Originally Posted by Blooie

I have the .625 rifle, with .594 when I measure the rifling diameter. All your information is very interesting. I ordered some balls, and the .595 easily rolls right down the barrel when it seems to me it's too big for that. Maybe I should have a machine shop mic the barrel.

I've been assuming that in round lead balls the the rifling should make grooves in the lead under the patch except for the the mini-balls. Not so, eh? Is it the patch that engages the rifling?

I'm getting older, and have some tremor and no-longer-as-sharp eyesight. I'm 64 and not a really old geezer. I want to have fun with this rifle, so I improved (hopefully) the rifle just for me, so I can hopefully hit targets out to 100 yards. Other aging men hang up their rifles because for them it was no longer fun to shoot. But I want to keep shooting. I'm not a precision replica gun guy. If I have to I'll try a red dot sight. When the guys at the range see this gun, I hope they don't beat me up and throw me into a gully.

Don't be surprised when you see this rifle. I had asked about period rifle telescopic sights, and it turns out that they first showed up in the 1860's, for use in warfare, to make it possible to take out personnel that a normally-sighted rifle could not reliably do. This sight is long, resembling a telescope, and has no reticle. It is an antique, made during that period. We'll see if I can learn to use it.

Roger