New to me t.c. 56 renegade smoothbore

[VEARL]

Hello everyone.
Bought a really nice 56 cal. Thompson center smoothbore.
Can't find a .550 roundball mould anywhere. Wonder if i could use a .535 round ball with a patch. If so what thickness of patch could i use to get some accuracy out of it.
Thanks in advance
vearl

[Beagle333]

I use denim (old jeans) for patching a .535 with my 56 smoothie. It's as accurate as I am. I have a .550 roundball mold, and perhaps it's a tiny bit more accurate, but I'm not sure one could tell one from the other in a blindfolded test. It's sure fun to shoot, and fun to load and fun to clean. I do love a smoothie.

[scattershot]

I used to use a .535 ball and a denim patch, as well. With 60 grains of fffG and a Wonder Wad, that thing shot like a rifle. A little hard to load that combo, but man, could it shoot. Congrats.

[LAGS]

I got Fair Accuracy out of my .56 using a .530 ball , old Denim Jeans for patches.
I also used 28 ga.
Shotgun wads cut down.
I wanted more accuracy at distances of 100 yards , so I had the barrel Re Bored and Rifled to .61 with a 1/66 twist.
But the .56 is accurate out to 50 yards IMO

[Maven]

Vearl, I have one of the smoothbore Renegades as well, but find it is more accurate with the .550" RB than the .535". Unfortunately, the former, moulds for which were made by both Lyman and Thompson Center, are hard to find, but show up on occasion on eBay. As for the .535" RB, Lee Precision makes a perfectly satisfactory mould. As suggested, you'll need patch material that's at least .018" thick and some kind of overpowder wad for the best accuracy...if you limit your distance to 60 yds. or so.

[Geezer in NH]

I use .530 ball and a denim patch from my tailored jeans 32" to 27 ". They are .30 thick and shoot great. Near as good as my 54 cal rifled gun at 50 yards

[Buzzard II]

Vearl,
Keep looking as they are out there. Place a Wanted ad too. Good luck.
Bob