.690 round ball

[Fla9-40]

Hey excess650, thanks or the info!

[Fla9-40]

Hey excess650 for the info...I guess I will need to get rid of my .690 and get the .600

[longbow]

0.662" is nominal 16 ga. bore diameter. you would have to slug your bore but a naked 0.662" ball should work fine as long as the barrel is cylinder bore (no choke).

I've had very good results using 0.735" RB's in my 12 ga. I use a plastic gas seal then hard card wad column which works best for me. You should be able to do the same with o.662" RB in 16 ga.

Since I find it tedious to make my own wad columns, I prefer to load an undersize ball in shotcups.

If you are looking to try out some different size balls at both bore size and shotcup size Track of the Wolf has a good selection that should give you every size you need:

http://www.trackofthewolf.com/List/Item.aspx/127/3

Get a few of each likely size and give them a go.

Longbow

[Fla9-40]

Hey longbow, GREAT info...Thanks for the link!

My barrel is cylinder bore (no choke).

[6pt-sika]

I've got an original Model 1842 Harpers Ferry so a .69 round ball mold will be a dual use mold for me . I also was thinking of using the .69 ball inside a REM SP-10 wad in several of my old 10 gauge doubles . I think with the wad the fit should be tight enough for me to use them at 25 and possibly 50 yards or atleast I am hoping !

At the moment I am trying the Lee .578" Minie in some Claybuster 16 gauge AA wads . Gonna try it tommorrow I hope in my old circa 1930 AH Fox A . Perhaps later I can try them in my Parker GH that has cylinder bore barrels .

I also have a couple orignal 1841 Mississippi rifles so I can make use of a 54 cal minnie mold . I was also thinking that one might work in a little Fox Sterlingworth 20 gauge I have , use the 54 minnie inside the Claybuster 20 AA wad . Anyway this whole thing for me will be a long drawn out process .

[longbow]

I think that .690" will be loose in a 10 ga. shotcup unless it has thick petals (maybe steel shot wad?). If that is a problem you might try cloth patching the ball into the shotcup already in the hull. I did that for my 0.662" balls in 12 ga. and it worked well. They were a loose rattle fit so I decided to give patching a try and glad I did.

Longbow

[6pt-sika]

I think that .690" will be loose in a 10 ga. shotcup unless it has thick petals (maybe steel shot wad?). If that is a problem you might try cloth patching the ball into the shotcup already in the hull. I did that for my 0.662" balls in 12 ga. and it worked well. They were a loose rattle fit so I decided to give patching a try and glad I did.

Longbow

I was thinking if the ball was to loose in the SP-10 wad I could wrap it with teflon pipe tape .

[longbow]

I think plain old cloth patching or even paper is better as it will release at the muzzle. Teflon pipe tape is pricey and if you wrap the ball is will stay with the ball probably causing random spins to be picked up due to rough surface. It is pretty quick to push a ball and pre-cut patch into a hull with wad in it.

My thoughts anyway.

Longbow

[6pt-sika]

A little OT , but I tried the 578 minnies in my AH Fox 16 gauge today . They showed NO promise what so ever . Best at 25 yards was the right and left barrel about 20" apart . The gun shot Federal and Winchester Foster type slugs decently . One shot each right and left barrel and both brands kept them within 3" at 25 yards . I may very well try factory loads in this gun during the damage control season , but I think my idea of using the minnie balls was a waste . I'll probably S can the idea of using a 54 cal minnie in the 20 gauge as well .

[ackleyman]

Ballistic's Products makes a 12ga wad that has a long section to take up space, it is listed under 7/8oz loads. The petals are very short(1/2"). I simply snip the petals off and the round ball sits on top. Then, after seating the wad in the hull, dropping in the round ball, I will put a thin nitro card on top to enable a good crimp.

If memory serves me correct, the 69 cal round ball is about 1 oz, so I worked up loads using 700x with that pay load. Accuracy was adequate for 15 yards and that was about all through a cylinder bore 870. Larger round balls would certainly be a GREAT improvement.

[longbow]

0.690" balls are closer to 1 1/8 oz. if cast of pure lead.

0.735" balls (standard Lyman mould) shoot well for me from both smoothbore and rifled guns. They are a bit oversize but not much meat at the equator so they swage down easily. I did a test with mallet and wood dowel to push one through the barrel ~ not difficult at all. A slightly smaller ball might be a better choice at say 0.732" but that means a custom mould. Jeff tanner will do it for a reasonable price. I happened to have a gift certificate to track of the Wolf at the time though so went with the Lyman. It works well anyway. Alternately 0.678" is also a standard Lyman and RCBS mould and fits many regular shotcups very well.

Longbow

[X-man]

Tagged for interest

[Charlie U.]

..........It is pretty quick to push a ball and pre-cut patch into a hull with wad in it.

My thoughts anyway.

