A major accuracy breakthrough today using 9/16" marbles in a .58cal rifle.
07/12/08
.58cal Flintlock / .50grns Goex 3F / .570” (9/16”)patched marbles / 25yds / sitting in a chair.

I continued testing different patch thicknesses today and found that by almost hammering them in with .030"patches, the group sizes did come down to around 3”...sort of OK "I thought" for a lead ball substitute but a PITA having to hammer them in.

I'd shot 40 shots at this point, was getting tired & hot, still had 10 vials of 50grn 3F charges left and I wanted to get home to a shower...so just to finish them off quickly I decided to double them into 5 - 100grn charges....returned to the easier to load .022” patches, and I was shocked to find that the 100grn charges put 5 shots into a single ragged hole about an eyelash larger than an inch in diameter.

I was wow'd to say the least...I’d been staying with 50grns 3F for several range trips with marbles and just fiddling with patch thicknesses and different lubes thinking a 50grn charge was plenty for a 65grn marble ball at 25yds but I was totally wrong.

When I made the second shot with 100grns 3F, I couldn’t see it on the target...walked up and then saw the slightest curve on one side of the first hole indicating where the second ball went.
Shot # 3 & #4 and got the same kind of results...slight quarter moon curves around the edge of the existing hole...couldn’t believe my eyes.

I shot the 5th one and half of it was alongside the other 4-hole spot, like it was a leaf on a cloverleaf pattern...and that was probably more my fault than the load based on the performance of the first four shots...just incredible accuracy with 100grns 3F.

So next Saturday I’ll go back and shoot controlled groups with 60/70/80/90grns 3F to find the smallest (most economical) charge I can use and still get the pinpoint accuracy I got with the 100grn charge.

These 9/16” marble trials in a .58cal have really been interesting...and today's breakthrough gives accuracy as good as using my Hornady .570" lead balls...precise enough to start shooting tiny action targets again like charcoal briquettes, empty .12ga hulls, etc...you could even hunt small game with this kind of accuracy if you wanted to...a 65grn solid marble at that kind of velocity would kill most any small game on the spot.

After I find the ultimate powder charge next Saturday that maintains this kind of accuracy, I'll probably just leave the .58cal set up for the .570" marbles and use it for weekend range trips from now on...in the past it just stayed in its case unless I took it out hunting because I wouldn't spend the money it would take to shoot it every weekend using Hornady balls at .20-.25 cents apiece...but now it'll be my go-to range rifle using marbles at a penney apiece...my hobby just got a whole lot cheaper.

I keep waiting for you to come up with a 50 cal ball.

1/2" marbles or a .500 solid rubber ball.

The marbels are cheap (always) but the .500" solid rubber balls are more expensive, about $7/100...still a lot cheaper than lead but with the limitations of their light weight compared to a lead ball, they're not really a bonanza at that price...the 1/2" size marbles are the way to go...heavier and very accurate at 25yds.

Use dial calipers to:
Sort out everything over .490 and set them aside as too big.
Re-Sort everything left from the under .490" sort with the calipers set at .475" and set aside everything smaller than .475" as too small...and your left with a set of marbles measuring .475"-.490".

Even if as much as 50% of the marbles from a purchase are too small or too big and you can't use them, the bottom line price of those that you can use is still only about a penny apiece, or worse case a penny & a half each...and you can be a hero by giving away the marbles you can't use to kids in the neighborhood.

Good Idea.

Marbles? No kidding? RB, my hat's off to you. How did you come up with the idea? Are we talking about the old, glass marbles? I'm speechless...well, almost speechless. You're an innovator, to say the least.

Last year it became obvious the price of lead was going up through the roof, and California and a couple more states were beginning to ban the use of lead projectiles. People who enjoy Flintlocks as a hobby normally shot them a lot and of course use patched round lead balls to do so. I average 40 range trips a year with 50 shots per session and knew my hobby would come to an end if lead balls either became unaffordable or unavailable...so I started playing the "what if" game...what if that happened, what would I do.

