The use of a starter is so routine, that when I used paper ctgs. for backup loads for hunting, I had to practice using them until I stopped grabbing my starter from my bag's strap. In my 14 bore, I found I should shoot 10 shots with paper ctgs. before I had to clean the bore. The easiest way of doing that, was to load 85gr. 2F and a spit-lubed .022" patch with the .684" ball - using the short starter to get it started and the rifle's hickory rod to send it home. Firing this effectively cleaned the bore and allowed another 10 ctg.s to be fired - which - BTW - gave identical accuracy to a tight ball and patch combination - to 100yards. The rifling actually engraved in the paper patch and the rod had to be choked up on, to get that started. Once started, a single push would seat it easily. Including capping, aiming and rifling, they gave an 8 second reload & second shot.
No cone!
LB had a coned barrel - on his first .40 rifle. I gave him some of the .400" pure lead round balls (Lyman mould) that I was using and even with a starter, he had a LOT of trouble starting and loading them- indeed, complained about it. I assume his difficulty loading was due to the long tapered angle of his coned muzzle.
A long gentle taper is not the correct shape for the "drawing" process of forming the ball and patch into the rifling. Corbin shows this very aspect of cold forming tapered and angles in their written documentation on the physics of what is required for the drawing of metals. Those .400" balls were quite easily and still are quite easily loaded in my non-coned .40 barrel- with it's short radius'd crown.
Related directly to this subject of drawing angles, was a die I modified for reducing .375" bullets to .366" bullets. I used a commercial ctg. sizing die with long gentle taper that produced the end result I required - changing a .375 bullet to a .366" bullet- however the pressure needed was too much for the compound bench press I was using - indeed, I was afraid the die itself would explode, it took so much pressure to operate. I read Corbin's literature then used a reamer I had, to introduce a shorter, 45 degree, finishing in a very short 3 degree section from the .375" measurement to .365" measurement. This 'tiny' alteration made a huge difference in the pressure required to 'draw' the .375's down to .366" (.001" spring-back), indeed, no more pressure than FL sizing a magnum ctg. in that press. That was a huge difference and merely the length of the step-down made the difference. thus, I could now use cheap, easy to find .375's in my European 9.3 rifles.
What has this to do with coned muzzles vs. crowned ones? The angle of the crown makes ALL the difference. If too long a taper - the effort required is actually increased over that needed for the short angle - ie: crowning as "WE" now use.
I freely admit that a loose combination might be more easily loaded in a coned muzzle- maybe - but a tight combination that needs a starter (easier on the rifle's wrist), is more easily loaded if the angles are shorter.
imho, of course.
