Curious About 50-cal Bullet Choices

[Tom in Pittsburgh]

Picking up a 1980s vintage .50 caliber percussion Zoli muzzleloader. 28" barrel with a 1:48 twist and .008 rifling. Do you think I will be able to use Minie / maxi balls, or just patched round balls?

Thanks

[00buck]

Try em.. Your rifle will tell you if it likes them or not.

My Hawken has a 1:48 twist and shot maxi balls fine. But it did NOT like sabots

[rodwha]

With such shallow grooves I'd think it might do well with conicals.

If you do try PRB's I'd think you'd need a really thin patch. My rifle has ~.502" lands and .520" grooves and a .490" RB with a 0.016" patch needs a fair whack of the short starter to get seated.

[fouronesix]

TinP,

(use real BP)

It should shoot all ML projectile types pretty well. The 45 cals in 48" twist can be pretty picky about accurate bullets/balls. But from the 50s through the 58s, the 48" twist is very good- in my experience.

I wouldn't worry about the groove depth. I know the so-called dedicated Minié shooters are supposed to have shallow grooves, but I've not found that to be a universal truth at all. One of the most accurate Minié shooters I have has a fairly deep 7-groove bore of 54 caliber and 48" twist. One of the most accurate solid base conical shooters I have has grooves of fairly standard depth about like yours. It's a 50 caliber with 48" twist.

The patched roundball can be accurate from light up through heavy charges. The solid base conicals usually need a pretty good bump to shoot their best. The Miniés, on the other hand, usually do best with light to moderate charges.

[Ajax]

Where are you in Pittsburgh I am in observatory hill.

Andy

[Tom in Pittsburgh]

Over near Carnegie

[Cerberus]

I have been trying to figure out this same question with my CVA Plainsman, 50 caliber. I am also curious as to BP or Pyrodex? I have been using Pyrodex RS from it being easier to get from the Walmart only 2 miles away, wish they also had the P for my revolver.

[DW475]

I have a T/C with a 48 twist. It didn't like anything i stuffed down the barrel except patched round ball. It's very accurate and has since accounted for a number of critters.