The other day was a funny day. I wanted to shoot the .58 caliber Early Virginia rifle but could not load a round ball down it. I mean, powder in, patch set and lubed, and when I went to drive the ball under the muzzle it was so tight, I hurt the palm of my hand on the short starter. Alarms went off in my head!! Is this the right ball, the right caliber.


So I pulled the ball out and checked it. Of course my calipers would not work. So I tried to eye ball it. Now these were Speer brand ball, my favorite. I tried a could more and again, very very very tight. Pulled them back out. Opened a new box of ball (the old box is what I shot out of my Green Mountain .58 caliber) And again very tight. So I leaded a .54 instead and shot the powder out of it. I shot it a few times with other ".58" ball I found around, but was really not sure of the ball size or calibration.

After shooting I called Greg at TVM. He assured me it was a .58 caliber and then told me he had ran into fresh ball that were over sized. He suggested I get a new box of Hornady ball and try them. He also told me how to fix a set trigger problem the rifle was having.

Got on the phone and ordered new ball. Hornady .570 ball. Also ordered a .562 mold just in case I had a tight rifle. And a new caliper. All came in yesterday. So today I was ready.

The Hornady ball with pillow tick patch fit perfect. Tight, but perfect. There is no way you are loading a second on a dirty bore. Hence the .562 might come into play here. I brought out the new shooting stand and set it up. Loaded the .58 caliber and set out a empty quart isopropyl alcohol bottle filled with water (wonder what that attraction is). Back to the shooting bench. 34 yards. Held just under the label of the alcohol bottle, squeezed the shot and the bottle exploded. Ball hit one inch under the label of the bottle.

SWABBED that tight barrel and reloaded. Aimed at the label next time and Boom!! bottle went flying, right in the label. So the rifle hits right where its aimed. We then swabbed and shot at old pieces of apple in the snow. And finally after ten shots I noticed a crud ring forming in the breech area of the rifle really bad. Swabbed it out and every shot after that it was getting hard to even swab with the fat (old cotton socks) patches I used. So after 12 shots I called it a day. But the gun never misfired, and was accurate.

Went back and measured those other ball. Realized they were cast now swag, meaning someone made them. Measured them and they were .575 ball. Went in the garage to my mold cabinet and low and behold I have a .575 mold. Don't remember buying it, but I must have. I do remember shooting some that Semisane sent me in the GMB .58 and being really impressed with them. So I am guess I purchased the mold and cast a box of ball for the GMB.

If I go to a thinner patch I think then the rifle would load the .575 ball. If not I will shoot them out of a different .58 caliber rifle. But it was so nice, sitting out there in warm weather, no jacket, shooting rifles. Just a nice way to spend the afternoon.

Also that new rifle cleans up real easy.