I started researching possibilities that might exist to use alternative balls at least for weekend practice sessions...thank the lord for the Internet and Email. Turns out all the other metal balls were as or more expensive than lead so they couldn't be considered...and the other possibilities I could think of were balls made of wax, wood, rubber, glass (marbles), etc. Wood and wax were simply too light...rubber and marbles are the winners, with marbles clearly being head & shoulders above everything due to their heavier weight...a 9/16" marble weighs 65grns...holds it velocity & energy a little further than a 22grn rubber ball.

To make a year long story short...had many communications with many different companies, made many trial purchases, spent many weekends experimenting at the range with the chronograph, different powders, patches, lubes, etc...and so far found 4 commercially available alternative practice 'balls' that work extremely well to keep right on having weekend fun shooting...and most are dirt cheap. If you think about it, unless you're actually sighting in a rifle with a hunting load, 95% of the range trips are just for fun, practice, etc...and you don't need full powder hunting loads just to poke holes in paper, or shoot pine cones, or empty .12ga hulls, or 2" aim point stickers...all at 25yds...simply do not need to waste an expensive lead ball every time you pull the trigger to do those things.

.40cal
Turns out a company makes a .410" rubber ball for use in "realistic look-alike firearms" (that use compressed air) for LEO training centers across the country. These commercially available balls cost $20 for 500...the balls compress just enough with a .015" patch for a snug fit and give superb accuracy in a .40cal muzzleloader at 20-25yds...a real find for those who own a .40cal if lead becomes unaffordable or is banned, etc.

.45cal
Haven't found a commercial substitute yet

.50cal
A company makes several diameter rubber balls for use in spring loaded check valves, one of which is a .500" diameter and with a .015" patch, fits the .50cal perfectly...again, due to its extremely light weight, 20-25yd close range accuracy only.

Also...1/2" solid glass marbles are very accurate as well...a little more so as they are heavier than the light rubber. Could also be used for small game at typical small game distances of 15-25yds.

.54cal
Haven't found a commercial substitute yet

.58cal
Another huge find...9/16" solid glass marbles...only costing a penny apiece instead of .20-.25 cents apiece for a Hornady .58cal ball...they make a single ragged hole at 25-30 yards shot out of a .58cal muzzleloader with 80grns Goex 3F. After testing proved so outstanding, I had a bulk order of 6000 delivered for $60.00...$40 for the marbles, $20 delivery for 50 pounds weight. So far, I've shot 500 of these 9/16" marbles this year to date..cost me 500 pennies ($5) instead of $125 for all the boxes of Hornady lead balls I would have used.

.62cal(.20ga)
Same as for the .58cal...even greater savings because the larger .62cal lead balls cost even more than the .58cal balls...but it shoots the same penny marble with the same ragged hole accuracy just using a thicker patch....030" instead of .015".

An interesting learning experience too...also realized I don't need to 'wait' until I can't afford lead...I'm already shooting marbles in the .58cal regularly now...save $15 every Saturday I do that.

.62cal(.20ga) rifle...I wrote '10' marbles on the target but that can't be right...it was probably 15-20 marbles to make that hole;



.40cal rubber balls, the two on the table are those I recovered after shooting them through a couple bottles of soft drink at 25yds that somebody left at the range...like new condition...these could be caught in a bullet trap and reused over and over;



.58cal...experimenting with different thickness patches caused some POI variations but it settled down with the thick .022" patches;

Well RB, I guess this ol dog just learned a new trick. Thanks for the info and great pics. I'd just 'a soon you didn't point that smoke-pole at me. I'm considerably larger than your targets! Good shootin' RB.

For anyone that might be reading this and wondering, is there any significant "wear and tear" on your barrels that you've noticed while using the marbles?

Oh no...they are wrapped in a lubed cloth patch just like a lead ball is wrapped in a lubed patch...nothing ever touches the bore when shooting patched round balls except lubricated cloth.

The extra patch material gets wedged down into all the grooves and acts like a a half dozen rudders on a ship...as the PRB travels upbore the rifling rotates the cloth patch which has a firm grip on the ball therefore imparting the rifling rotation (twist) to the ball.