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Muzzleloaders / Re: New project, coning a barrel
« Last post by Eric Krewson on Today at 11:30:11 am »Thanks for the tip!
I broke down my over coned Haines rifle, I removed the barrel and lock so I could use it for a pattern more easily. With the barrel out I started looking for anything that might make the rifle shoot poorly. When I got the pre-carve the barrel had been inletted at a slant instead of straight down. I worked for a while to get the barrel inletted properly but as soon as it was just about right, I quit.
I noticed some strong contact points on the lower oblique flats so I got out a scraper and some sandpaper and went to work on these points. I put Permatex marker on the barrel and pressed things together to see if my scraping relieved the contact points. After a few scrape and check sessions I had the barrel inletting perfectly.
The rifle is a .54 with a very tight bore. I have to pound a .530 ball down the bore when I use my favorite pocket drill cloth patch. The pocked drill is indestructible. I ordered some .526 balls the other day so while I was fooling with rifle, I decided to go shoot to see what I could come up with a different load. I was getting 4" groups at 50 yards with the .530 balls after over-coning the barrel.
I was shooting 85g of 2F, the recoil is punishing for an old guy. I dropped my load to 70 gr for my first test with the .526 balls. The balls loaded easily with a pocket drill patch. My first shots were to the right and 3" low with 70g of powder and the .526 balls, the group wasn't all that good.
I knocked the rear sight over a little and increased the powder load to 75g and BINGO! I got a 1 1/2" group at 50 yards out of a gun I had given up on. This just shows every one of the rifles has its own personality, when I coned the barrel, I changed the personality and had to hunt around to rediscover what the gun liked.
I hunted on-line for a .526 mold and found that Track of the Wolf was the only place to buy one, they have a deal with Lee to be the exclusive dealer for this unusual mold size. The mold they stock comes without handles, (sold separately), is a 6-gang mold and will set me back about $80.
I have another tight bore .54, if it shoots the .526 balls well, I will order a mold, if not I will order balls already cast because I don't shoot these guns all that often. I tune them up for deer season and let it go at that.
I broke down my over coned Haines rifle, I removed the barrel and lock so I could use it for a pattern more easily. With the barrel out I started looking for anything that might make the rifle shoot poorly. When I got the pre-carve the barrel had been inletted at a slant instead of straight down. I worked for a while to get the barrel inletted properly but as soon as it was just about right, I quit.
I noticed some strong contact points on the lower oblique flats so I got out a scraper and some sandpaper and went to work on these points. I put Permatex marker on the barrel and pressed things together to see if my scraping relieved the contact points. After a few scrape and check sessions I had the barrel inletting perfectly.
The rifle is a .54 with a very tight bore. I have to pound a .530 ball down the bore when I use my favorite pocket drill cloth patch. The pocked drill is indestructible. I ordered some .526 balls the other day so while I was fooling with rifle, I decided to go shoot to see what I could come up with a different load. I was getting 4" groups at 50 yards with the .530 balls after over-coning the barrel.
I was shooting 85g of 2F, the recoil is punishing for an old guy. I dropped my load to 70 gr for my first test with the .526 balls. The balls loaded easily with a pocket drill patch. My first shots were to the right and 3" low with 70g of powder and the .526 balls, the group wasn't all that good.
I knocked the rear sight over a little and increased the powder load to 75g and BINGO! I got a 1 1/2" group at 50 yards out of a gun I had given up on. This just shows every one of the rifles has its own personality, when I coned the barrel, I changed the personality and had to hunt around to rediscover what the gun liked.
I hunted on-line for a .526 mold and found that Track of the Wolf was the only place to buy one, they have a deal with Lee to be the exclusive dealer for this unusual mold size. The mold they stock comes without handles, (sold separately), is a 6-gang mold and will set me back about $80.
I have another tight bore .54, if it shoots the .526 balls well, I will order a mold, if not I will order balls already cast because I don't shoot these guns all that often. I tune them up for deer season and let it go at that.
