hardcastonly

I sure can,t begin to dispute the excellent results your getting .. CONGRATS
nor the fact your correct that the bullet diam expands into the rifling if the leads soft and powder charge,
is sufficiently high enough,
Ive just pointed out accuracy can also be achieved,
with a full diam projectile if proper tools and procedures are used.
this false muzzle route is not commonly used anymore , but a few of use do still find it works
btw
If you build your own target muzzle loaders ,you generally drill the 3-4 outer index pin holes, so the pins only line up if the false muzzles properly indexed
and then cut about a 2" section of the original barrel,off
too fabricate the false muzzle , insuring proper bore & rifling alignment
other gunsmiths would get similar results,
The barrel was bored then a section was cut off and faced off to which pins were fitted to rejoin it to the barrel.
The reaming and rifling could then be done so they are a continuous smooth transition from false muzzle to bore.
The false muzzle is opened up at the front to allow the bullet to be inserted with out damage.

1874sharpsshooter

hardcastonly

ok, first Id point out that if properly lubed and with the correct design,
you don,t (use more than your hand on a short starter in the false muzzle to start or ram the bullet down the bore,
its not going to slide down effortlessly but its very do-able with the correct false muzzle and starter and ram rod
why would you bother? the answer is a noticeable increase in accuracy over most other methods,
matches are frequently shot off a bench rest at 200-220 yards
the typical match gun has a heavy 1.2"-2" barrel diam, its certainly too heavy to be used for hunting, its a dedicated target gun,

Idaholewis

hardcastonly

no one can deny your having found an extremely accurate rifle load combo, thats beyond real discussion, congrats
thats impressive
Im simply pointing out that there have been other routes taken to consistent accuracy with a front loader,
and while your groups are impressive and may be an improvement on older methods
groups under a minute of angle at 200 yards are not unknown using the other routes to accuracy in the past

bronko22000

I believe that Hardcast may be slightly confused on bore diameters. Using a bullet diameter of .459" would be OK for a .45-70 or other .45 caliber centerfire rifle. But definitely not for a muzzleloader that has a nominal bore diameter of .451". Using pure lead cast bullets out of my .45 Hawken I've shot bullets with finished diameter of .449" up to .453". The bullets that shoot with the best accuracy are my .449" paper patched and the .451" and .452" are a toss up depending on how good I'm shooting that particular day. The .453" are much more difficult to load and show no improvement in accuracy with maybe even a decline.
But, pure lead or not, I could not see me even getting a .459" started in my bore. I don't think I'd even be able to get the base started.

hardcastonly

you could easily be correct, your rifle bore may be considerably different than mine

Idaholewis

1874sharpsshooter

bronko22000

I thought the groove diameter of the ML is smaller than the groove dia of centerfire rifles.