Please educate me on roundballs...
 

I have a Lyman percussion gun that I gave up on because I couldn't get it to fire in damp weather. As it worked out, pretty much every time I had that gun out for deer, it was damp out. Well my younger brother has killed two deer in two outings with a borrowed gun so I can't let him show me up. ;)

Anyway, I have a Knight and an Encore now and have really gotten the BP bug. So I now wish to get the Lyman going with patch and ball for next season. I was using pre-lubed conicals and have never used a patch. I understand you seat the ball in the center of the patch and ram it on down, but what size ball and patch do I need? I have seen balls at .490 so do you get a .01 patch or a .005 patch since the patch is basically doubled when surrounding the ball? Is 90 gr of powder sufficient? My goal is to take a deer within 70 yards.

one thing i noticed on my italian made barrels is that the nipple threads should be wrapped in teflon tape. I run running moisture tests with American pioneer and i found the nipple threads were allowing moisture to seep in and contaminate the powder. Once i used some tape on those threads, that barrel sat in a rain/snow fall for 24 hours and fired off perfectly the next day.

This is the fun part of hunting or just shooting patched round ball (PRB) sidelocks. The 50 cal. comes in two dia. sizes, .490 & .495. As to the patches they are pretty much three sizes, .010 - .015 - .018. There may be other sizes of ticking (patch material), but I don't know them. Now what you need to do is go to the range and experiment with the two different balls and patch combinations.

I have a Hawkens Carbine and it likes the .490 ball and the .015 patch.



Two other things I did to help me out in the woods is to change the #11 cap nipple to a musket cap nipple. The gave me a hotter ignition system. It is also easiler to handle the musket caps in the woods, in the cold.

And the other is to tape over the muzzle with electricans tape. Don't worry about doing this, because it will not obstruct the barrel and cause any harm to you or any shooter. Check it out if you want.

To me, PRB & sidelocks go together like cookies and milk; it just fits.
Speaking of fit, rafsob is right on the money about ball/patch combos.
Additionally, though 90 may indeed be a good load for your Lyman you might consider starting lower, 65-70, work your way up incrementally noticing how this affects your grouping/accuracy.
As an aside, I just resolved grouping inconsistency on a new to me T/C Hawken by changing the ball/patch combo.
Good luck.

It would help to know what model of Lyman Percussion gun you have as there are different models out there that do different things. To know the model of the rifle is to know the twist of the barrel and that will tell me what might work in your rifle and what might not.

But first lets address the moisture problem you experience. A percussion cap rifle should stay as nice and dry as your center fire rifles when treated right. First thing I would do is go to RMC Sports.com and get a new nipple for that rifle. The nipples that come on a Lyman Rifle for some reason just do not like to work properly. The RMC work great.

Next we have to prepare that rifle to shoot. If you do not prepare that rifle it will misfire rain or shine. So before you even load it to go hunting, first take a patch. Apply some isopropyl alcohol to it. Just damp, don't saturate it. Now swab all the oil out of the bore. Oil believe it or not can kill a charge as fast as water. After you have swabbed the oil out of the bore, take a dry patch and patch the alcohol out of the bore.

Now put another dry patch on the loading jag and push that to the bottom of the barrel. Put a cap on the nipple and fire that cap. Pull the patch and check it for burn marks. If there are no burn marks, push that patch back down to the bottom and do it all over again. Again, check for burn marks. What you are seeing is if fire is making it through the nipple, then the drum, into the fire channel. When you see the burn mark you are set to load.

Since it is a percussion cap rifle, you know pellets do not work. So you load loose powder. To shoot roundball, load 80 grains and try that. Then take your patch with a good lube on it. Set the roundball in the center of the patch and load that into the barrel of the rifle.

Make sure you seat that ball firmly on the powder charge. Conical bullets do not require a patch. Only lube. I use a .018 patch for my roundball rifles. I want the patch to be pure cotton. I use a moosemilk lube that I make at home.

If you are shooting conical bullets, just dump the powder and then the conical bullet goes next. If your shooting a Lyman Great Plains rifle, they are a roundball rifle. If it is a Lyman Great Plains Hunter, that is a conical rifle. If it is a Lyman Trade rifle it will shoot either one. If it is the deer stalker they also shoot either one.

