Possible to achieve hunting accuracy with round ball ?

[Hoss29860]

I find the larger sized pumpkin ball size round balls loads .672-.690 to be really interesting subject and considering getting molds but seeing how pretty much everything i load is used as a hunting round i was wondering if there accurate enough to be considered or would i be better off sticking with slugs

[Outpost75]

Your results may vary, but I'm sticking with slugs:

279743279744

Brown smudge above target notation on round ball group is a wad impact.

[SuperBlazingSabots]

Wrong Hoss, on this planet where I live Round Ball indeed does wonders provided the loader and shooter uses common sense and chooses the right fit for his gun.
Its all about the " Fit "

All my test were meant for shooters with either Rifled barrel or smoothbore with Imp cylinder but not Full choke

Ajay K. Madan
Super Blazing Sabots

[Roosterbob]

Short answer is YES, they are accurate enough in the right combination..
However there are many variables depending on the load you produce and the firearm used.
Smooth bore or rifled bore? Can make a big difference in practical range.
Use the search feature for 12ga round balls and you will discover a wealth of info from those far more experienced than I am.
Happy hunting!
Bob

[Outpost75]

SuperBlazingSabots, I read lots of claims but have seen no pictures of actual targets. Pics please. Thanks.

No interest here in a cylinder bore or rifled barrel with optics or iron sights which obscure a turkey's head. My need is for loads which I can use in a full-choked plain barrel gun which mostly gets used on squirrels and turkey. When the deer season runs concurrent with the others I can open the gun quietly and change loads. Since I don't plink with this thing, I'm just going to buy 50 factory slug loads, call it good and save myself the frustration in trying to find a pumpkin ball load which will hold the black of a pistol bullseye at woods range.

Old man needs a light, handy gun and this one does it for me.

[Jniedbalski]

I was also wanting to try the round ball loads in my 20 ga pump. Looks like the amount that I shoot I might be better off buying slugs. I got my 20 ga back after 22 years of loaning it out. I shot one box of #7 1/2 through it and put it back up.

[longbow]

My good round ball loads run 3" to 4" groups at 50 yards pretty consistently. Not so good ones are under 6". That is for 12 ga. using 0.662" RB cloth patched into standard trap wad with a 16 ga. or 20 ga. 1/8" nitro card wad under the ball.

Also good is 0.735" RB over a plastic gas seal then hard card wad column. Groups for both run around 4" or less at 50 yards. They do spread out fairly quickly much past about 60 yards and get kinda random by 100 yards.

0.678" RB's fit some wads pretty well and shoot about the same but they are loose in my Winchester wads so accuracy is not quite as good.

0.690" RB's have never given me decent accuracy but that is because the wads I could find were either too tight so petals sheared or the wad petals were too thin/not tough enough and though fit was good petals sheared. No reason if the ball is kept centered that accuracy shouldn't be good though.

If the ball in wad is a snug fit to bore and well supported with nitro card wad under then accuracy can be quite good.

I wouldn't recommending tight fitting ball in wad or full bore ball for any choke though I/C should be okay. All my round ball loads have been shot through cylinder bore.

I have had better 50 yard accuracy with round ball loads than most home cast and loaded HB slugs. Still working on slugs! Factory slugs shoot very well but I have not been as successful with Lee 1 oz., Lee 7/8 oz. Lyman Foster or most of my home made slug moulds. A couple have come close to factory accuracy and much better than Lee or Lyman slugs.

YMMV

Longbow

[Hoss29860]

Thanks Longbow you've given some great information im thinking im going to try and find somewhere that sales the larger sized round balls i can buy to test out a few different sizes see what works best before buying molds

[longbow]

Try Track of the Wolf. They have or at least had a good variety of round balls. Those will be pure lead but should not make a difference... except maybe in bore diameter ball where you might get leading. I use mostly range scrap or COWW.

It looks like 0.678" moulds are hard to find now. I believe Lyman has stopped production. I didn't see them listed on their site recently. It is a good size for some standard shotcups.

0.662" is a pretty good size and weighs exactly1 oz. in pure lead but it is too small for most standard trap wads. That's why I cloth patched mine and that works well plus you can tailor fit to bore be changing cloth thickness. or you can use Randy Buchannan's approach and seat a felt wad in the shotcup compressing the center down then just drop a 0.662" RB in and crimp. With moderate trap loads those shoot well for him.

0.690" RB is convenient because it weighs about 1 1/8 oz. so nice weight and available in inexpensive Lee moulds but as I said, I had trouble finding wads that would fit and even those that did failed. Take a look through Ajay's posts on slug and ball in wad fit to bore. He has posted tons of good info... that's the SuperBlazingSabots thread.

If a pricey mould isn't a deterrent Mihec (MP Moulds) has 0.678" in 2 cavity brass and he has 0.732" RB moulds as well, and he makes beautiful moulds! There is also Moose Moulds who make a terrific variety of round ball moulds. Then there is Tanner Moulds in the UK and he'll make what ever you want for size but these don't come with sprue plate so manual cutting of sprues after casting.

Lee moulds run about $25, Lyman run from about $90 to over $100, Mihec will be over $100 and Moose moulds I believe run about $150.

Longbow

[GoodOlBoy]

There used to be a fella on the board who had done just about every kinda test on round balls outa shotguns you could do. Can't remember his name, but he seemed to have good luck with it.

I've been told everything from buckshot won't kill a deer, to slugs won't go past 75 yards, to all kinds of goofy-headed mess.

I can tell you this much for certain. I shoot a single shot 20 with a fixed modified choke. Been shooting it for 40 years last December. It'll accurately shoot any load I've a mind to shoot.

Think about this. Even Carlson's chokes has a warning on their site "Do not use any steel shot larger than #4, slugs, sabots, rifled slugs, & 00/000 buckshot through a Carlson’s Turkey Choke." Now if Carlson's, who makes danged fine chokes, will tell you not to do it? Don't trust nobody who will tell you they shoot a slug out of a turkey choke.

279773

I also remember a warning that used to be on slugs that has been removed from most of the boxes now, and I reckon it probably includes round ball too. It used to say it wasn't safe to shoot a slug out of a damascus twist barrel. Beyond that?

God Bless, and good luck.

Richard

[centershot]

Possible to achieve hunting accuracy with round ball ?

Mebbe.

280244280245

[longbow]

Another mould maker I forgot to post:

https://www.ballmoulds.com/

I don't have any of his but have heard nothing but good comments regarding quality and price. He will make any size you want.

I have to think that the undersize ball at 0.662" or thereabouts is the best choice in that it can be cloth or paper patched to provide the fit you want since both wad petal thickness and bore diameters vary considerably.

I know that works well in smoothbore and centershot has shown it works well in rifled gun. He didn't post the link to his thread so I will:

https://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?369800-Centershot-Sabots&highlight=centershot+sabots

Pretty inpressive!

Longbow