Thread: Help with black powder rifle

Hi can anyone help, I have a black powder muzzle loading rifle which has been built by a Canadian police armourer, problem is that it has been built using a .308 inch barrel from a 30/30 rifle ,my problem is I have no bullet mould to use with this rifle and I’m having trouble finding anyone that can give me information on what mould I could use as this is not common as a black powder calibre , yes I did know I would have trouble when I brought the rifle but it was such a great little rifle I thought I would give it a go, any help or advice would be great

I looked at it several times but the caliber put me off. I like barrels I can poke my finger down.I will look in some BP loading books for a mould.

Yes my other black powder rifles are 58cal and the barrel of this one looks so small but it’s such a nice little rifle I thought I would give it a crack, thanks for help

Just get a projectile close and size it, And use a patch to fit to barrel. Upper Hutt gun shop would be the guy to talk to. Slug the barrel to get accurate measurements.

cheers

Take it your shooting ball?

At this stage im looking at anything that may work it has been suggested to try buckshot ball with patch

Originally Posted by hollowpoint

At this stage im looking at anything that may work it has been suggested to try buckshot ball with patch

When you fire a ball it will no longer be a round ball as the pressure will bump it to the bore size so will become sorta oval

It will bump up to fit when fired, problem will be residue in the barrel after a few shots

I'd follow Maca's advice, he knows his stuff.

A slug in .301 PP'd up to .308/.309 works great in my 308win with smokeless, might be a place to start.

Cheers for that any idea where i could get a mold of that size

Originally Posted by Chupacabra

I'd follow Maca's advice, he knows his stuff.

A slug in .301 PP'd up to .308/.309 works great in my 308win with smokeless, might be a place to start.

Thanks for that but I really know bugger all! I have a guy I get info from and he has a library that is jus amazing. I think with BP you can experiment without killing yourself , within reason. It is relatively easy to load and shoot a rifle that's in good nick.

Originally Posted by Maca49

Thanks for that but I really know bugger all! I have a guy I get info from and he has a library that is jus amazing. I think with BP you can experiment without killing yourself , within reason. It is relatively easy to load and shoot a rifle that's in good nick.

I could sniff BP all day, reminds me of Guy Fawkes

A bud once caught me yoinking a long string connected to an old 303 (he had sold me) mounted in sandbags, he complained that I could trust the gun and I told him I couldn't trust the load I was putting through it hehe

That's were it gets interesting. For smokeless PP the rule of thumb is bullet should be about .001 over bore and PP about .001 over groove. A custom mold would be ideal but I've just been using a Lee C312-185-1R as it throws a .301 nose and used a lathe to take the ribs down to size. A .301 sizer may also work but that would probably need to be custom too.

Slugging the barrel would be good before investing in molds etc. Firing a couple of 30 cal casts through may reveal a few things too.