Maven
08-07-2020, 12:21 PM
I got to wondering the other day about "bare ball" loads after reading some posts on another site. Since the consensus was more favorable than unfavorable, I decided to try them for the first time in my T/C Renegade SB (caplock) and my sometimes problematic Green River Forge 20ga. NW trade gun (flintlock). The T/C SB uses a tight .550" which I cast (Lyman mould) and is very accurate @ 25 yd. with a thin (.012") patch @ 25 yd., but it's not easy to start and seat. The GRF trade gun, using either .014" or .018" patches and RB's of diameters between .598" (Tanner & Lee moulds) and .604" (slightly out of round Lyman mould) is equally accurate at that range. Powder charges between 65- and 85gr. FFFg (alll I had on hand) don't seem to make much difference.
Tow Wads As I didn't like pounding a patched RB down the bbl. of the T/C SB, I thought, "why not try tow wads (and nothing else between powder & ball) in it?" I bench rested these @ 25 yd. with tow wads fore & aft and the .550" RB + 75gr. FFFg @ 25 yd. and was surprised and pleased with the result. (See photo below: white target, 10 shots).
Full disclosure: I tried tow wads in the GRF trade gun @ 50 yd. with .598" RB's (as recommended) and 100gr. FFg and was greatly disappointed with their inaccuracy, which I blamed on them and the gun. Yesterday, however, I tried fairly tight tow wads with a .618" bore diameter RB (Tanner mould) bench rested with 85gr. FFFg GOEX at the greater distance and was rewarded by a pretty good grouping for 9 out of twelve shots. In the photo below, you'll notice two hits off my "high tech" paper bag target backer that were pre-existing and another two marked "fouler," which were fired with a different RB. The remaining ones, with the exception of #'s 4, 9, & 10 grouped exceptionally well for a gun with no rear sight. So far as I can tell, shot #9 was a flyer, but #4 was due to a dirty bore (more below) and #10 was an aiming issue (labeled "My bad!"on the brown target below: 12 shots + 2 foulers).
Lessons learned: Tow wads seem to scour the bore, but accuracy suffers when you don't damp swab after every shot as indicated above. Moreover, they can and do smolder, so be aware of that in dry conditions. Third, in my guns at least, I got the best accuracy with tight fitting RB's (.550" for the T/C and .618" for the GRF) and hand rolled tow wads requiring a bit of "oomph" to start and seat. Lastly and editorially, I found Goex FFFg to be no dirtier than any other brand of BP I've used except maybe Elephant twenty or more years ago.
Tow Wads As I didn't like pounding a patched RB down the bbl. of the T/C SB, I thought, "why not try tow wads (and nothing else between powder & ball) in it?" I bench rested these @ 25 yd. with tow wads fore & aft and the .550" RB + 75gr. FFFg @ 25 yd. and was surprised and pleased with the result. (See photo below: white target, 10 shots).
Full disclosure: I tried tow wads in the GRF trade gun @ 50 yd. with .598" RB's (as recommended) and 100gr. FFg and was greatly disappointed with their inaccuracy, which I blamed on them and the gun. Yesterday, however, I tried fairly tight tow wads with a .618" bore diameter RB (Tanner mould) bench rested with 85gr. FFFg GOEX at the greater distance and was rewarded by a pretty good grouping for 9 out of twelve shots. In the photo below, you'll notice two hits off my "high tech" paper bag target backer that were pre-existing and another two marked "fouler," which were fired with a different RB. The remaining ones, with the exception of #'s 4, 9, & 10 grouped exceptionally well for a gun with no rear sight. So far as I can tell, shot #9 was a flyer, but #4 was due to a dirty bore (more below) and #10 was an aiming issue (labeled "My bad!"on the brown target below: 12 shots + 2 foulers).
Lessons learned: Tow wads seem to scour the bore, but accuracy suffers when you don't damp swab after every shot as indicated above. Moreover, they can and do smolder, so be aware of that in dry conditions. Third, in my guns at least, I got the best accuracy with tight fitting RB's (.550" for the T/C and .618" for the GRF) and hand rolled tow wads requiring a bit of "oomph" to start and seat. Lastly and editorially, I found Goex FFFg to be no dirtier than any other brand of BP I've used except maybe Elephant twenty or more years ago.