Hammered in round balls

Modern Muzzleloading Forum

Help Support Modern Muzzleloading Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

James Sparhawk

Well-Known Member
*
Joined
Sep 23, 2019
Messages
256
Reaction score
243
I believe our ancestors mainly used a small wooden mallet to start their round balls, so I decided to experiment with it and "Oxyokes'" competition patch lube. With my normal load: 60 grains 3f Goex, .015 patch it was all over the target. And I've noticed it has been noticeably easier to load in the past 2 or 3 shootings.
So I used a .018 and the new lube and got excellent results, except one that I pulled into the 7 ring. Free hand at 50 yards!
I also hammered my balls in creating a flat surface over the sprue. Maybe creating a large flat surface on our round balls makes for better accuracy? I'm going back out this morning to shoot 4 targets, 5 shots each. And these targets are copied from the NMLRA 25 yard target. This picture is at 50 yards. I like to practice with the 25 yard target at all 3 ranges: 25, 50, and 100 yards.15916177374576948687739406255906.jpg15916178273584046878913052973595.jpg
 
I keep a small hammer in my bag and sometimes use it to tap my short starter to help load the ball. Not heavy handed on it but just lightly. The short starter will print a mark on the ball. I never noticed any difference in accuracy.
 
I keep a small hammer in my bag and sometimes use it to tap my short starter to help load the ball. Not heavy handed on it but just lightly. The short starter will print a mark on the ball. I never noticed any difference in accuracy.
I always used the modern ball starter too, but I am hammering them in with the flat face side of starter with good results. A lot easier on your hand too. I will let you know how my shooting is today. Also, try a ball that is only .005's smaller than the lands of your rifling with a .015 and/or a .018 patch. Doing so makes me able to shoot all day, literally, without any swabbing between shots. I really like that Traditions carbine you bought! I bet you are loving it and ready to pop a deer in the ear with it! At close ranges, popping them in the ear stops them right on the spot humanly.
 
When I shot flintlocks in the '70's, I used balls cast from a scissors mold w/o a sprue plate. They required the sprue to be removed with a pair of diagonal pliers. I shot these balls with denim spit patches that were cut at the muzzle. I used a homemade ball starter to place the tightly fitting ball/patch combo flush into the muzzle for trimming with the patch knife, and then an additional 6" down the bore with the long arm of the starter.

I just trimmed the sprue as closely as possible with the dikes after casting, and that was it. The sprue was centered face up when the ball was placed on the patch material, and that was that.

It has been my experience, and the experience of thousands of other patched ball shooters; that round ball barrels with rifling designed for patched balls, and NOT bullets, ARE INCREDIBLY FORGIVING OF POWDER CHARGES, BALL DIAMETERS, PATCH THICKNESSES, AND LUBES.

That being said, there will always be a combination that will give stellar accuracy at a given distance.

Remembering, that a ball can be ballisticly accurate out to 100 yards with sub-M.O.A. accuracy, even in the small calibers like .32.

ON TARGETS, NOT NECESSARILY ON ANIMALS.

Talk with the men that have hunted for decades with patched balls, and the same info constantly keeps coming up.

Try to get as close as possible. Do not treat the patched ball rifle like a modern inline m-l rifle, or cartridge rifle. IT SIMPLY DOES NOT HAVE THOSE TYPE OF BALLISTICS. Rainbow-like is how they are often described.

On the other hand, A PATHCED BALL HAS A DISPROPORTIONATE ABILITY TO KILL THAT THE BALLISTICS TABLES SIMPLY DO NOT ILLUSTRATE.

Edit to the above:
Learn YOUR RIFLE, what load it needs for best accuracy (usually NOT the heaviest load). This generally take a bit of experimenting, and time.

.45-.50 caliber is usually sufficient for deer if you will shoot within 75 yards, and NOT TAKE MARGINAL SHOTS.

.54-.58 caliber is generally recommended for elk, as most hunters agree they are harder to kill.

As the ball increases in diameter, it carries more kinetic energy with it to a farther range. Always remembering that a ball sucks ballisticly, with its rainbow trajectory.

Most experienced hunters with the patched ball do not consider anything under .62 caliber suitable for shooting past 100 yards. And that is with slow twist barrels that pretty much DEMAND larger than 100 grain POWDER CHARGES to obtain optimum accuracy.

In order to have reasonably flat trajectory up to, and past, 100 yards with a patched ball; AND HAVE THE ENERGY TO HUMANELY KILL a large animal like an elk with a quartering shot; requires a big ball with a large powder charge under it.

Big balls with big powder CHARGES require HEAVY RIFLES TO TAME THE RECOIL that the large powder charge generates. Unless you are a masochist. They are generally a young man's game.

I am 66 years old, and I KNOW THAT I AM PAST MY TIME when I WANT to pull the trigger on a .62-.66 caliber English Sporting Rifle, weighing 14-16 lbs, and NEEDING a 150-175 grain charge of Swiss ffg black powder for top accuracy. Even at 40 years old, I don't think that I would have wanted to tote such a rifle around for very long.

That's the Law of Diminishing Returns with patched balls. As all of the African hunters found out to their detriment.

BIG BALLS = BIG POWDER CHARGES = BIG RECOIL = FLATTER TRAJECTORY = HEAVIER RIFLES TO TAME THE RECOIL
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I agree with all of you. I got me a light weight rubber mallet, like all my club members, and started slapping the patch and cast ball down with one lick. Then another lick with long leg of starter and mallet 6 inches down. The rubber mallet doesn't flatten the top of the ball and sure takes the abuse off our hands.
I absolutely love the system. And proud to say, I won again Saturday!
 
I have been using a mallet with a 12" starter to get past the worse of the fouling or get th bullet and patch well engraved..
 
Last edited:

Latest posts

Back
Top