Blown Smoke

I was going to purchase some roundballs today and they list two
different sizes for each of my guns. I have a 45. cal and a 54. cal
both of them are TC hawkens. They list a (440 dia.or 445 dia)for
the 45. cal, and (530 dia or 535 dia) for the 54. calibers. How can
I determine which roundball I'll need for either gun?

Thanks.

eldeguello

Well, the answer to thisis simple, but not necessarily the least expensive.I use the biggest ball that I can get started into the bore of my rifles with the patches I am using, without deforing the ball when loading. TUse of the largest ballis particularly necessary for utmost accuracy when target shooting, but is not as significant when hunting. When hunting, a looser patch-ball combination will let you reload faster, even though not quite as accurate.

There are three measurements that are important - bore size of your rifles, diameter of the ball, and thickness of the patch. The combined diameter of the ball and the thickness of the patch should allow your barrel to have a very firm grip on the ball, and fill the bore to the bottom of the grooves. There should be an imprint of the patch material on the lead if the ball all the way around, not just on the portion of the ball where the lands force the patch into the lead of the ball more deeply than in the groove portion.

I would recommend that for starters, you try a .445" ball for the .45, and a .530" ball for the .54. Get some precut, lubed .010", .015", and some .020"thick patches. Either the .010" or .015" patches should work well in the .54 with .530 balls, and the .010" patches should work with.445 balls in the .45. However, if these patch/ball combinations should prove too loose in either rifle, you can go to .020" patches in the .54 and either .015" or .020 patches in the .45.

Later, if these balls don't work well, you could try the .440" balls in the .45, and the .535 balls in the .54. But I'd bet the .445's and the .530's will both be OK with the right thickness of patch.

cayugad

T/C in my experience usually take the smaller of the two and Lymans for some reason like the larger of the two. I would get the .440 for the .45 caliber and .530 for the .54 caliber. I own six T/C .54 caliber traditional rifles. All of them shoot the .530 grain ball. In fact even my Lyman .54 caliber does. I have a .535 LEE mold for roundball that has only made about 200 ball through it in the last 20 years.I was never able to load them, so I use them for my wrist rocket. Excellent small game ammo.

sabinajiles

I have both a .50 & .54cal T/C barrel and both of them shoot best with a .005" undersized ball. I think this just points out that you really need to try both the .005" & .010" undersized balls and see what works best in your barrels. I do know that because of the shallow rifling depth of the rifling in the T/C barrels, you will get the best accuracy using the tightest ball and patch combination that you canload but you probably don't want to have to hammer the ball and patch down the barrel each time.

cayugad

When we casted up a bunch of the .535 for my friends and I you would have enjoyed the video had one been made. Here we were, all excited about shooting them and had to use a club on the short starter to set them and then push the ramrod against trees to get the thing on the charge. Needless to say we only shot a few of them off that day. But you're right, what ever fits the tightest will usually give you the best group.

roundball

.440's / .490's /.530's with .018 pillow ticking give me outstanding accuracy in TC barrels using anywhere from 50-120grns of Goex.

Blown Smoke

Thanks guys,
I think I will try the smallest size for each caliber first and try
a few different patch sizes and see how they do. I didn't really
understand why they would make two sizes for one caliber anyway.
I'll have to order them as their getting as scarce as blackpowder
here locally.I have a choice betweenhornady and speer roundballs.
Do you prefer one over the other, or would there be any difference
between the two? The speer's are a little more expensive.

Really appreciate all your help!
BTW Happy New Year!

roundball

I've always used Hornady...have bought / tried a couple boxes of Speers in each caliber over the years when I'd found them at bargain prices at gun shows...but could never tell a bit of difference at the range.

And Hornady's have always performed perfectly for me on deer, plus, as yousaid the Speers aremore expensive, so it's been Hornady for me from the beginning

Triple Se7en

Speers are the most consistent in grain size. Both of my T/Cs prefer plain cotton patches over pillow-ticking. I would suggest .015 pre-lubed. If you want to buy the plain white ones & use your own lube, try Permatex Hand Cleaner in the blue round tub - sold at many auto stores. It's a weak cleaner with alot of lanolin -- perfect for my T/Cs & real cheap too. It also cleans the bore so the stuff serves it's dual purpose.

eldeguello

"I didn't really understand why they would make two sizes for one caliber anyway. "

They don't. What has happened is that a various barrel makers make a "50 caliber" barrel, but some are as tight as .495" and some are as loose as .51" or more bore diameter, and groove depths vary even more. For example, I have a custom .50 barrel that uses .500" balls with a .010 patch, and this combo's not really too tight. The same applies to most ML "calibers"