patched round ball in brass shell?

[dualsport]

I have some Magtech 12 ga. brass shells, would like to have some buck and ball and just round ball BP loads. Would it work to use a cloth patch on the round ball in the case just like a muzzleloader?

[longbow]

I am betting the patch will be left behind as the ball goes through the forcing cone.

The patch is trapped between the ball and barrel the whole way in a muzzleloader ~ it cannot come off.

It shouldn't hurt to try but check your bore to make sure a patch is not left in it after shooting.

Longbow

[dualsport]

LB, thanks for the tip. I think you're probably right, I was just wondering out loud, maybe somebody tried it. I'll do more research on the brass shells. I have a Chinese copy of an old 1887(?) Remington DB that I just got working again. It was all coming loose, now it's tight.

[GBertolet]

How about wrapping the ball in teflon tape? I do that with the round ball in regular hulls. You may need additional tape for a snugger fit in the thinner brass hulls.

[Blammer]

load the patched ball "upside down" patch on TOP of the RB with it draping over the sides of the RB for the tight fit.

won't come off then. It'd be interesting to see if accuracy suffers. :)

I'm thinking that the patch won't come off at the forcing cone, gas pressure from the powder will keep it all together. Maybe just need a bigger patch to cover more of the RB at the front, oversized patch if you will.

maybe put a gas seal in first then the patched RB.

[Gerry N.]

Buck and ball was a useful load in the long ago for military purposes when the strategery was to shoot at a tightly packed line of advancing soldiers. For a single target it materially degrades the probability of other than a random hit beyond 25 yards. Use buckshot OR ball for more of a chance of a hit.

Gerry N.

[peter nap]

Buck and ball was a useful load in the long ago for military purposes when the strategery was to shoot at a tightly packed line of advancing soldiers. For a single target it materially degrades the probability of other than a random hit beyond 25 yards. Use buckshot OR ball for more of a chance of a hit.

Gerry N.

Better than buckshot, ue a triball out to 50 yards.

[longbow]

Gerry N. and peternap both have good points as well. If you are thinking of doing this for hunting you are likely better off to stick with round ball only, bucksot only or tri-ball.

If you are planning on repeling boarding parties then maybe buck & ball is appropriate.

By the way, I haven't tried a patched ball muzzleloader style (just under bore size and patched to bore size) but I have tried wrapping undersize balls in cloth patches similar to what Blammer said and tying the open end as a "skirt" to trail behinf the ball. Accuracy was bad!

I have had success patching a 0.660" ball into a shotcup sitting in a hull. The 0.660" ball is undersize for any shotcups I know of except for steel shot so I tried patching them muzzleloader style into the shot cup. That worked quite quite well.

Donut wads should also center up a ball well and one under/one over should work in a brass hull fine.

A ball in a shotcup works pretty well if it is a snug fit but BP is hard on plastic shotcups.

Whatever you decide, just make sure it fits through a choke if there is one.

Longbow

[jimb16]

Remember, those brass shot shells use an 11 ga. wad. Using a 12 ga. wad will result in poor accuracy at best. 11 ga. wads are available thru Circle Fly. I reload those things all the time. They are great with the old WWI era 97 winchester.