Roundball shooting inline

[Forestclimber]

Why hasn't anyone made an inline rifle with a slow twist barrel to shoot roundballs?  I think they would sell.

[cantremembermyid]

GMRB sells a .32 caliber rifle that shoots round balls.  Not a caliber for deer hunting, though.  Link is below.

http://www.gmriflebarrel.com/productdetail.aspx?id=930100

[toytruck]

TC used to make a 1:48 twist barrel for the Encore, not sure they are still available.  That twist in my .54 Renegade is deadly with PRB's.

[1sourdough]

 I think because the ballistics & accuracy of the sabot or conical is much better. I'm not saying a round ball won't get the job done but most shooters & hunters want the best option available. I have not shot a round ball in a very long time.

[no guns here]

Probably not what you are looking for but I shoot round ball from my model 700.  Use a very lite powder charge and they shoot nice groups at 25 yds for my kids.  I was using about 30 grains if I remember correctly.  Haven't done it since 2005 since most of my guns are in KY and we are in Germany.  Can't drive them too fast or everything starts to suck...  rifling is just too fast and the ball just blows out the barrel without spinning.


ngh

[Reese]

Was the slower twist because the ball or the patch itself could not handle anything faster?

I think it was Hornady that use to sell a sabot that pushed a round ball along.   Not sure if they are still available, but could those handle the faster twist?

[flintlock]

Shorter projectiles need a slower twist to stablize them, thus a .50 to .54 caliber roundball barrel will have a 1-66 to 1-72 twist...The also have deeper, cut rifling, not the shallow button rifling found in conical barrels...

[moto357]

i agree that some sort of option for a slower twist inline would sell, as long as the whole unit wasnt over priced like a lot of items these days.  once in a while i like to load some round balls over 20 - 30gr for fun and simple close range stuff as mentioned above.  since most shooters are hunters the change into larger bullets and "high speed" sabot shooting guns is only expected.  im fully aware that my muzzleloader is just that, a muzzleloader, not a centerfire.  but i like to cast my own, so a few trips to the range with round balls doesn't eat up the lead supply, nor does it take long to cast a few hundred of em

[simonkenton]

I wanted to get a round ball twist inline.
I had been so successful killing deer with my Tennessee Mountain Rifle, with patched round ball, that I wanted the same load for the scoped inline.
Well I couldn't find one, so I got the Savage.
One of the guys on the Savage forum claimed he was shooting the round ball, with a sabot in the Savage.
He was using 5 grains of Bullseye, a very hot pistol powder.
I tried 4 shots using this load, and got zero accuracy.
When I checked the bore, there was melted plastic all over the bore. Took me 2 hours to clean it.
So much for round balls with the inline.

[Forestclimber]

I was thinking a 54 caliber would be good. 

[Semisane]

I just don't see the point.  Something like a .54 TC Renegade will shoot balls great.  In addition, it's better looking (my opinion  ) and easier to clean than an in-line.  A ball shooting in-line won't give you any range advantage over a sidehammer.

These are 50, 75 & 100 yard targets shot with my Renegade with a .54 Green Mountain 1:70 twist barrel.



Then you have the option of picking up a .45 caliber 1:32 twist barrel from GM and shooting 200 grain XTPs in sabots.  They shoot pretty good at 100 yards too.  Now you've got a solid gun with two barrels for about the price of a decent in-line.

[simonkenton]

Well, I wanted a round ball shooting inline, because my vision had gotten bad, and I couldn't shoot the Hawken or Tenn. Mtn. Rifle well enough to take them hunting any more.
I don't want to scope up my percussion rifles, I don't like the looks, but, to each his own.
I don't have the chance for long range shots. Where I hunt, 75 yards is the max.
Round balls are real cheap to shoot and deadly effective on game.

So, now I take to the woods with a Savage with sabots and a nice scope, and am cranking out more than twice the power of my percussion guns.
I really preferred hunting with my brass and wood guns, but, I must admit, the Savage is damn accurate, and the 250 SST at 2,300 fps is hell on deer.

[Double 30]

I tried round balls in an American Knight .50 and got decent results.
  I lauched them in MMP short sabots , .458 balls so they loaded snugly. Didn't have a chrono then, but uesd 60 gr of 3f T7. The rifle was open sighted and 100 yard groups were in the 3 inch range. Pure lead didn't work so good though. They obturated in the sabot and got alittle squooshed whe hit with the powder blast.Pure lead balls and bullets , in my experience, grow fins when fired in sabots.I recovered a .45 300 gr Lee with .478 fins and recovered pure lead balls also had fins corresponding to the slots in the sabot. Hard cast balls did much better.
  I think I'll try them in my Black Diamond and if accurate enough, maybe I'll try for squirrels or a fall turkey.

[Swampman]

I shot this group with my Remington 700ML.  This is at 25 yards with a .490 ball, pillow ticking patch, that I soaked in my mouth before loading.  I used 80 grains of Pyrodex RS & a CCI #11 cap.  3 shot group.  These go down the barrel real easy.  I patched with Windex between shots.

[Forestclimber]

50 or 54 caliber roundballs would be cheaper to shoot than saboted bullets in a scoped inline rifle.  I'm not interested in shooting past 100 yards.  A 40 caliber roundball shooter would really be fun, but you couldn't hunt with it.  I have traditional flint and percussion rifles.  I'm not a "purist'.  I just like going to the range and trying new things.