For a .36 the standard ball is 354, though 353 or 355 may suit some guns better. These are all fairly uncommon sizes, but the more common 350 ball will generally give quite acceptable results - certainly good enough for practice. Of more importance than the diameter of the ball is the consistency. As a .36 ball only weighs around 65 grains, a five grain variance in weight between individual balls is nearly 10 percent, and will give serious vertical stringing on the target.

Balls by Pedersoli, H&N, Hornady and various others are of excellent quality. However, some batches can prove to be severely disappointing - some balls can virtually roll down the barrel, while others may require a mallet. The moral of the story is, buy a micrometer for a tenner at the next car boot sale and check the balls for quality. Accuracy is only achieved by eliminating all the variables.

If you're lucky enough to own a .33 Hege, then loads must be even more exact. Hege recommend a .330 ball with a five thou patch, but it's common to see 323-325 balls being used with a ten thou patch, as five thou patches can be hard to come by.

What of cast balls? A box of 100 purchased balls is good for nearly seven, half hour shooting sessions, and high quality swaged balls are cheap enough. But cast balls, particularly from LEE round ball moulds have proved to give excellent shooting in revolvers and pistols where swaged balls weren't available, and should perform just as well as swaged balls in a target pistol.

Percussion Pistols - Patches

Not much to be said for patches. Ten thou is generally standard, but depending what size ball you have, use a thicker patch if necessary. When the patched ball has to be forced into the barrel with a short starter, and it takes reasonable effort to seat the ball, then it's right. If you can push the patched ball into the barrel with your finger, then you need a thicker patch or a bigger ball. If you need a mallet to load then you'll certainly get good accuracy, but your loading routine will be a pain in the neck.

For lubrication, if you're using small charges of Swiss Powder then all you need is spit. With tiny powder charges and a tight fitting ball there's no need for fancy lubes, but then again if you feel so inclined they won't do any harm. There's actually a very popular lube called 'spit-ball', which is like a solid wax in a squidgee bottle with a small opening in the cap for you to squeeze the wax through.

Patches can be made at home out of scraps of old linen or cotton, and will give excellent shooting. But for serious competition shooting you can get total consistency by buying pre-cut patches. Local dealers will supply at about four pounds a hundred, but if you search the web for Jeff Tanner, you'll find excellent patches at a quarter of the price. As mentioned above, there's so little fouling with these guns you don't need to buy pre-lubed patches.

Powder

For these pistols, the only game in town is Swiss powder. It's expensive, but for serious competition shooting it delivers the goods. It's incredibly clean burning, and seems faster than other powders - try twelve grains of No 1 in anything from a .36 to a .40 and you're unlikely to be disappointed. For anything over .40, use Swiss No 2, as No 1 will be too fast burning. If you want to use another powder, try 18 grains of any old fine or medium or even Pyrodex in .36 to .40, and 20 to 24 grains in a .44.

One word off warning about Swiss Powder - it's dense. A spout which throws 18 grains of an ordinary powder may well throw a larger quantity of Swiss. Combine this with the powder being more powerful than the ordinary stuff anyway and you have a serious problem. The answer is obvious - use a pair of scales to check how much your flask is throwing, alternatively, start low and work up.

Whichever powder you choose, with small quantities like this, it's vital to deliver it via a loading funnel, if you don't you'll regret it. Weighing charges into phials beforehand is also a good idea, and intrinsically safer than using a flask, and is now mandated at certain open competitions. Though to be honest, for all but top level competition it makes little difference. Remember the adage - eliminate all the variables.

Cleaning
Muzzle loading firearms must be cleaned after use as the residue from ignition of black powder is corrosive and will soon pit and damage the surface of the metal if not removed. Although you can buy proprietary powder solvents, hot water and a dose of Fairy washing up liquid will bring a pistol up like new. Dry it thoroughly and then lightly oil. It has been known for shooters to simply removes the wooden grips and stick the gun in the dishwasher! Not easy with a musket or long barreled muzzle loader, so use a 'proper' powder solvent on those.



Top of Page