Question about Projectiles

[Alaskan Hunter]

Hello All,
I have decided to take a drive tomorrow and buy my first black powder rifle. I have desided on a brand (Thomson Omega). No one up here has a Savage 10ML-II I can put up to my shoulder. And I dont want to put half down just to see if it fits. :? Anyway here is my question, Can I shoot round balls such as Hornady .490 round ball out of my in-line without damaging the rifling in the barrel? Also will shooting round balls be bad for breaking in the rifle?Or is there another projectile that would be less expesive to shoot, or better for the breaking in of the rifle? Afterall I am looking to shoot and get accustomed to my rifle. Not look for a hunting load. Just going to do some plinking. (if you can call it that with a .50 caliber)Thanks for your help.

Alaskan

 

[Anonymous]

You won't damage anything with roundballs, but you are unlikely to break anything in or find any great sccuracy either.

A few Powerbelts seem to smooth out bores a tiny bit, but even the value of that is unknown. Thompson recommend no particular break-in.

 

[Grouse]

The 250grn XTP'S would be a great bullet to start with. Order some sabots right here from MMP. http://mmpsabots.com/