Well, just in the spirit of things I'll throw in two bits on shooting balls in guns meant for conicals. Always figured that all the ways to skin that cat had not been explored, then I read a Seyfried article in Double Gun Journal wherein he paper patched a round ball. Oh Jesus.....
I started with a .433 Speer ball supply, picked up a custom .422 Lee push thru sizer.....why? Because that was my go to diameter for PP conicals and if I'm gonna...
It was tedious but educational. Did a WAG on the charge, set the ball(s) in a lightly flare case mouth, nudged them down to about half way in and did a mild taper crimp. Yes, they fed fine thru the 77/44. They went boom and crossed the Chrony at about 1800 fps as I recall. Saw no need to pursue the load further as the first group was in the 1.5" range at 50 yards. There was a hint there I did not pick up on right away. You see, I wet patch, dry and then finger lube PP rounds with a 50/50 Beeswax/Vaseline lube.
The next logical step was two balls stacked which equaled about 240 grains of lead. Rolled the dice and used a charge of what I dunno, probably 2400, that was the suggested start load for that bullet weight in one of the Lyman manuals. It was amazing. Two of the prettiest groups you ever wanted to see on the 50 yard line, one fairly centered and the other out to 10 o'clock about 3, 4, maybe 5". Both groups were in the 1.5" range, maybe 1.75". Velocity was in the same range as I recall, about 1800 fps.
I thought "Hot Dayum! I got a hog whacker!". So I did the next logical thing, loaded a single ball with what I thought was max load. It crossed the Chrony at 2400 fps and did not strike the target or backer. I have no idea where it went.
Subsequent to that I have shot .22 balls in the Hornet, .25 ball in the .25s and .310 balls in the thutty-thutty. They worked so-so to the point that I carried it. 3-4" 50 yards groups then it bored me. Time passed. Ancient defeats bubbled in the background. I purchased the Zimmer previously mentioned and the seller suggested that I grease my balls when I loaded.
"With what?"
"Whatever you want. I use SPG, just a wipe with the fingers and go."
He was right about that, not only on the Zimmer, but on other balls as well. It is not a Galactic scope of improvement, but definitely noticeable. Another free tip: It works on .22 RF ammo too.
Just about any style of lube will do the trick.
I say unto thee, "GREASE THINE OWN BALLS!"
It is glorious!
Dan
PS: Please note that most of my rifles are not as twisted as all y'all's. However, my weird little Zimmer which is stupid accurate, has a 1:7.5" twist. That's pretty odd for a ~100 year old gun.
Haven't figured out how he put 12 grooves in a .17 cal barrel either. They aren't shallow grooves. The bullet exits the barrel looking like the trimmed pine cone from hell. If you use a magnifying glass to look at it.
Last edited by DigitalDan; 05/18/17.
