62 cal trade gun questions

[bikerbeans]

My stepson has a 62 cal trade gun his grand dad built from a kit in the 70's. He has shot the rifle with his grand dad who
passed on many years ago. Grand dad did the loading and kid doesn't remember the data. He wants to hunt with the gun, deer and or pig (game farm, not the ones that gore your leg) and since I am the caster and loader I get to workup a load. I am going to slug the bore and my questions are how much undersize on a pure lead round ball and what thickness patch and lube?

BB

[Randy C]

I'm not the expert, send a pic and some info on the gun, :)

[waksupi]

I shoot 65 gr. #fff, with a .595 round ball, pillow ticking patch. Kills a deer right now!

[DIRT Farmer]

What Waksupi said. I used a 600 ball when I shot a 20 ga and 60 grains of ffg, pocket drill for patching. It was great for target but required wiping between shots.

[Beerd]

pictures would be good.
..

[sharps4590]

60-70 grs. of Ffg and either the .595 or .600 ball with correct patching and he should be good to go. I use the .600 mostly because that's what I could find at the time.

[bedbugbilly]

My 62 Fusil de Chasse (trade gun) has a 42 inch barrel and normally I use 60 gr of 2F with a .600 cast ball with pillow ticking patch. I usually wipe bore between shots. I have also used .610 cast round ball but with a thinner linen patch - same 60 grins of 2F. When I first got my Fusil, I used 4F for priming the lock but soon learned that the big trade lock liked 2F just fine so I went to using my main horn for priming as well.

The .62 (20 gauge) is a great bore size and he'll have fun with it with both round ball and shot if he wants to use it. He can get wads (fiber and over shot, etc.) from Circle Fly. I don't hunt anymore but I've taken pheasant, squirrels, rabbits and even a few ducks with the trade gun. Fusel or Northwest style - doesn't matter - all a load of fun!

[Maven]

"I am going to slug the bore and my questions are how much undersize on a pure lead round ball and what thickness patch and lube?" ...bb

bb, Depending on your gun's bore, the RB may be as small as .595" or as large as .605". You'd compensate for ball diameter with patch thickness of course. Speaking of which, smoothbores aren't nearly as sensitive to patch thickness as rifles and a thick[er] patch can't expand into the rifling. I typically use pillow ticking, both .014" and .018" with either a .598" RB or .600" RB lubed with home brewed moose milk (at the range) or Stumpy's Moose Snot when I must wait several minutes to take another shot. Btw, the Lee Precision mold (.598") is as accurate as my more expensive Jeff Tanner one + it has a sprue cutter, which is absent from the Tanner. You may also want to try an over powder wad of either cardboard or felt as either may improve accuracy a tad. Lastly, check out Track of the Wolf's offerings on OP wads & RB's before you commit to a mold.