Round balls in Ruger 77/50?

[Jim22]

I got a nice Ruger 77/50 inline muzzle loading rifle. It works well with saboted bullets but I'd like to try some round .490" patched balls. Anyone tried this? I am worried about the rifling twist rate. The manual saays it has a one in 28" twist. http://pdf.textfiles.com/manuals/FIREARMS/ruger_7750.pdf

Ruger says not to expect the same accuracy with round balls as with saboted bullets.

[nagantguy]

I’ve not yet found a 1:28 barrel that fires RBs as well as sabots, some of the dozen or so I e played with were maybe alright for minute of whitetail but clover leaf with appropriate sabot loads; until recently we were restricted in my part of the state to slugs or muzzle loader and I went with front stuffer to ensure more accuracy at range; in those days i hunted a power line break and corn/bean fields and had kill shots at 200-220 yards . And regularly made kill shots
At 100-150, the absolute limit for the best slug guns. Sorry for the drift in topic. Try the patched RBs and see if you can get acceptable accuracy for your mission- be it hunting paper punching of competition.

[mooman76]

You can do it with light loads and a good tight patch. I have a 54 with a 1-20 twist that shot expectable with light loads.

[arcticap]

Hornady makes Hard Balls that have received great reviews. --->>> https://www.midwayusa.com/product/1002235281
They consist of a .485 ball in a sabot, which may be a special size sabot.
I'm curious if the results can be duplicated with a commercial sabot and another size ball that will fit in it.
For instance, MMP makes an orange sabot for a .457 - .458 bullet. --->>> https://mmpsabots.com/store/hph-sabot-series/
And there's factory round balls made for the Ruger Old Army that measure .457 that would fit.
Whether that combination would work as well as the Hard Ball is anyone's guess.
If you try the combination let us know how they work.

[Maven]

I got a nice Ruger 77/50 inline muzzle loading rifle. It works well with saboted bullets but I'd like to try some round .490" patched balls. Anyone tried this? I am worried about the rifling twist rate. The manual saays it has a one in 28" twist. http://pdf.textfiles.com/manuals/FIREARMS/ruger_7750.pdf

Ruger says not to expect the same accuracy with round balls as with saboted bullets.

I have a .50cal. Knight Bighorn with a 1:28 twist bbl. that shoots RB's quite well albeit at reduced speeds/powder charges v. saboted bullets. I use a .018" patch with nominally .490" RB's (.492" in fact cast in pure Pb from a RCBS mould) with 35 - 50 grains FFg. As you may expect, the 50 yd. groups open with the higher charges of FFg.

[Jim22]

Thank you all. Surprisingly, I was thinking of shooting the round balls with lighter loads, saving heavy loads for saboted bullets and hunting. I haven't got any black powder. What little powder I do have is Pyrodex powder and pellets. I am thinking of a round ball and half a pellet. Has anyone done that?I have a little XActo saw with a very thin blade and one of their miter boxes that would help with cutting the pellets straight and exactly in half. Seems like a 25 grain equivalent could show me if I'm getting any accuracy - and would let me practice loading and shooting. The balls I have are Hornady .490" diameter balls. They average a weight of 177 grains.

[arcticap]

Thank you all. Surprisingly, I was thinking of shooting the round balls with lighter loads, saving heavy loads for saboted bullets and hunting. I haven't got any black powder. What little powder I do have is Pyrodex powder and pellets. I am thinking of a round ball and half a pellet. Has anyone done that?I have a little XActo saw with a very thin blade and one of their miter boxes that would help with cutting the pellets straight and exactly in half. Seems like a 25 grain equivalent could show me if I'm getting any accuracy - and would let me practice loading and shooting. The balls I have are Hornady .490" diameter balls. They average a weight of 177 grains.

I would warn against using the Exacto metal miter box along with the saw to cut the pellets.
Even if the miter box is made from aluminum, there's a possibility that it can create a spark or a heat reaction that could ignite the powder while cutting and holding it with your hand.
A broken piece of aluminum equipment was partly suspected of causing a Goex BP plant explosion some years ago in PA.
While a pellet won't explode it could burn.

1. https://www.amazon.com/Xacto-X75320-Small-Mitre-Box/dp/B0000DD1O4/ref=asc_df_B0000DD1O4/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=309763890402&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=9082197569640006901&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9003196&hvtargid=pla-569147366350&psc=1

2. "Can aluminum cause a spark?
An aluminum alloy, even though generally considered to be a "spark-resistant" material, typically contains 5% of ferric material by weight. ... Even if pure, non-ferrous aluminum is used, sparks can occur during an aluminothermic reaction, also called a thermic reaction."

https://www.osha.gov/laws-regs/standardinterpretations/2009-10-08

AFAIK the rifle pellets are said to have a thin coating of black powder on the bottom which acts as an igniter.
If the pellets are cut in half then the igniter layer would be cut off and missing on some of the pellets.
I doubt that it would matter much since their 30 grain revolver pellets don't have the igniter layer and work just fine without it.
But I mention it FYI.
And the pellets can also get crushed when the ball is rammed.
The pellets shouldn't be handled as they can pick up moisture, if they break while being cut they might leave air space in the breech, and the center hole may lead to them breaking apart.
Sure go ahead and try it if you want, but it would seem to be a less than ideal way to measure and load powder if they break up into non-uniform pieces.
Using the loose powder may be a better idea since you may end up wanting to try firing some entire 50 grain pellets fully intact.

When my son was 9 years old and 1st starting out with a .50 youth muzzle loader, his first PRB loads were 25 grains of Pyrodex P which were sufficient at 25 yards.
He would eventually choose to load 25, 30 or 40 grains of Pyrodex P depending on the distance to the steel plates and targets which were at various distances out to about 40 yards or so.
You won't really know what the best powder load is until you try some, and cutting the pellets in advance isn't the best way to experiment with powder charges to get the most consistent results.

[Jim22]

I would warn against using the Exacto metal miter box along with the saw to cut the pellets.

The miter box I have is made from orange plastic but you're probably right. I'll use the loose stuff instead.