I've been passing the winter getting ready for shooting my 2.25" Mountain Rifle.
A couple of days ago I had a conversation with someone who's been to the Grayling shoot several times.
He mentioned that Read projectiles seem to be the most popular and that the shooters fill the base with beeswax. He thought it was solid beeswax and not the crisco mix favored by cap & ball pistol shooters.
I'm going to digress for a moment. The Read projectile was a popular rifled cannon round of the Civil War. It was cast iron and often hollow to be filled with powder and balls. The early Read-Parrot projectiles had an iron sabot cast into the base. It would supposedly expand. I guess this didn't work so well since the later ones had sabots shaped like shallow cups attached to the bottom. They were made of brass and copper. Perhaps lead?
The modern ones seem to have zinc bodies with a brass or lead sabot bolted on. I've also heard of aluminum and other bodies.
I just wondered what effect the beeswax would have. I'd think it would melt instantly under the heat and pressure to help expand the sabot wall into the rifling. It would probably also help with lubing. Would it be liquid or gas within the barrel? With my 3 groove deep sawtooth rifling, there was no way to count on a complete seal, only enough to force some material into the rifling. Any thoughts how this would contribute to pressure?
I've been casting lead Minie balls to try out. I might end up with Read projectiles one day but casting a 4 pound plus lead round is enough challenge right now. I have two sorts. The heavy, long range ones have a very thick skirt and the opening in the base isn't that large. They might work well. My light ones might not work so well filled with beeswax. They have a huge opening and are meant for lighter loads. If beeswax worked too well, I'd risk blowing the skirts off. Perhaps not completely filling with beeswax would be the way to go.
When I've shot before I've had a filler in the aluminum foil charge. The powder is at the bottom with a cotton wad ovet the BP then a couple of ounces of grits. This was suggested by the cannon builder to help with the lead rounds. It reduced leading and helped expansion. With beeswax I might not need the filler. I'm also thinking of backing off the loads with the light ball. The suggested load was 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 ounces. My lower limit is close to 2 ounces with the vent.
Any thoughts about the effects of beeswax in this environment?
I plan to have some just lubed and some with varying levels of beeswax fillerwhen I finally make it to the range.
Steve