.520 round ball

[lead chucker]

Hey guys. I had a 50 cal made into a .54 cal by Robert Hoyte for a round ball but .530 is way too tight. A guy on this sight sent me some 5.26 ball and they shoot ok. I would like to try some .520 balls with thick patches to see if i can get better accuracy. I can trade soft or clip on wheel weights. I called Track of the wolf but the shipping was way out of line to Alaska. Any help would be appreciated. Im not saying any thing negative about Robert he seems like a real good guy but its a real tight bore. I have tried several different patch sizes and they have to be real thin to get a .530 ball down the barrel. When i recover the patches they are all tore up. I have tried running steel wool up and down the barrel to smooth the bore and shot probably 300+ round through it and no joy. The rifle is a Thomson center Hawken.

[LAGS]

It may just be me , but I have always Lapped my Hoyt barrels with JB Bore Bright on a Tight Fitting Patch to help smooth them out.
I don't think steel wool will remove the burr that are making the barrel too tight.
Give the lapping a try while you are looking for your mold.
So far , Hoyt has done six barrels for me and I have two more to send to him.
One barrel was Rebored from 50 to 54 and one from 56 to .60.
Others were Relined to their original calibers.
The next two are just getting Refreshed

[lead chucker]

Never heard of that. where can a guy get that. I have lots of polishing paste 250 600 and 1200 grit i use when making my swaging dies for jacketed bullets.

[lead chucker]

A .530 ball with a thin patch is real tight and by the third shot it real hard to get the ball down. I would think it would take a lot to remove enough steel and make it symmetrical the hole length.

[lead chucker]

I love the gun and want to get it to shoot good. I dont want to rune the barrel trying mess with it not knowing what im doing.

[lead chucker]

If its a mater if polishing starting with 250 grit up to 1200 grit in the end then i can do that. I just want to do it the right way

[lead chucker]

I have some JB bore paste not sure if its the same stuff.

[LAGS]

JB only makes two grits if I remember correctly.
I use the courses one.
I have polished up Rusted bores with 220 grit polishing compound.
It cleans the sharp edges off the pits and makes the ball slide in easier.
But any polishing compound from 220 to 600 should work good to remove or round over the super sharp edges on your fresh cut rifling.
Just use a tight patch , and work in Long Strokes.
That way the polishing is consistant the length of the barrel.
Like you said , you just want to smooth out the Barrell , not Wear it out.

[Edward]

If its a mater if polishing starting with 250 grit up to 1200 grit in the end then i can do that. I just want to do it the right way

No it is not the way ,do yourself a favor and pick up the phone ! Bob will explain what you need to do ,sounds like you need some advice and Bob is the guy who"s done 9-10 for me and I have never been disappointed in his advice (helpful) could be his last name/Ed

[GregLaROCHE]

Consider buying a mold. There a lot cheaper to ship than lead.

[waksupi]

I've had several .54's that needed .520. I have found most custom bores are that size.

Also from your hard loading issues after a few shots, I would guess you are using Bore Butter. Stop it.

I have a spare .520 Lee mold, 6 holer I would sell. Let me know if interested.

[mooman76]

My 54 is real tight too. I can manage .530 RBs but that's it. I finally managed to get a smaller mould but off hand don't remember what size. You might try a different lube.

[Good Cheer]

Two items.
1. May have to smooth out the muzzle crown after reboring.
2. May have to shoot in the fresh cut rifling.

Metal has been recut in that barrel.
Trying to smooth it down the wrong way can mess things up.

[megasupermagnum]

I can send you a handful of .520" cast balls. They are closer to .522"-.523". I also have leftover Hornady .520" that measure spot on, but don't shoot as well as the hand cast balls.

Also try two 1/8" felt wads, 5/8" or 20 gauge diameter, under the ball. This cured patch tearing in my TC scout pistol.

[lead chucker]

I have been using moose milk. I use bore butter when hunting. Thanks for all the reply's I appreciate it. I will try .520 balls and see how it goes before i mess with the barrel. I will call Robert and get his advice.

[varsity07840]

I would certainly call Bob and see what he has to say. He may tell you to send it back to him. He's probably done 15 barrels for me over 30 years and his work has always been top notch. That last one he did for me was an original, worn .32 that he rebored to .45. It's a tack driver. The only barrel I sent back to him was for an .54 cal Erma Gallager carbine that he relined and chambered to the correct .50 cal. The chamber was a bit too tight for the brass cases. He turned it around to me in several days. BTW. My GRRW Leman .54 uses a .526 ball.

[arcticap]

I understand the concept behind why some load an extremely tight ball.
But that's why the factories make .535 balls for the .54.
If someone wants or needs to use factory balls, the options are extremely limited as to where they can get .526 balls.
It looks like TOW offers them in cast only.
I guess this would mean that with some barrel makers [Hoyt in particular], a customer needs to carefully clarify the land to land diameter that they're paying to have made for them.
That seems elementary but still requires a meeting of the minds, and shows that a customer can't assume that a barrel maker has the same concept of what a .54 bore is as the customer.
It's "buyer beware" I guess.

[LAGS]

A question?
Has the barrel been slugged to find out where you really are ?

[drago9900]

Maybe use the polishing compound as a patch lube, you will get consistent strokes and shoot it in.

[GL49]

Also from your hard loading issues after a few shots, I would guess you are using Bore Butter. Stop it.


What great advice. Ask me how I know. I had to learn the hard way.

[Geezer in NH]

JB bore paste is nothing better than toothpaste. Get a .520 ball and try that instead of screwing with the bore the barrel maker made.

When you want to lap get Clover compound kit and start in the small grit but use a poured lead lap. A mop on a brush don't cut it for lapping.

Pay the money to the barrel maker to hand lap it before you ruin the bore and blame the maker.

Just MHO