A Few Questions That Have Probably Been Asked 100 Times
Hey folks. I've been reading for a few days now and have some questions. As you all are probably aware, digging for answers can be pretty time consuming.
I am not new to casting and reloading. I have been doing both for better than 30 years for metallic pistol and rifle cartridges. BUT... I have never been one for shotguns, until recently. I've owned several and sold several over the years just because I never really found any love for the smoothbore. Well, that seems to have changed and I'm pretty gung ho on reloading and learning about this part of our sport. Naturally, casting goes hand in hand with reloading (maybe not initially but eventually). So here are some questions:
After reading through the loading data for round balls in the 3rd edition of the Lyman reloading manual:
There is only .690 round ball info listed. Is there a different source that lists all these different round ball sizes I keep reading about here?
I also noticed that unlike metallic reloading, there is no range on the powder amounts. Since just lower FPS does not equate to less recoil and I did not see muzzle velocity data, what are the best indicators for reduced or increased recoil?
Gates recommends .003" over bore diameter. Is this ball and wad measurement? Is it as simple as putting them together and measure with a micrometer?
Bore and swaging...
I've been casting a long time so I get sizing, but swaging seems to be a slightly different animal. I've looked around on Corbin's sight and if that is the only option then Track of the Wolf is going to get A LOT of business from me. Do you slug a shotgun barrel like you do a rifle or pistol barrel to determine sizing, or do you simply measure the muzzle? I am reloading for a Nova with no choke to start. Once sizing is determined can you simply cast round balls and match the proper size wads to get to that .003"?
One more question...
In some of the loads I read and in some of the posts here, I saw some loads required removing the pedals from the wads. If building a load without pedals, is it a good idea (or necessary) to run the round balls through a Rooster (or your choice of lube) lube bath to provide a little slickness?
Thanks for the help folks!