Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Muzzleloaders how big should my balls be?

If I'm running a colerain 54 cal barrel, with a bore of 0.540, and the round bottom grooves being 0.016 deep, is a ball diameter difference between the 0.530 and the 0.535 going to be critical?

As it stands, if I want a patch to fill in that 0.016" rifling, then its going to have to compress to either .005"+/- to wrap the smaller ball, roughly 69% compression, or compress 85% to fit the larger ball.

Will decent patch material compress 85% without compromising its integrity?

Or am I overthinking this, (which isn't unusual)...

I think I would try differing thicknesses of patch material and let the gun decide what it likes.

thats some deep rifling! I'd say to go with the .535" ball and get an assortment of patch thicknesses.

Yeah it is.

I've done some searching, specifically on the barrel type, and the most common comment I see is "Your patch isn't thick enough" when it comes to dissecting colerain shooting issues.

No shortage of raw materials here. I have a quilter in the family, and yards of scrap waiting for me....



I'll have some styling round balls to go hunting with...

You should try .530 and .535 balls with patch material from .010 to .020 and let the rifle show you what it is going to shoot best. There's no way to predict what your barrel is going to respond to. Approach it as you would develop a hand load, the rifle will show you what it needs.

Go with the dark blue fabric.

Second choice would be the yellow.





Kudos to the daughter for her blue ribbon.

. Colerain barrel , is the rifling radius or square ?
IMO I would start with at least a .015 patch and .530 ball
Mic you some blue pillow ticking . Depending on the ticking I have found it to range from .015 -.020
Since you family quilts , you should have a ready supply of that .

Myself I find the .535 balls alittle hard to load with that thickness of patch . So you might want to drop down to a .010 patch . However depending on your powder charge . That maybe to thin and you lose patch integrity. So it�s a give and take .
Frankly , I see no need to have to hammer a ball into the bore when there is a marginal difference between an easier loaded patch ball combo and a harder to load one .

But in the end , as other have said , you will need to get out and shoot to find out what patch , ball , lube and powder charge combo works best for your barrel

Plenty of ticking, and no real shortage of bullets to try - with the exception of the 535 RB;

by the numbers (greenhill) the lee improved minnies may even work, and I have those on hand, as well as a TC maxi ball, but ultimately whatever flies best gets the nod, and anything coming from the muzzle will kill anything I plan on shooting.

Pretty pleased with the build, and as soon as I can get the sights on, I'll get the pics up.

Good advice here. My .530 load with .015 patch loads easy and shoots plenty good. I put a felt wad under it at times as well. For mine the .535 with .010 patch really loaded stiff. Need to get mine out here soon and recheck everything as well.

It's radius'd.

the .015 patch and 530 RB should give you very good accuracy .
I think you will be very happy with the radius rifling

I am amazed you guys can keep a straight face, or the on-line equivalent with the title.

You traditional guys got no sensa humor.......

I would think that is a conversation to have with your urologist, OP. Bigger than a marble, smaller than a baseball is likely the ideal range.

We've just heard all the jokes and one liners about balls, cocks, and ram rods a jillion times already.

Keep yore powder dry...

Front stuffer, breech loader, short starter, nipple...

yada yada yada

You guys have bought into it. Lock, stock, and barrel.

Don't go around half-cocked. Most of you guys are just a flash in the pan anyway.

Your balls must match the bore you paid for....

"Re: how big should my balls be?"

Go with the biggest ball possible.

I'd hate to think of you using small (er) (ish) balls.

That's just not right. Man up!

I've settled on .015" patching with .535" balls for all three of my .54's.
Initial starting is stiff, but I've not burned through patches nor do they come out shredded.
Accuracy is all I can ask for.

Ed