped material) with  Rapine .600" RB's (closer to .605" - .607" in fact).  You may recall from my Oct.27 post that the Rapine RB + a .018" patch wasn't impressive at all:  Difficult to start and not particularly accurate @ 25 yds.  I'm happy to report that today's testing showed the larger ball + thinner patches was a good idea.  Here are the particulars:

.600" Rapine RB's cast of pure lead v. wheelweights;
.013" - .014" patches;
85 grs. Graf's FFg;
Saliva as the patch lube
Haphazard wiping the bore after firing, and then only with a dry patch;
Range was 25 yds;
Rest:  I fired without the gun on a rest.  Rather, I knelt with my left elbow against the bench top.

First the bad news:  Although the RB's cast of wheelweights were ~5% lighter than their Pb counterparts and perhaps .0005" larger, they weren't very accurate at all.  To get two touching on a 5" bullseye was almost impossible, and none was centered.  Care to guess where the remaining WWRB's are going?  However, once I returned to using the weighed, Pb RB's things got much better:  Shots were more centered (one was in the 10 ring), two were touching, and all 5 grouped within 2 1/2" of each other.   I'll retest this to make sure it wasn't a fluke, but our range closes for deer season at sundown on Friday and I can't get there this week.  Btw, this is the third time this smoothie has performed better with thinner patches.  I think it's trying to tell me something!  


P.S.  RB's cast of wheelweights are as accurate as those cast of Pb in my rifles.  As I have more of the former than the latter, I try to use them when I can.

[bob in the woods]

Have you tried paper cartridges yet?  My 10 bore doesn't mind WW balls in paper cartridges, and shoots them near enough to lead as to not matter. I'm using a cartridge design that Daryl shared here..cone shaped. Tear off the end, place cartridge in the bore. The powder drains down the barrel while I draw the ramrod. Shove the ball [in the paper] down and I'm ready to prime and shoot.

[Daryl]

PW - I went to a .595" Tanner ball mould in my 20 bore due to the choke.  It has a .615" bore and the .600" Lee mould Taylor has casts .605 x .610".   It's as badly oversize as my .562" Lee mould - guess their quality control is slipping.  The .595" cases .595" square and I use a .0215" ticking patch. his patch actually measures .023" with calipers, but loads nicely.  Using 82gr. 2F, it routinely puts 4 out of 5 in a 1 1/2" hole at 25 yards with the back of my left hand resting on a sand bag.  To shot it offhand at that range would not be a test of the load, but rather my meagre shooting abilities with the gun.  Therefore, I test loads off the bench - where everything is steady.  I still flinch occasionally and pull that 3rd or 4th ball out of the hole - sometimes not.  This isn't the only 20 bore smoothbore we've shot into an inch at 25 yards - did that testing 2 others and one of them, 3 of us were shooting it. The guy who owned it, sold it due to that gun not being accurate for him.

A times, paper ctgs with WW balls can be amazingly accurate.  Bob m., Bruce S. and Dan P. also have had that experience- in smoothbores and in rifles.

[northmn]

Lee molds can be a bit of a $#@* shoot on size, but mine is about 603 for the 20 and .002 round.  I have a couple that were undrsized slightly.  Still I use them and have had good results with them.  I have had similar results where too tight a patch was not any better than a reasonably fit one in my smoothbore.  So too thick start deforming the ball   May be why some are having better luck with 595 although I cannot see investing in one.

DP

[Maven]

Bob, No, I haven't tried cartridges, mostly because I haven't heard of them being used in trade guns.  Not averse to trying them though, just need to be educated about their construction.

Daryl, I wish I'd brought some of the Tanner .595" (.597" in fact) RB's with me yesterday, as they do quite well with the .018" patching and are very easy to start.  However, the pure lead Rapine RB's were tantalizingly accurate with the thinner patch, enough so that I want to try them again.  Btw, northmn's right about Lee Precision molds (or moulds) being a gamble.  Sadly, that's true of Lyman lately as well.

[bob in the woods]

I used cartridges before, but revised my construction and use of them after a post of Daryl's. I dip the ball end in a mix of beeswax/bear oil or olive oil and carry them in a leather shoulder strapped bag/pouch with a wooden block. Perhaps Daryl could be persuaded to re-post photos and instructions??

[bob in the woods]

I forgot to add, we have a fellow in our group here with a fusil that shoots a bare ball and wadding. He does very well. No patch at all.

[Maven]

Bob, On my last outing with that gun, I tried the lubed felt wads with the larger (.605") Rapine RB and was somewhat surprised by how well they did.  Although no two were touching @ 25 yds., they did better than the patched .600" Dixie RB I tried yesterday (had a few with me to compare with the Rapine RB's).  In short, they did well enough to make me consider a second test.  However, they left the bore quite greasy, which was a mixed blessing as there was no hard fouling in the breech.

[Daryl]

I think I would be concerned with patching after loading a combination that didn't clean the bore as it was pushed down.  I'd be concerned abotu pushing a ring of fouling down to just above the ball, then having the ball, perhaps ride over that ring to get by it.   With a tighter combination, there is no buildup fouling to remove.