One of the keys to avoid hangfire/misfire is to wipe the bore with dry patches to remove any oil/moisture from the bore. Also snap off a couple of caps to dry the nipple/breach area. Do these first before loading. I would also recommend using real black powder, it makes a huge difference, as far as reliable ignition. In a .50 caliber, a .490 roundball will work fine. I go to Wal-Mart and buy pillow ticking material, either red, or blue stripped. It is about .018" thick. 1 yard of this material will make many patches. I cut it in approx. 1 1/8" squares with sharp scissors. Lube patches with Hoppes #9 Plus Black Powder Solvent And Patch Lube. This loading combination is extremly accurate in my Lyman Deerstalker. (90 Grains FFG Goex), and I don't have misfires. Also, a tight fitting #11 cap normally will keep out moisture, even in the rain.

Another little trick when you hunt. Take the nipple out of the gun and drizzle a little powder in there. Then put the nipple back in the gun. Cap it and when you fire it, that thing will go off.

I bowhunt as well as any other kind of hunting that's legal.
I use bowstring wax on my hunting bows strings and cables.
I found it works great around the nipple to keep out moisture.
Just careful not to get it into the nipple.
I always fire a cap prior to loading to clear the nipple before loading.

If you wanna try cutting your own patches for the ball, just make sure the material
is 100% cotton. Any nylon or polyester will foul your barrel rifling.

I cut the fingers of of latex surgical gloves and stretch the finger over the front of the barrel if it's gonna be raining.

I of course dump the measured powder charge down the bore first. I apply a little moose milk to the strip of 100% cotton pillow tick patch material.



I then center the ball on the material dead center. Using the short nose on a ball starter I then drive that ball under the muzzle.



You will now see how I make a perfectly centered patched roundball.



I pull the material together and cut it off above the muzzle. Now you seat that patched ball the rest of the way into the bore with the longer nose of the ball starter and finally with the ramrod to seat it on the powder charge.

When you figure the thickness of your patch material remember you have to double the patch thickness, because it contacts the ball on both sides. So I use a .490 ball for instance. And then 2x .018 which makes .036. That sounds like a lot of patch. .490+.036= .526 but you want the patch to fill the lands and grooves of the bore. Plus as you force it the cotton will have some give to it also. So what I have is a nice tight fitting patch and ball set up.

A couple of other points...Years ago I used prelubed patches...I had them in .010, .015 and .020...Well one year I started burning patches and my accuracy went to heck...I started using wasp nesting between the ball and patch and this "fixed" the problem...

Then I decided to start buying patch material in bulk...My problem went away...Since then I have seen where others have seen the same thing...Evidently greased cotton patches can break down over time...I now buy a yard of cotton ticking at WalMart for about 4 bucks...I also make my own lube from bees wax, castor oil and Murphy's Oil Soap...This way my patches and lube are fresh...I use a loading block and carry 4 balls in her and cut at the muzzle as well...

I also hear a lot about the ball and patche being hard to load...I used to shoot competition, I have seen guys start a ball with a mallet...One thing you need to remember, that ball is made of lead and will conform to the bore of the rifle...Once you get her started and 4-5 inches down the bore it shouldn't be a bear to slide down...This is with a clean barrel and a good, slick bore...

This is another reason I like to at least run a spit patch down after a shot...Most stuck balls come after a guy has shot and wants to load quickly in a fouled bore...Until you find the right ball/patch/powder combo be very careful of loading with a fouled bore, or at least have a stout range rod to finish the process...

As you get to know the gun, you can change this...I now know that I can load 2-3 times with my .54 in the woods with my ramrod...After that, I either swab the bore or go from a .018 patch to a .015 patch...The smaller patched ball give me good hunting accuracy and loads well in an already fouled bore...

Finally...I used to shoot 100grs of FF Goex...About 10 years ago, I went to FFF and dropped the load to 80grs...This does two things...I use FFF to prime my flinters and for the main charge...In addition, over 55% of black powder is not burned but left as residue...By dropping the charge, you reduce the fouling left in the barrel...By moving to FFF you have more complete burning of the powder...

You will be impressed with what a lead round ball does to a deer...Charges of 70-80grs FFF are plenty for .45, .50 and .54 caliber balls...