Need help 16 gauge lead ball load

[RODSVINTAGESXS]

Hi , im New here ,but not to shotshell reloading... I have a french sxs 16 and am
Trying to develop a ball...wad combo..i have .600 dia balls pure lead. And
The fit A1 in the Ballistic product wad i have in cup..it fits snug in chedite hull..
The ball and wad together weighs .8 oz..which is weight of rifled slug loads offered.
Trying to find data to.use as a baseline... Powders i have on hand are... Red dot, green dot, herco, longshot, imr blue, unique, clays , win 571, also 700x... All great 16g powders...
Also ive tried these balls with black powder and pyrodex using just the cup cut off the wad..to house the 600 dia ball.then used fiber wads for wad column and roll crimp.
Anyone have any thoughts?

[Barry54]

Welcome to the forum!

I load 0.600” round ball in 12 gauge in the REX24 wads. I just use the shot data for the components substituting the ball for the shot.

I got best results with an equal amount of buffer under and over the ball. It keeps the wad from deforming and wrapping around the ball. The buffer on top provides a flat surface to fold crimp against. My wife got me some craft hole punchers. I cut overshot cards out of junk mail. You can seal the crimp with clear fingernail polish.
I use Precision Spherical Buffer. It will migrate out the crimp riding around in the truck after a few weeks if you don’t seal the crimp.

[RODSVINTAGESXS]

Oh ive used them in 12g. But...had ball load data for base line...trying to find 16g rifled slug data for 4/5 oz.....thats what my ball and wad weighs exactly.then id have a base to start

[longbow]

I am a bit confused... If the ball/wad combo weight what a rifled slug weighs then load data for that rifled slug should work fine.

I do not load for 16 ga. so no load data from me. If you don't want to use full blown 16 ga. slug data then just use birdshot data with the ball replacing the shot. Substitution of payload of equal weight is safe as birdshot in shorcups has more bore friction than a slug. You will likely have to use filler wads to raise the ball some for good crimp and/or cut the wad petals so they do not stick up past the ball. Cutting the petals isn't critical but it should improve accuracy. You could also use a wad with longer cushion leg and small capacity shot cup to better fit the ball.

Also, to check is that the ball/wad combo will fit through the chokes. The general rule of thumb has been that the slug/wad combo shouldn't be more than 0.003" larger than the tightest constriction in the barrel. In reality when using a round ball in a shotcup it shouldn't matter much because the contact at the equator is very small so petals will pinch and maybe even shear off at the contact area. As long as the ball is no more than choke size that should be safe though it may not produce very good accuracy. Best to have a ball/wad combo that isn't too tight through the chokes.

Also, in my experience with 12 ga. RB's you should use a nitro card wad in the bottom of the shotcup because at 10,000 PSI the shotcup wants to wrap around the ball resulting in damage to the bottom of the shotcup and likely the gas seal as well. Not sure of what ga. will fit into 16 ga. shotcups (16 ga. nitro card wads fit some 12 ga. shotcups and 20 ga. nitro card wads fit others) but maybe 20 or 24 ga. or you can get a punch and punch out hard card wads. A small scoop of Cream 'O Wheat or cornmeal under the RB also helps, as again, it helps support the base of the shotcup.

Good round ball loads should give good groups of 4" to 6" at 50 yards and maybe better. From a side by maybe not as good as a single barreled gun.

My good round ball loads in 12 ga. give about 4"+/- a bit groups at 50 yards and are still pretty good out to about 70 yards, However, groups tend to open up pretty fast much after 50 to 60 yards and tend to be large and random by 100 yards due to the ball picking up spin from air drag... "curve ball effect". My best accuracy has been with both 0.662" RB's cloth patched into shotcups for snug fit to bore and with 0.735" RB's (so over that 0.003" over rule of thumb) and both those from cylinder bore. Not sure how it will go from a choked gun and I am assuming the side by is choked and likely different chokes for each barrel.

Longbow

[Surfdog]

Longbow,

Great description of your process and the key variables to keep track of. Can you be more specific about your patching methods and how it fits with the wad?

Surfdog

[longbow]

Well, initially I had thought that the 0.662" RB might fit nicely in a standard trap wad but they turned out to be too loose in any trap wads I had and none had a cupped bottom to keep the ball centered so I thought "Why not patch it?" so I grabbed some old shirts slated to be rags and found that a cotton shirt that was about 0.011" thick when mic'd made for a nice firm push through the barrel when the ball was patched thne inserted into a wad. I just cut square patches big enough to patch the ball.

For loading I used my MEC Sizemaster press and deprimed and sized the hull, primed then dropped the powder charge, then grabbed a trap wad, wrapped a square cut patch around a 0.662" RB then pushed that into the shotcup then put the trap wad into the wad fingers and seated the works over the powder then crimped. The wad and ball height might have to be adjusted for good crimp.

The ball should sit near the top of the petals so either use a 1 oz. or 7/8 oz. trap wad so the patched ball on a nitro card wad is level with the top of the petals or a little past or cut the petlas so they don't stick up past the ball. Card or fiber wads can also be seated on the powder and under the trap wad to raise it up as well if it is short. The ball can also be raised up in the shotcup by using a scoop or Cream 'O Wheat or cornmeal on top of the nitro cad wad. That will also help support the bottom of the shotcup so it doesn't try to wrap around the ball.

The benefit of the undersized patched ball is that the fit can be tailored to the wad petal thickness and bore diameter of your gun by changing cloth thickness. Paper can be used as well but wrapping paper tubes is a bit of a pain.

Longbow