Did Some Round Ball Testing With My Single Shot 45 Cal Pistol

Except for a Rugers 10-22 all my rifles are muzzle loaders, either 45 caliber slug guns or 50 caliber patched round ball. The ball size, lead, patch and powder loads are all adjusted and are just fine! A couple years ago I built a 45 caliber single shot pistol from a barrel, single set trigger, lock, sights and such from Track of the Wolf. I use 28 grains of Swiss and a shot gun primer for ignition (not enough hammer throw for a #11 cap). I started with commercial made round balls and they shoot fine. So this past Friday I did some experimenting with a 0.005 larger ball, 0.010 and 0.015 patches, 28 grains Swiss also 30 grains, 32 grains and 36 grains (same powder). I also used the commercial round balls, ones cast by me with ripples in them and several made from lead from a print shop. Each one was lighter so I figured there would be NO pattern or grouping but I was VERY surprised!

I used a rest to lock the pistol to remove me from the equation and was surprised as can be as to how all the variables affected the grouping except for the powder loads which climbed about 1 inch for each new load. The balls and patches had absolutely NO affect on grouping at 50 yards and that shocked me! I read all the time about what lead alloy to use, what patch thickness, ETC but with this pistol the groups were about 1 inch at 50 yards and most everything acted the same!

Very intersting I thought.
John

That is interesting that the variation in the patch and ball didn't make any difference, I plan on taking my TC 36 rifle to the range tomorrow to work up a load for squirrel hunting I'm going to try some Hornady RB and some buckshot balls.

We were talking about my test and we (other B/P shooters) decided the lack of changes in impact was due to a low velocity (never checked) such that the air/wind/humity/ETC had some effect but not enough to make a difference. I never tried to measure velocity so maybe I should break out the hardware to see what I have?
John

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Originally Posted by oldracer

Except for a Rugers 10-22 all my rifles are muzzle loaders, either 45 caliber slug guns or 50 caliber patched round ball. The ball size, lead, patch and powder loads are all adjusted and are just fine! A couple years ago I built a 45 caliber single shot pistol from a barrel, single set trigger, lock, sights and such from Track of the Wolf. I use 28 grains of Swiss and a shot gun primer for ignition (not enough hammer throw for a #11 cap). I started with commercial made round balls and they shoot fine. So this past Friday I did some experimenting with a 0.005 larger ball, 0.010 and 0.015 patches, 28 grains Swiss also 30 grains, 32 grains and 36 grains (same powder). I also used the commercial round balls, ones cast by me with ripples in them and several made from lead from a print shop. Each one was lighter so I figured there would be NO pattern or grouping but I was VERY surprised!

I used a rest to lock the pistol to remove me from the equation and was surprised as can be as to how all the variables affected the grouping except for the powder loads which climbed about 1 inch for each new load. The balls and patches had absolutely NO affect on grouping at 50 yards and that shocked me! I read all the time about what lead alloy to use, what patch thickness, ETC but with this pistol the groups were about 1 inch at 50 yards and most everything acted the same!

Very intersting I thought.
John

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John
very interested in how you set that pistol up to use shotgun primers ? I have seen pics of the little screw in adapter thingys but your deal sounds different and I need to DIY for a couple of guns at least.

Here is a picture of the setup. The single set trigger only allows about 0.5 inch of hammer through so I needed something that was very sensitive! Percussion caps need a apretty good whack to ignite but the 209 primers require way less. I shaved off about 0.2 inches from the face of the hammer and made it flat and it worked. I use them in several of my rifles such as one from Roger Johnson and the 45 caliber slug gun I made a while back. I found a drill bil that just fit inside the primer holder and modified it so I could clean out the carbon after each shot as it gets dirty quickly expecially with Winchester primers and I also wet each 209 in my mouth as I walk to the firing line since the gun cannot be made "hot" on the bench. It doesn't affect the spark at all!

That wood is from large piece of scrap I got for a dollar at Frost Hardwood in San Diego and used a Sig 226 (very comfortable grip) as a guide for the hand grip portion. The strange looking back is a pair of flats so the pistol can stand upright for cleaning and loading. I use a blow tube and since the round balls are patched I only need to swab the bore after 5 shots. Not the trigger has a 1 to 2 ounce trigger break. When I started it was 8# or so and I polished each part that moves against another and it made a huge difference! The whole project took me about 4 months. If you ever come to San Diego we can go to the range and you can shoot it.Attachment 300703
John

That's slick!