.526 round balls

[lead chucker]

Hey guys. Im looking for some .526 round balls to try. I called track of the wolf and they wanted $24.00 shipping for two boxes of 50 and they are only $10.00 a box. I thought that was a little out of line. I cant seem to find a mold either. Only one i found is over in England. I had a rebore done by Hoyt from a 50 to 54. Im burning alot of patches and accuracy isnt that great. A .530 ball seems tight with 15 thou patches. Tried thinner ones but it gets worse. the rifling is deep. I try a thicker patch but its too much work getting them down the barrel. I tried 60 to 100 grain and it really tears and burns the patches. Not sure what to do. I have over 200 rounds through this since rebore. Any one have any leads on a mold or balls. Im thinking a .526 and a thicker patch would work. Not sure though.

[megasupermagnum]

.526" seems rather specific. I could understand .525". :?

Anyway, I know Hornady makes .520" swaged balls if you want to try those.

[lead chucker]

.520 might work. Im thinking the patch doesnt seal off all the gasses and i get blow by

[LAGS]

Did you try a lubed Over Powder wad under your patched ball to see if helps with the burning ?

[lead chucker]

Not yet but was thinking about trying it next time i get out to the range

[OverMax]

Seems to me the rifle barrel needs a bit of lapping compound which will undoubtedly smooth-en the entire bore. Shooting a smaller ball with thicker patching through a fresh re-boring. Hey if not satisfied?
Send it back to Hoyt.

[lead chucker]

the very end of the barrel where the rifling stops seems a little sharp not sure if its supposed to be. I also measured the balls. I have a lee mold .530 i measured around ten balls and they are averaging around .533. I have a .490 mold for my 50 and they average .491 so maybe my mold is dropping them a little big. Ive been using dead soft lead.

[lead chucker]

My thinking is that when i had him bore the barrel i wanted a 1-63 twist with deep rifling for shooting round balls. I left it up to him to do what needed to get done to be a round ball shooter. In short i am thinking i need a thicker patch to fill the rifling.

[indian joe]

My thinking is that when i had him bore the barrel i wanted a 1-63 twist with deep rifling for shooting round balls. I left it up to him to do what needed to get done to be a round ball shooter. In short i am thinking i need a thicker patch to fill the rifling.

just an opinion and too late now but "deep rifling for shooting round balls is a myth" -- based on ....having someplace "for the fouling to accumulate" ...what a crazy idea!!

measured a CVA and a Green Mountain barrel CVA has 9 thou groove depth GM has 12 thou (rough measure with a lectronic caliper) -- both shoot fine - guess which is the easier to get along with ? ..CVA more versatile as far as loads go - more forgiving.

If I was sending one in for rebore my specs would be spot on bore (.54 means .54!) and lands to groove depth would be 8 thou max.

Lags sez try a wad (tick)

Overmax sez lap it (tick)

I sez lean on the handles of that LEE mold might take a couple thou off ball size

[waksupi]

Keep looking for a mold, they are out there. I've had several rifles that needed the .526, mostly custom barrels. I don't have any on hand at the time, or I would send some.

[LAGS]

The TC .56 SB that I recently had Re-bored and deep rifled by Hoyt measures out to.
Bore Dia. .610.
Groove Dia. .640
I know because I did a Barrel Casting with Cerosafe.
I have not had a chance to go out and fire the new barrel yet , even though I got the barrel back last March.
I have been all busy with Moving and remodeling the old house and upgrading the New house and building a new shop.
But I have some of the same concerns as the OP with the deep grooves causing Blow buy and burning patches.
I have a Lee mold for .600 RB
With a .020 thick patch, the barrel loads OK but doesn't take much more effort to ram the ball home than it does on my other Shallower grooved barrels.
A .030 thick patch, you have to Pound the Ball home and it deforms the nose of the ball considerably.
I am going to try and find some Pillow Ticking that is around .025 and see if that tightens up the ball a bit, yet be not too hard to load.
But I am going to make up some Over Patch Card Wads and some Felt wads to try out , if the patches get burned by Blow By.
I also pulled the Breech plugs on my other TC's ( .45 and .50 ) and did a Barrel casting for them, but with the recent move, I can not locate the castings right now to give you a comparison of the bore to groove diameters.

[pietro]

Hey guys. Im looking for some .526 round balls to try.

I called track of the wolf and they wanted $24.00 shipping for two boxes of 50 and they are only $10.00 a box. I thought that was a little out of line.




Instead of thinking about the cost per box vs shipping, you might want to consider the WEIGHT of the lead used to make the balls - the shipping cost reflects that (shipment costs are based on weight & parcel size).

.

