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Shooting round ball?

3K views 2 replies 2 participants last post by  deerless 
#1 ·
O.k so I recently inherited a few firearms due to a death in the family. One of the pieces is a lyman plains rifle in .45 cal. This is my father in laws first ML and I would like to possibly hunt with it this upcoming fall. I have a few questions, first what twist rates are best for round ball? I believe this rifle has a slow twist I just have not calculated it yet. Second how do you know which patch to use? Is it a feel type thing or do you just do the math to equal the diameter of the rifle bore? One last one for you, do you think round ball is ethical to use for deer hunting? any thoughts would be appreciated.....
 
#2 ·
You have things pretty much figured out. A slow twist would be 1-60", 1-70". Round balls killed many men in battle as well as many game animals. I hunt with a 50 and 54 using round balls. I would get maybe 2 pre-lubed patchs in .010 and maybe .015 or .017. Look up materials on line at Track of the Wolf for all your ML needs. They will have two different ball dia which will dictate which patch you will use. A nice tight combo that loads without breaking your ram rod will be most accurate. Always seat the ball on the 3F black powder firmly not crushing the powder charge, mark your ram rod and load to the mark each and every time. I don't own a 45 cal but would assume a charge of 70 grains should shoot well. Others here may have a better load suggestion. The Lyman rifles are a great hunting rig.
 
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