Well, I couldn't stand it - I ran out and fired a couple shots with my new gun. I scrubbed the bore with wire brush and ran some patches down there. I had both .495 hornady ball and hand cast .490 ball. I poured down 60 grs of powder and tried to short start a .490 ball with a .10 cotton patch. NO DICE! Wouldn't go down. I then put the ball in bare - I had to use a short starter to get it down - well the good news is that I cut the 10 ring with one round and cut the X with another at about 25 yds. So, now I am on the prowl looking for a .480 RB.

Dan'l

Try .480 balls. TRack of the wolf sells Hornady .480's online.

Well, I am surprised, my .50 Colerain uses .490 balls and loads fine with .015 patching--it is hard to start and I have to use a short starter. Is your barrel round bottom or square bottom rifled?

Mike - Round bottomed rifling. I am hoping that with time and shooting it will season in and shoot .490 balls in the future

Khickam, saw your rifle on the other board- sweet!

I was wondering, are all colerain's so tight? That's pretty upsetting to me as I have a ton of .490 balls for the same barrel you have and i'll be pretty upset if I can't use them.

Curious what weight barrel did you get? A, B, C, D?

quote:

Originally posted by Jbgw:
Khickam, saw your rifle on the other board- sweet!

I was wondering, are all colerain's so tight? That's pretty upsetting to me as I have a ton of .490 balls for the same barrel you have and i'll be pretty upset if I can't use them.

Curious what weight barrel did you get? A, B, C, D?

see my note above--my Colerain .50 uses a .490 ball just fine--and so does the .50 Colerain used by my rifle's maker in his personal gun. I have, approximately the same barrel as KHickam, but mine is 44" long. When I first got it I thought it felt tight--and it does require a ball starter to load, but it is no problem. You might try coning the muzzle....

B profile - starting to get easier to load .490 balls - just needed some hard raps and a stainless steel loading rod - and got easier as it went - but the diameter of the barrel - land to land is .493 so it really is a .49 caliber.

I shot a .60 three shot group from the bench at 25 yds - so I think I will keep it. The group was 2" low and I will work on the sights when I get out there next time.

Interesting. I emailed Scott at Colerain and he said they are true .50 cal. I wonder if you just got an oddball bore? I hope you get your load down and things close up for you! Once I get my gun, I may cone the barrel. I don't want to have to use a short starter and I dont want to have to go to a ball size that i can't easily get a bag mould for.

Mike, have you coned any barrels using, say, a joe woods coning tool or another method?

Which "Mike" are you asking? And you should make this into another thread because it is really a different subject. Of course, maybe "Mike" has coned a .49 caliber barrel... Shoot sharp, Mike

This Mike has not coned any barrels--the only one I ever owned coned was a .40...but many folks tell me they use them all the time. I don't think you measure the bore size land to land do you? You need also to account for the rifling depths. Especially when figuring patching. A .490 ball with .015 patch is .520 in diameter. It is going to be tight in a true .50 bore. yet that is what is recommended for the Colerain .50....I've read of folks using .495 balls! And .485 balls....

Okay, I have used Joe Wood's coning tool but not on a .49 caliber barrel. In fact, it was a .50 caliber and that tool works real well. It isn't the fastest way to cone a muzzle because all of the work is done by hand. It's good though, just be sure to follow Joe's instructions. Shoot sharp, Mike

quote:

Originally posted by Mike R:
This Mike has not coned any barrels--the only one I ever owned coned was a .40...but many folks tell me they use them all the time. I don't think you measure the bore size land to land do you? You need also to account for the rifling depths. Especially when figuring patching. A .490 ball with .015 patch is .520 in diameter. It is going to be tight in a true .50 bore. yet that is what is recommended for the Colerain .50....I've read of folks using .495 balls! And .485 balls....

Well, if you try to use a .495 ball in this one - bring a stiff metal rod and a hammer - you will need it. Even with a .490 ball you will bend the crap out of a stainless steel rod if you are not careful.

Still shooting low but the group is great 3/4" 5 shot group off cross sticks at 25 yds