paper patching .690 round ball for 12 ga shotgun??

[.30-06 fan]

paper patching .690 round ball in a shotshell.

silly idea, not worth the effort........ or go for it?

your opinions please.

thanks

[Nobade]

I have used a cloth patch for that myself. Both in the muzzle loader, and also loaded into plastic hulls in my Rem 870. quite accurate to 50 yds, and total luck to hit anything at 100 yds.

-Nobade

[.30-06 fan]

I have used a cloth patch for that myself. Both in the muzzle loader, and also loaded into plastic hulls in my Rem 870. quite accurate to 50 yds, and total luck to hit anything at 100 yds.

-Nobade

thanks

most of my deer are taken at about fifty yards

[atl5029]

Accurate molds has full bore 12 and 20 gauge slug molds that would probably work better than a patched round ball. Slug weights are monstrous though...700-900 grains. I'm thinking about getting one and casting in lead free solder to lighten them up and cut back on recoil

[jmort]

I believe Turbo got the 900 grain Accurate slug (designed for him?) had had it hollow-based by Erik. That makes a lot of sense. I am thinking about a .678 slug from Accurate for a 12 gauge wad.
http://www.hollowpointmold.com/

[jmort]

BTW, the .735" round ball from Lyman would be a better fit without a wad, and the .678" would be better with a wad.

[.30-06 fan]

thanks

for the cost of the lee .690 mold i'm willing to experiment.

[jmort]

many have gone down that rabbit hole I look forward to your results

[.30-06 fan]

many have gone down that rabbit hole I look forward to your results

lol, i hear you ....

minute of deer at 50 yards is my quest.

[Ricochet]

HA! The same idea occurred to me this morning. Must be a common thought.

[longbow]

I'm one that has had no luck at all using 0.690" RB's in smoothbore.

I have tried paper patching (actually a paper tube with bottom folded over), naked on plastic wad with petals cut off because it was too tight, naked on top of hard card wad column and inserted into a thin petal shotcup. No accuracy with any of those at all. Not sure why the shotcup didn't work as fit seemed good but it didn't.

On the other side of the round ball coin I have had excellent results using both balls in shotcups (0.662" and 0.678") and naked 0.735" round balls on hard card wad columns. Excellent results meaning groups of 4" and under at 50 yards. I have also shot some quite good groups at 100 yards with the 0.735" round balls but find there are too many fliers and occasional random groups for my liking. To 50 yards though I find it had to beat or even meet my round ball results with slugs... from smoothbore.

Yup, Lee round ball moulds are cheap and cast a nice ball so if you can find a thin petal shotcup with tough petals it may just work for you. Donut wads are another option I have not tried. I gave up on 0.690" balls because other sizes worked better for me.

For the cost of a Lee mould though and a bit of powder and a few primers it is worth playing with.

You will have fun playing whether you get accuracy or not (big holes are always fun) but hopefully you do.

Longbow

[OverMax]

Sorry I don't see the benefit of patching for a smooth bore shotgun barrel. Best accuracy in that kind of barrel has always been 60 yards at the (very) best with a ball slug. I know you would be better served having a rifled choke tube installed in your barrel. A little more distance & far and away better accuracy if that were the case. Remington Mossberg & Hastings wouldn't have made their (choked tubed) slug barrels having open rifle sight installed if they knew their products could be upended simply by one's ball patching. But there is certainly no harm in experimentation or trying.

[longbow]

The benefit of patching an undersize ball is so it doesn't literally bounce down the barrel.

Try shooting a naked undersize ball out of your 12 ga. and find out how poor accuracy can be. It is easy to miss a 2' x 3' piece of paper at 50 yards.

Now patch, use donut wad or shotcup to keep that same undersize ball centered and find out that to at least 50 yards the ball will shoot as well or better than most Foster slugs. My round ball loads will stay under 4" at 50 yards, much better than most home loaded slugs do in my experience.

Rifled barrels and rifled choke tubes require a groove diameter slug or ball (or of course sabot slug) and not everyone has or wants a rifled choke tube or fully rifled barrel. If one wants rifle like accuracy from a shotgun then a rifled barrel is the way to go but many of us like playing with around balls and drag stabilized slugs. The smoothbore is far more versatile than a rifled bore.

Different strokes.

Longbow

[propwashp47]

dang I need to scratch that same itch. I want to check out the smoothbore with lee 690 round ball and 1 oz slugs and try the same in a rifled 22 in barrel any thoughts on round ball in rifled barrels-678? 690 or 735.i have 3 new 12 ga s at my transfer dealer 2 pumps and a gas Simi auto I need to pick up on Saturday thanks for your thoughts. propwash p47 ps. please pray for the good folks here in hays county. the flooding here is like something out of the bible as in no two stones left standing. I heard there are 8 still missing ,much help is pouring in but you cant have too much prayers

[303Guy]

I bought a cheap single barrel some time ago with the idea of building a silencer on it. That didn't happen but the idea of a round ball or slug gun interests me but I want reasonable accuracy and not too heavy a slug or ball. The choke part is what worries me. I don't want to cut off the choke and shorten the barrel so how does the choke affect a slug or round ball, whether patched or not?

I did one try some Brenneke slugs in my pump gun and found that at shotgun ranges a deer would be in big trouble. Increasing the velocity was single ball shotgun pattern territory.I still have some of those.

A mate of mine decided to cast for his single barrel and found a suitable shocked wrench to cast in. It was a little small so he squeezed then up in a vice and if I recall, he got pretty reasonable accuracy with them. He screwed a felt wad onto their bases. The socket in question had pronounced V splines if I recall. The splines collapsed some in the choke, pretty much as the rifled slug is supposed to do.

Thinking on the plastic cup or a wad, how would a fibrous filler work in supporting the ball through the barrel? I'm thinking of centralizing and supporting it against distortion. One might even be able to shoot smaller balls (not too small) and perhaps a little faster..

[longbow]

303guy:

My best round ball loads use 0.662" balls patched into shotcups, 0.678" balls (almost perfect size for most "standard" wads) or 0.735" round balls naked. All will group 4" or under at 50 yards.

I lean towards the 0.662" or 0.678" balls in shotcups mostly because they work well and are easy to load ( I am into easy). Also, being exactly 1 oz. for 0.662" and a hair over 1 oz. for 0.678" in pure lead there are loads of load recipes for 1 oz. slugs.

I use a 16 or 20 ga. nitro card wad in the bottom of the shotcup then a scoop of COW , then the round ball. The "scoop" is somewhat variable (within reason) to set crimp height. It works well for me.

A fiber wad might work like the COW. Can't say for sure because I have not tried it.

Still working on Brenneke attached wad style slugs with some decent successes but not yet consistent enough for me.

Longbow

[303Guy]

Thanks. Is that using a choked bore?

[longbow]

I use either cylinder bore single shot or my Browning BPS with slug barrel and I/C choke. Both work fine with the 0.662" ball. I find patching to loose slip fit works best for me. Depends on the wad how much patching is required. If you can get steel shot wads the 0.662" ball should be a snug fit in those thick petal wads with no patch.