54 .520 balls

[Duane Harshaw]

does anyone have any experience shooting .520 or .526 in their 54,I was thinking of useing one or the other for hunting

[Standing Bear]

I use .535s in my .54.  No experience using less than .010 under bore up to .003 over (.403s in a .40 and .451s in a .45).

[Standing Bear]

Sorry, sent too soon.  There was a Santa Fe Hawken produced I believe in the 80s that was an exact copy of an original Hawken.  Tho called a .54 it had a .530 bore and many owners used .520 balls.
TC

[SCLoyalist]

I've shot .527 RB in my 54 Colerain barrel.   At 60 and 80 grains of 3F I measured 1350 and 1540 fps of MV, respectively, and no complaints with respect to group size. 

[Daryl]

Sorry, sent too soon.  There was a Santa Fe Hawken produced I believe in the 80s that was an exact copy of an original Hawken.  Tho called a .54 it had a .530 bore and many owners used .520 balls.
TC

I had a piece of barrel like that and made it into a 1/2round/1/2 octagonal .54 pistol barrel. I use .526" balls from a Lyman mould.  It shoots into 2" at 50 yards off bags, using 55gr. of 3F.

[roundball]

I've always used .520"s in my .54cal smoothbores...started with Hornady's, then coordinated an order big enough for Eddie May in Chatsworth, GA to buy a mold and add the .520" to his inventory of cast balls.
42" Rice barrel, 90rns Goex 3F, .022" Oxyoke patch, .520" balls...shoots almost like a rifle at 50yds.

Track sells their Hornady .520"s for $18.00 / 100...I bought 1000 from Eddie May for $8.70 / 100...less than half of TOW's price.

[Dphariss]

.526 was a common ball size for 54s. IIRC 526 was  the only "54" mould Lyman made years back.

Dan

[Daryl]

.526 was a common ball size for 54s. IIRC 526 was  the only "54" mould Lyman made years back.

Dan

That's why Taylor has had that mould since the 70's.  Didn't take long for us to discover the .535" was more accurate in the true .54's.

.52" was the "trade ball" size, I believe and why .53" was a normal calibre for Hawkens and other rifles. They were designed to shoot the  easly aquired 'trade ball'.  Please correct me if I'm mistaken - that is how I understand the  reason for the .53 & .54 cal. rifles of the early 19th century.

[Dphariss]

If I am correct the "1/2 ounce ball" was a trade item. This is exactly .526. (219 gr from pure lead,  one ounce is 437.5 gr )
This was the ball used in the 24 bore trade guns I think. This would make the 53-54 caliber rifle a good choice in the west since they would use a common ball size.
In all likelyhood the trade ball was drop shot rather than cast. This would greatly reduce production costs. Allowing large quantities of shot to be made is a short space of time.
I have a 526 I use for 54 pistols. They load easier, I can get a 535 in but the the lighter weight and the hold on a pistol in the field makes the process more difficult.
Dan

[Dphariss]

This makes me wonder if this was why the Wilson Indian Trade Rifle was a 58 (24). A goof on someones part thinking the 58 rifle would use the same ball as a 24 bore trade gun.
?

Dan

[Daryl]

I don't know.  One of our BP shooters has a Chamber's Flint Sporting Rifle in .54 with a .58 smooth barrel for it.  He shoots the same .535" ball in both.

[Dphariss]

I don't know.  One of our BP shooters has a Chamber's Flint Sporting Rifle in .54 with a .58 smooth barrel for it.  He shoots the same .535" ball in both.

Yeah 535 will work but I think they settled on a 1/2 ounce since with a trade gun the ball size was not too critical. I recall Joe Meek mentioning that the natives shooting at him were using blanket for wadding. The range was close and the blanket wads were going past too as I recall.


Dan

[nosrettap1958]

We can sit here all day telling you if we like them or not but the only 'person' you have to convince is that rifle of yours. Try them see if your rifle likes them.

[Birdhunter]

Rusty,
I have a 44" Colerain barreled rifle that shoots with excellent accuracy. I use a cast .525 & .015 ticking greased. 60 gr of 3f out to 100 yds. Also have a 44" Colerain smooth that takes .520 cast ball & .010 patch .
Curt

[Jim Hart]

The standard for the North West Co./Hudson"s Bay Co. was .550 balls for their nominal .58 cal (24 ga) trade guns and rifles.  This is fully documented by S. James Gooding in "Trade Guns of the Huson"s Bay Company 1670-1970".

[arcticap]

If I am correct the "1/2 ounce ball" was a trade item. This is exactly .526. (219 gr from pure lead,  one ounce is 437.5 gr )
This was the ball used in the 24 bore trade guns I think. This would make the 53-54 caliber rifle a good choice in the west since they would use a common ball size.

I use the .520 is my 28 gauge shotgun that has a modified choke.
The 24 gauge bore diameter is .579" while the 28 gauge bore spec. is .550".

[wmrike]

I can't stuff a 0.535" ball into my .54, and use Lee-cast 0.527s as a matter of course.  From time to time I buy some 0.520" balls and load them with a fluffy patch.  I can't tell the difference other than they're easier to load.

[Long John]

I have two 54 caliber rifles and both shoot best with a .520 ball.  One can get by with an .020 patch while  Journey needs a .024 thick denim patch.  I use a bees wax and bear grease mixture for lube.  I am using 85 grains of GOEX FFFG powder in both and both are shooting around 1700 fps.  Both barrels are 47" long and were made by John Getz with a 1 turn in 72" twist, round bottom grooves.  Both rifles shoot 1.5 inches at 75 yards - that's the best I can shoot off a rest on my good days.  I have them sighted in dead-on on at 75 yards.  That way they are dead-on at 25 yards, an inch high at 50 yards, dead-on at 75 yards and 2 inches low at 100 yards.

I hope this helps.

Best Regards,

JMC