I'm inexperienced with shooting conicals but would like to give it a run vs. sabots.

I purchased a few different sizes off a guy at on Gunbroker but I fear they are too loose for the barrel. Currently they are tight at the muzzle but loose once I punch them through.

I'm well aware of the dangers of firing a round with the bullet off the charge and was wondering what my options are at this point.

Thoughts? Would knearling( sp? ) them help?

sounds normal to me. Point the muzzle down and pound on the butt pad, slowly insert the ramrod into the muzzle and if the conical moved, its too loose a fit.

Once you get them started soft lead conforms to the barrel and they load easily, even with two fingers. I haven't had one come off the charge, but I still check them from time to time when I am hunting.
If you don't like casting then for a very small investment you can still size your own bullets and make them just right for your barrel. Just buy them a little oversize.

You can wrap the bullet with white teflon tape or paper patch the bullet. I use teflon tape with several bullets I shoot and they stay on the powder.

Paper patched bullets stay on the powder. Ron

Thanks Fellas,

Looks like I have some options.

Depending on the brand of conical you purchased, many are slip fit. Slip Fit meaning perhaps a little more loose used then you are accustomed to when loading sabots or roundball. The No Excuses conical bullets and Bull Shop are slip fit. While the REAL conicals means Rifling Engages At Loading. But once you get many of them "started" they do seem to load easy, but you can check them. As MD said.. turn the rifle upside down and slap the butt of the rifle or shake it good. Then put the ramrod in and see if the concial actually moved off the powder charges. Many times what we consider loose is not really as loose as you might think. I have only shaken two conicals off powder charges. And I mean I had to shake them hard. Much harder then I normally would while hunting.

The idea with the slip fit or loose loading conical is when the rifle is fired, the explosion behind the conical starts to flatten the back end a little and this engages the rifling on the way up the barrel. Some people use a wad to reduce the impact of this and to protect the bullet. But the idea is the same. Get that bullet started and get it into the rifling. White rifles are known for their ability to shoot a slip fit conical with extreme accuracy. And I hunt and shoot slip fit conicals all the time and have never had a problem with them.

And when I hunt, if I reach the stand, it takes seconds to use the ramrod and check the load. But I have used teflon tape to wrap minnie ball with as they can be shaken off the load. They are a .577 for my .58 caliber rifle which is a true .580 bore, can get the load moved. I was also able to move a conical once, but had to really pound the rifle to get it to move.

When I shoot slip fit conicals in a loose bore I fire a squib shot , about 30 gr powder, just to dirty the bore. Never had a problem

I have not had any conicals of any type come off the charge. I still check every time i move. i do that with sabots too.

Here what I'm looking at. They are for a .52 Disc Extreme.

The shorty is 350 grains and the longer is 435.

The lube got little melted in shipment and I was messing around with knurling them. You can see how much rifling they catch, especially on the one I taped. Does this look like enough and will these expand upon ignition? Wad or no wad when firing?