Thanks Ken but not this time.
The ball (.526") was wrapped in a .022" cotton patch - .526 + .022= .548. The swamped Colerain barrel has lands at .538 and the groves are .548. It should have been a perfect fit. I may have loaded the gun with a .530 ball plus the .022 cotton patch would have made the projectile + patch (.552) too big for the barrel which would have made the RB go high. When I loaded it I remember thinking that this load was tight.
I cast some .526 balls today and threw all of my .530 balls into the lead melter so it would not happen again. When I reloaded the rifle with the newly cast balls today it loaded like I remember it - Tight but smooth as the ball was rammed home.
Two things:
My neighbor across the road stopped buy this morning to check on a .22 we are rebuilding for his son's 10 year old B-Day present on the 23rd. We got to chatting and he asked me a question which drived me to the rules & regs for early BP season here in PA. Well it turns out that only anterless deer can be taken with a doe permit during the early BP deer season
O'my God! I almost took an illegal deer.
That's what happens when you hunt in two different states. The laws may be similar but are never exactly the same. The good lord was watching out for me this time.
I went out this afternoon and although I did not see a doe I did have some great experiences.
First, a grouse zig zagged up to me with caution then started scratching the ground. Then charged me and stopped about 15 feet away loudly clucking away. I can only think he/she was not happy with me being in his/her woods. Then zig zagged away clucking all the way.
Second, I heard a twig snap behind me so I slowly turned around to check out the sound. There about 60' away was the neighbors black Newfoundland dog walking towards me. Then I noticed that Snickers had a brown snout and I figured out it wasn't Snickers but a 100# or so black bear. He or she stopped about 40' from me to my right and sat on the edge of the meadow I was overlooking.
The bear kept sniffing the air and looking all around. He/she finally climbed onto a log and sat on it's haunches and continued to sniff the air. Well this lasted about 5 minutes or so and then the bear cautiously crossed the meadow which probably prevented any does from coming within killing range of my flint lock. Which is 34 yards thanks to RvR's keen observation.
The hunt continues.