Longbow

longbow,
I have been going back and reading up on the forum over the last week looking for info on just this subject.
My thoughts were to try a pillow ticking patch on a Lyman .715 Round Ball in the rifled barrel of the H&R UltraSlug gun. Essentially using the shotgun as a big muzzle loader.
Have you tried such a loading? Would it provide any benefit over using the .735 naked ball in a rifled barrel?

[longbow]

I have not tried a patched ball with patching to bore. I have patched into shotcups to snug up undersize balls..

I have read posts where people claim patching into a hull (so full bore with patch) works. I always figured the friction against the hull, opening the crimp and/or the jump through the forcing cone would result in the patch slipping but not having tried it I can't say. others do say it works so if you have the mould it certainly wouldn't hurt to give it a go.

The only advantage I can see over the 0.735" RB would be that the patch should prevent any leading if it does stay around the ball. However, a bit of tumble lube and/or lubed wads under a 0.735" RB should also stop any leading.

I have shot all mine naked but mostly in smoothbore and so far no leading at all. When I borrowed the rifled gun I shot 35 rounds (IIRC) and no leading either. The balls were air cooled range scrap not soft lead.

One other advantage of using a smaller (lighter) ball is that there is a lot more real slug loading data available which is one of the reasons I like to use 525 gr. and under to 1 oz. If you are not after "hot" loads then equivalent weight shot recipes will work fine but will be a couple hundred feet per second lower velocity.

Longbow

[Charlie U.]

Thanks longbow,
I scored an old MEC 600jr and just added a few parts to get it in working order. Now I'm on the hunt for suitable slug molds and am reading all I can on loading slugs.
Will start with the Lyman 525 for sure, but playing with roundball slugs sounds like a good time so I look forward to giving them a go. Hopefully I can pick your brain once I scrape together some more components and get underway with shotgun reloading (already cast and reload center fire so this is just expanding things)

I hunt with the 12ga H&R UltraSlugger and would like to work up some accurate, flat shooting slug loads for 100yd+ hunting.

[SuperBlazingSabots]

Greetings, its all about the " Fit "

Must do this push through test if using smooth bore for your own safety.

Watch out for what your primer is telling you:


Now this picture chart is with .678 RB so for .690" RB use the thinnest wad which is Winchester Yellow AA12F114

Here is the good news for .690" RB shooters, that Win Yellow 12F114 wad is not in the picture, the measurements are at the bottom of the picture:

* * The ones whose barrel is Over bored will love the Fed 12S-0 wad third from left and 4th from left in Red Versalite wad !


ASSASSIN suggested this load: Here is the load:

HULL: 12 ga. 2 3/4" Federal Gold Medal

PRIMER: Winchester 209

POWDER: Hodgdon Longshot / 38.0 grains

WAD: Federal 12S4...

"2" 16 ga. Nitro Cards inside of wad

.687 diameter lead round ball, with ball sprue sitting centered and on top of the Nitro Cards

14 ga. Over Shot card, sitting on top of round ball

Seat with 20 pounds of pressure on top of over shot card

Fold crimp

Round balls were fired through my Remington 870 with a 34" Hastings Wadlock barrel, using an extended full choke.

Rounds were shot over an Oehler 35P, with a 7 shot string averaging 1,623 fps..

This load also proved to be the most accurate load tested in my gun.

I fired only one 7-shot group, rested, @ 75 yds. and got a 5" group with it, measuring the group center to center.

I started shooting .690 round ball loads back in 1981, and to date, the load listed is the fastest I have ever been able to push a .690 round ball. Decades ago, I shot a beautiful Remington 870 Wingmaster with a fixed full choke, and it was the most accurate round ball gun I have ever shot.


Hoping it helps
Best regards,
Ajay K. Madan
Super Blazing Sabots

[Outpost75]

Today tried a .69 round ball cast from a Lee mold in my full-choke Beretta Companion. The ball just "hangs" when dropped into the muzzle and can be pushed through the choke with finger pressure only, then drops through the bore of its own weight. I loaded 18 grains of Red Dot in Rem-UMC brass cases with 11-ga. 1/8" card over powder wad, then a 5/8" waxed fiber cushion wad. A 1/8" grease cookie of bullet lube was inserted over the wads, then the naked ball simply dropped over the stack and forced down onto the grease cookie so that the lube extruded around the ball to hold it in place and center it in the case.

Velocity was 1326 fps with Sd 45 and ES 97. Not as accurate as Winchester Ranger Low Recoil Law Enforcement 1 oz. slugs at 1188 fps, but shows promise for a first pop out of the box:

Attachment 279396Attachment 279394Attachment 279395Attachment 279392Attachment 279393

Targets shot at 25 yards just aiming down the barrel and holding the bead at 6:00. Smudge above the data scribbled on the round ball target is a wad hit.

[johniv]

Looks promising. Keep us posted.