[dondiego]

Why don't you buy one box of 50 from TOW to try them out just to see if it's what you want?

[bob208]

I have a old ideal .526 mold . I use them in my hoyt relined 1841 rifle with ,020 patches won a few matches with it.

I don't mind the balls that much the shipping is the killer.

[indian joe]

I have a old ideal .526 mold . I use them in my hoyt relined 1841 rifle with ,020 patches won a few matches with it.

I don't mind the balls that much the shipping is the killer.

Shipping anything from a US post office can be hellish expensive - specially if the person sending is content to just add the price on

I sent a box of stuff back to myself last time I was over there - first price was near four hundred bucks (small town post office) - told the gal we needed to get it under a hundred or I would just haul it on the plane myself and pay the excess baggage rate - ended up around $60

US rates seem dear compared to Aussie postage - country is the same size - you guys have better roads, cheaper fuel, lower wages....should be tother way round

things dont always work how they should ... you would laugh at the way we waste money here on roadworks ... but your medical system is worse wasteful than our roadworkers.

[megasupermagnum]

You can get an awful lot of 50 caliber lead ball in a USPS small flat rate box. It's $7.90 to anywhere in the country.

[lead chucker]

They said they had to fedex it. It would fit in a medium flat rate box for what around $15 bucks i could buy fifty pounds of lead balls for the same price. I really want to love this rifle but my cheap traditions 50 flint with the plastic stock shoots 12 guage shells off a 2x4 at fifty yards if i do my part. I want this 54 to do the same. Frustrating. Deer season is in a week here is Alaska and i really want to use this 54 TC. One thing I have not included in my info was im using a magspark 209 system. Not sure if that makes any difference. Have not had a miss fire yet.

[lead chucker]

I am going to try the lubed felt wad over powder before the patched round ball. I might even try the Lee real boolit to see if that works but have my doubts.

[725]

A fresh re-cut barrel is going to be sharp. I'd spend a few hours with a lapping compound to minimize the cut patches. Accuracy will improve when the patches can survive the trip out the barrel. I've had the same issues with a new cut barrel and lapping worked for me. Smooth out the barrel and it all get's better! Cleaning is even easier, too.

[LAGS]

I don't see CUT patches from the rifling being a problem.
It is Burnt or Blown Buy patches that would worry me.
But, I am no Expert.
An over powder wad should help with the blow by situation.
Lapping could help with the Cut patches.
And Like I said in an earlier post, I may be facing similar problems when I get my rifle out and can shoot it.
But in the mean time, I may do a little Lapping just to eliminate one of the potential problems.

[lead chucker]

LAGS Please let me know what you find when you get around to shooting your rifle with the re bore. It would be interesting to know how it works for you. Thanks every one for your input. I appreciate it.

[Buzzard II]

I suggest you use some JB Bore Paste to start with on a new/lined bore. Then you could try out the lubed wad (Ox Yoke) over the powder. Then try out a ball to see if that will help, and various thickness patches. All before investing in a mold. Good shooting!
Bob

[LAGS]

@ Lead Chucker.
I will keep you posted.
I do not think there will be any issues ( that I can not work out).
But here too, I will be asking advice from other more experienced members even if I have no issues on my end.
You can always make things better.
I did not put in for Big Game this year because of the move.
So that gives me a year to refine things before a possible hunt next year.

[rfd]

i get odd odd size moulds from jeff tanner (well, he died and i think it's his son who's carrying on the mould business in the UK). they're brass and i use lee large mould handles. i use both .526 and .530 for the .54 rice barrel in my colonial. PM me if you need some balls. oooo, that didn't sound right. sorry.

[drago9900]

I believe I have one of those .526 molds somewhere if I can find it, I'd be willing to part with it if I remember where I put it!

[Markopolo]

LC... what sort of patch material are you using???? where did you get it?? just checking everything. and what sort of lube???

deer season started a few day ago here in SE.

[stubert]

Lee used to have a .527 R/B mold #90453. That is what my .54 Green Mtn. barrel likes.

[taco650]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZyRD-iutus&list=PLHljRs6NHyZlfr-UMJ7xBABzYtC0Vtv5G&index=12&t=0s

In the above video, Mike polishes a rough bore on a new Lyman Great Plains rifle he built from a kit. I know it might not be the same problem you have but it might help. Did you contact Hoyt and if so, what did they say?

[arcticap]

Buffalo Arms also offer Hornady .520 balls with different prices and shipping options.
I thought that the Hornady .520 balls were discontinued but they still have some in stock.--->>> https://www.buffaloarms.com/520-54-caliber-hornady-swaged-lead-round-balls-box-of-100-hor6095