Just use a thicker patch?

[megasupermagnum]

Moose milk=Ballistol and water nothing strange /weird or oddball just the ratio /mine is 7 parts water/1 part Ballistol but you can make up yer own to be different (for target) . Hunting I use bear oil /coon oil/and possum oil in that order but my stores are usually out of stock ,maybe yours are better stocked for hunting season than mine/Ed

Really? Well that's worth a try.

Here are the recipies I've seen for moose milk...

#1 4 ounces NAPA Auto Parts #765-1526 Soluble Cutting & Grinding Oil
1 ounce Murphy's Oil Soap
7 ounces 91% Isopropyl alcohol
16 ounces tap water

or.

Castor Oil 4 oz.
Murphy's Oil Soap 1 oz.
Witch Hazel 4 oz.
Isopropyl Alcohol (91%) 8 oz.
Water (non-chlorinated) 16 oz.

[indian joe]

Simple? You have to hunt through 4 different stores to find oddball ingredients to make something that is only good for range use, not hunting.

cutting oil and water is oddball ingredients ????????

[waksupi]

Really? Well that's worth a try.

Here are the recipies I've seen for moose milk...

#1 4 ounces NAPA Auto Parts #765-1526 Soluble Cutting & Grinding Oil
1 ounce Murphy's Oil Soap
7 ounces 91% Isopropyl alcohol
16 ounces tap water

or.

Castor Oil 4 oz.
Murphy's Oil Soap 1 oz.
Witch Hazel 4 oz.
Isopropyl Alcohol (91%) 8 oz.
Water (non-chlorinated) 16 oz.

They are making it too complicated. Just the water soluble oil and water has worked for decades for me, and most of our club.

They ARE good for hunting. Soak the patches, let them dry. Load with a dry patch, and if you need to reload, spit on the patch for a bit of moisture, and you are good to go.

[Hanshi]

Bigted has great advice; polish that crown! Other tips are: *give 2F black powder a try/*try a larger ball/*thicker, stronger patch material. If the ball has to be pounded into the bore there is some seriously wrong one's procedure. A short starter and ramrod should be all one needs to load throughout the day.

My .50 is a little different in that it has deeper rifling than yours. I only use two lubes, TOW mink oil for hunting and Hoppes BP lube for everything else. I'll mention that I do sometimes use the blue windshield wiper fluid. I use .024" (compressed) unbleached canvas (occasionally denim) in my .50. Some of my other rifles do well with cotton canvas duck (.019" compressed) or in one case mattress ticking .017" compressed. With all load combos I use there is significant patch compression in the rifling grooves. With these loads I'm able to shoot all day without wiping the bores and the 50th shot loads as easily as the 2nd. With a tight load such as I use each time a prb is seated it pushes the previous shots fouling down to the powder charge. This leaves only one shots worth of fouling in the bore which gets cleaned as the next shot is seated. Smoothing/polishing the barrel crown is absolutely necessary. Patches are usually torn when they are first started in the muzzle. But most importantly, these loads are safely and easily seated with the wooden underbarrel rod. I shoot my own cast .490" ball. The hunting powder charge used is 70 grains of 3F; this load is very accurate out to 100 yards.

[AntiqueSledMan]

Hello brewer12345,

Back in the day, when eyes were still able to see the targets, I shot plenty of round ball range shooting. I had two rifles which I used, a Thompson Center Hawken and a CVA Frontier Rifle. Both were 28" barrels in 50 caliber, the Thompson had 1/48 twist and the CVA had 1/66 twist. I could always shoot better targets with the CVA. If you want a round ball tack driver, get a slower twist barrel.

AntiqueSledMan.

[jimb16]

OK, getting ready for the flames and putting on my asbestos suit....Try a thinner patch! I know this goes against what everyone else recommends, but.... I have a .50 cal Hatfield that loves a 75 grain charge of FFF. If I use a tight patch, I can't keep the shots on a standard 100 yard target at 50 yards. BUT! If I use a fairly loose fitting patch that requires practically no effort to push it down the barrel, it will hold 1 1/2 inch groups at 100 yards off sandbags all day long! This is the only BP firearm that I've ever had that acted that way, but that is what it wants! Every firearm is a rule unto itself. You never know what it wants until you find it!

[brewer12345]

Honestly, at this point I will just pick up a slow twist barrel as budget permits. I have my hunting loads locked down for the impending season and after that I can just take my time getting a barrel and fooling around with various combinations. Maybe I will even get it together and try out the vintage peep the rifle came with to make it a real target shooter.

[megasupermagnum]

Honestly, at this point I will just pick up a slow twist barrel as budget permits. I have my hunting loads locked down for the impending season and after that I can just take my time getting a barrel and fooling around with various combinations. Maybe I will even get it together and try out the vintage peep the rifle came with to make it a real target shooter.

I can't blame you, I gave up myself as I was looking for even more accuracy. I was able to get consistent 2" groups at 50 yards though, so it is doable. It does seem 3" at 100 yards is too tall an order for a Thompson center with a round ball. It kind of makes me wish I had bought one of the cheaper rusty 50 caliber Renegades, and had the barrel rebored to a slow twist 54 caliber. The only drop in Green mountain barrels they make anymore are 15/16" flats.

[pwc]

How do you polish the crown? Brass / lead ball and valve grinding compound?

[RU shooter]

OK, getting ready for the flames and putting on my asbestos suit....Try a thinner patch! I know this goes against what everyone else recommends, but.... I have a .50 cal Hatfield that loves a 75 grain charge of FFF. If I use a tight patch, I can't keep the shots on a standard 100 yard target at 50 yards. BUT! If I use a fairly loose fitting patch that requires practically no effort to push it down the barrel, it will hold 1 1/2 inch groups at 100 yards off sandbags all day long! This is the only BP firearm that I've ever had that acted that way, but that is what it wants! Every firearm is a rule unto itself. You never know what it wants until you find it!

I had a 45 cal Green Mountian barrel that was that same way shot a lot better with thinner patch than the standard .018 I normally use . A .010 patch shot the best

[indian joe]

I had a 45 cal Green Mountian barrel that was that same way shot a lot better with thinner patch than the standard .018 I normally use . A .010 patch shot the best

Always go thinner patch with shaller rifling ------ I reckon this project got slung in the too hard basket way too easy -- unless the rifling is obviously stuffed or the crown or some thing - that thing should shoot a ball fine - just cant load it as hard because of the twist is all.

[shortlegs]

I am using a .010 patch and a.530 ball over 65 grs of 3f and getting touching shot at 50 and 4" groups at 100.
Ballistol (25%)and water(75%) for cleaning, bore butter for lube. Thumb pushing ball in barrel and ramrod to seat, no short starter needed.

[shortlegs]

A buddy of mine had trouble with balls and went to mini ball with great results.