- Joined
- Aug 27, 2019
- Messages
- 331
- Reaction score
- 497
1 in 48 twist I will order some JBs paste
My 50's only shoot accurately with mattress ticking and 495 lead balls. Might try different size balls and don't worry about hitting the bullseye...seek tight groups first then worry about the sights.I have a beautiful 45 Cal TC Seneca barrel that I can't get any accuracy from. I have tried every Patch, Ball, Lube and Powder Charge combo I can come up with and it is consistently high with intermittent fliers. Barrel is fitted tightly with no slop, and I can find no defects in the barrel. I even tried some saboted loads and conicals, sane results. Am going to contact Bobby Hoyt and see if a reline is possible with this 13/16ths 45 Cal barrel.
Before scrapping it, cut an inch off and recrown it as brad suggested..it almost sounds like the crown is not cut perpendicular to the bore.
Leading can be very misleading because it may well polish up and the bore looks good with a light in the bottom of the bore. One more thing to do is eliminate one more variable, yourself (no disrespect here, because you have tried loads of other things, just remarking.) Can you see the sights well? Is the trigger pull good, and without creep? Do you have any tendency to flinch? Are you shooting from a good rest, sitting, and at 50 yds to minimize wind effects? Do you have a friend who can take five shots with this rifle and compare that target to yours at your next range session? All these thoughts are worthy of consideration. Good luck.I have spent a few hours working on this barrel. I had a gunsmith check the crown no problems. I have polished with 000 steel wool followed by JBs Bore polish and have checked with a very tight patch and jag no loose spots. I am going to the range within the next few days and see if I find any improvement. Thanks for all of the advice. I took some bore pics and as far as I can tell the bore appears to be perfect. No signs of any previous corrosion and very crisp rifling. I will let you all know how it shoots after the polishing .
One other thought: years ago on the muzzleloader forum there was a big fuss about how round balls don't obturate (expand on firing) no matter the powder load. That is quite wrong. Put enough pressure on a lead or lead alloy ball or bullet and it will expand instantly (pure lead expands easiest of course, since the softest). If by chance your rifling is shallow (and you say the bore is quite smooth as well), it's possible you are shooting a light powder load and thus the ball is not expanding at all on firing and thus not getting adequately spun even with its patch. Try shooting a five shot group using your snuggest ball/patch combination AND 80 gr. of 3F BP. If you get a good group, then even an easier-to-load ball and patch may well work too.I've never slugged the bore. I shot some conicals with poor results. Even tried some saboted rounds. My goal for this barrel was a light weight 45 caliber deer rifle. I shoot my 32 barrel for this gun on the same stock and its extremely accurate on squirrels.
Enter your email address to join: