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Have you tried donut wads under the balls that fit through the chokes?
Donut wads should keep the undersize ball centered in the bore and the wad will squeeze through the choke.
BPI has felt donut wads.
Having said that, I have not tried it myself but it is old technology that supposedly works.
I'd use an all hard card wad column with the donut wad on top then RB nestled in the donut hole.
I think cushion leg wads do not provide a stable launch platform.
Longbow
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I saw nothing wrong with the groups I got from the .775” punkin balls and slugs I shot in my hammerless 8 gauge a few days ago . My parameters are not as hard to meet as some of you want rightly so from rifled barrels . I am happy with 30ish yards for both balls and slugs . With the buckshot about thirty yards as well . Granted my hammerless 8 was ordered to shoot close with buckshot and it does very well with very corse buckshot . Quite frankly I was expecting it to do half way decent with 000000 buck but it actually did very well in the right barrel . The punkin balls snd slugs both at .775” really surprised me in the left barrel . I shot two slugs from the left they were 2” above POA and about an inch apart , the two punkin balls from the left barrel were about half inch above POA and within 1/2” of each other . I’m quite pleased and now thinking I may have wasted $100 to get the .785” and .795” molds .
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I figure RB groups from smoothbore of under 6" at 50 yards is decent and 4" or less is good.
Mostly my round ball shooting has been from cylinder bore or I/C choke so I haven't dealt with full chokes.
I wouldn't say having two nice new round ball moulds is a waste of money but then I love round balls of all sizes. I don't know why but I do!
I sure you'll find a use for them.
Longbow
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Friday I cast about twenty of the .795” ball , twenty of the .785” ball and ninety of the .415” balls . Think Tuesday I’ll load eight of the .785” balls and four of the .795” balls . The ninety .415” balls will give me enough for ten rounds of 000000 buck .
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If I have a modicum of success with the punkin balls in my pair of 8 gauge guns I might look into a couple round ball molds for a couple of my 10’s . Doubt I go any lower but one never knows .
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Loaded some of the .785” and .795” punkin balls today . Also tried a few of the 000000 (.415”) buck using the Gualandi wads . Just went out and tried a load of buck thru the right barrel at thirty yards and it looked good . Then tried two of of the .795” balls thru the left barrel also at thirty yards and they looked very nice but about 3-4” above POA . The increase in elevation maybe caused by the charge I put about one extra grain of Universal Clays in each shell .
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Loaded a few more today ! But cut back to the 40A bushing got Universal Clays rather than the 41 bushing I used the other day . I also used the older Remington Corrugated hulls . I’m finding just a minute bit of lubricant on the case Edgar turns out a far better roll crimp . Loaded four of the .785 and six of the .795 . Then when I did the 000000 I put ten pellets and 1 1/2 scoops buffer . Made five with ten pellets and one with eight pellets . The one with eight got 1/4” of 10 gauge nitro card in the shot cup with everything else staying the same . Maybe I can try a couple later this evening on paper .
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Took a slight turn today . Loaded some punkin balls with fiber and card wads . Card over the powder then a few fiber wads . They seem to fit very well . I’d picked up a bunch of 8 gauge stuff couple months ago so why not try it . Loaded two with the .795” ball , three with the .785” ball and four buckshot with the Gualandi wad . All in nice new Remington hulls . I’ve also found putting just a skoosh of white grease on the end helps quite a bit in the roll crimping process .
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Shot all the roundball loads and didn’t care for the results . Shot 000000 buck in the right and left barrels as well . The buck loads looked very decent at 30 yards . Tommorrow I’ll load some more punkin balls with the SP-8 wads in new hulls then try two out the left barrel of both .785” and .795” . And hopefully we can go from there .