Round ball twist

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what difference would that make

Have you read the thread? We were talking about shooting a PRB from an inline with shallow rifling 1-28 twist. We were talking about how it will work with light loads.

Then it was posted that a PRB has been killing game for hundreds of years. That's true but not from an inline and the twist it has. So, I asked if he meant from an inline. He understood his mistake and corrected it.

So, you don't think it makes a difference? Do you think inlines have been killing game for hundreds of years with a PRB?
 
Back in the day conventional muzzleloaders fired round balls almost exclusively. A proper patched round ball barrel has rifling .008 or deeper . Barrels manufactured for use with conical bullets have rifling of .005 or less; Many are .003-.004. Loading a conical into a proper patched round ball barrel might be a chore.

One of my muzzleloader barrels was rifled by Mr. Hoyt who did a superb job. The .58 barrel has rounded grooves, narrow lands and 1/60" twist rate. Firing patched round balls, that barrel is is capable of much better accuracy than i am

Got into muzzleloading in the 60s after meeting an old man while deer hunting. "Uncle Joe" was over 80 and an accomplished machinist, blackpowder gunsmith and marksman. In a room off his shop were over 200 muzzleloaders, he told me to pick one. He shortened a long rifle to a half stock with a barrel length of 30" and re-bored the barrel to .50 caliber and a twist rate of 1/92".

Uncle Joe won nearly every marksmanship event we attended and i became a solid 3-4 place finisher.
 
When I first started out deer hunting with the muzzleloader. I owned a TC Renegade. At the time, patched round ball was the only projectile legal in my home state.
When inlines became popular, I jumped on the bandwagon and sold my TC.
In the last few years, I've come back around to more traditional style of rifle.
I currently own 3 sidehammer guns and strictly use real black powder and patched round ball in them.
My Optima pistol is the only exception.
 
After my conversation with Bobby Hoyt last year, I feel fairly confident in the following statement. Most .50 caliber inline rifles can PROBABLY be safely bored out, and re-rifled to at least .52 caliber, if not all the way to .54 caliber. This was after discussing having my Optima V2 pistol bored out to .58 caliber, whereupon he told me that the limiting factor is going to be the diameter of the removable breech plug. My pistol was already at Doc White's, but I pulled out the Lehigh Defense plug that I had purchased for it, measured it, confirmed that it measured 5/8" in diameter as most inline plugs do, and Bobby Hoyt told me that he could bore out any rifle/pistol with that diameter breech plug from .50 caliber to .54 caliber. I later decided not to have the pistol bored out for patched ball shooting.

For far less than the cost of any new rifle, approximately $160.00, Bobby Hoyt can turn your CVA Optima rifle into a first class patched ball rifle. Probably with a gain twist as well, but you'd have to check with Mr. Hoyt about that.
 
I shoot patched round ball in my inlines , .32 , .72 and a 4bore and they work well
 

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I have shot a TC encore with patched round ball and 40 grains of black. Works fine.
Regards,
Duhawki
 
I have had many conversations with Doc White as my Optima V2 pistol has been in his queue waiting for its turn to come up.

One of those conversations was about patched ball shooting in fast twist barrels, which lest face it are mostly on inline rifles.

ALL fast twist barrels can shoot a patched ball. The peculiarities of the individual barrel, and the rate of twist, are going to determine the maximum amount of powder charge that the patch/ball will handle.

Almost always, it will require a VERY TIGHTLY fitting patch & ball combination in order to make it work with the shallow grooves in most inline rifles. That's why Thompson/Center rifles back in the day got such a bad reputation for shooting patched balls. The depth of the grooves in T/C guns had always been 0.005" deep, just 0.001"-0.002" deeper than any modern inline rifle sold in the past 50 years. Shallow grooves don't mix well, USUALLY, with a loose patch/ball combo.

Shallow grooves and fast twists usually results in a mild powder charge that limits the range, and often eliminates a large bore rifle from being a big game gun with patched balls.

20-40 grain black powder charges aren't big game charges, but are more than adequate for small game hunting, and keeping one's marksmanship up without spending a lot of money. Theoretically, such charges WOULD kill a deer ethically, but ONLY at VERY SHORT DISTANCES. Say, 25-30 yards and under. And, should probably be chronographed to be checked for muzzle velocity & muzzle energy before deer hunting with such a light charge.

IF HOWEVER, you want to really hunt big game with an inline using full loads with a patched ball, then a barrel with proper depth rifling for patched balls, and a good rate of twist is necessary. In .54 caliber, I don't think one can go wrong with the old standby, 1:48" twist, unless you have a case of magnumitis, then a 1:72" twist would be in order.
 

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