doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Any experience with "punkin balls"?

Can they be used in breech loaders by making up a shotshell with the ball in lieu of regular shot?

If so is it possible to load these into a standard wad with the petals between the walls of the barrel and the ball when fired?
would this increase its accuracy?

Is the .690 size possibly designed to be inside a standard wad?

I use them in my 20GA SxS rifle
Casey

Your post brought up some vivid memories of my first deer hunt. Dad didn't hunt himself but he cooperated by driving me to the "deer woods" up in some nearby mountains. That meant so much to me, more than anyone ever knew. It was my first time out with a high powered weapon and I was actually deer hunting, but later came to realize it was more because I had transitioned from BB guns and slingshots and that my Dad trusted this 12 year old solo hunter. We had freezing rain the day before and the trees and branches along the woods road were covered with ice. It was like a crystal wonderland. Afterwards Dad let me shoot the old single barrel loaded with a punkin ball at an upturned rocking chair bottom, and I hit it dead center (lucky shot). I still have two of those Winchester Repeater punkin balls from the box that sat in a dresser in my parent's bedroom, the two yellow colored ones on the left.

A strange coincidence? It was a bitter cold day in January, 49 years later when we buried Dad in a cemetery not too far from those deer woods. I looked over at the mountain where he parked those many years before and it was covered in fog. After the ceremony my wife and I drove over to the place and the trees on the sides of the old woods road were all covered in ice. Think what you will but I knew then that Dad was okay. Silvers

Where I hunted in upstate NY and northern Vermont 50 yards was a LONG shot. Most of the deer I killed were with a Ruger .45. I think that some form of rudimentary sights like the ones fitted long ago on my 10 bore Rem. would still be in order. Since my Valmet "Lion" has a rib, I might attach some clamp-on slug sights to it and use those.

Yogi, thanks for the info and load data. I have no doubt that a solid round ball from any shotgun guage would be effective on a blacktail at the feasible ranges. For piggies, I'd use the harder ball as you suggest (and keep a deer slug or buckshot in the other barrel for follow-up....).

Yogi, pure lead roundballs perform better than wheel weights in muzzleloaders. And there will not be a penetration problem as pure lead projectiles despite being a little softer, retain their weight better than wheel weight lead too. They might change shape a bit bending but not breaking. The alloys seem to fracture more. Harder alloys help a bit if you are trying to put them through a faster twist barrel so the bullet doesn't strip in the rifling but we are talking smoothbore here.

Silvers, Thank you for the post, I enjoyed it. Happy Holidays to all. Bruce

The one thing to remember about ball in choke bore guns is the ball must fit the choke, not the bore. The "Not for Ball" marking on early guns simply meant they were not to be fired with a "Bore-Fiting" ball. This mark was changed to one of simply "Choke" as there was confusion & many took it to mean No ball at all could be fired. Best accuracy is "Apt" to come from a cyl bore with a well fitted ball, but for a choked gun just make sure the ball/wad combo will pass through & try it. Just might be surprised. As I understand it the biggest problem with a smoothbore firing ball is somewhat akin to a baseballer's "Spit Ball" IE it sometimes can "Break" at an unpredictable angle to it's flight line. The round ball from a smooth bore gained much of it's bad press from the old military muskets which for rapid loading (Assualt Rifles) were loaded with much undersized balls which rattled down the bore in a hap-hazard manner, leaving the muzzle with different spin directions depending upon last contact.

Miller,

Well stated. This definition should be engraved in stone for the next time some asks about a gun that is marked "Non Pour Balle". It would avoid the confusion that was raised in the past.

A variation that is not seen much today was the smoothbore with a rifled choke that was meant for shooting ball. Everyone seems to assume a rifled choke was only meant for a slug.

Pete

For me this has been a very interesting post.I own a J & W Tolley, 12 bore, damascus hammer gun. It is marked " UBIQUE " and " For Spherical Ball". The Bores measure .715 end to end. The gun has a folding rear sight marked for 60 Yards. It has been nitro proofed for 2 3/4 inch shells.

I assume the right diameter balls to use would be exactlly bore size. You have shown me where to get them.Thanks.

djwest
You can get it from the Track of the Wolf,Inc.
The phone is 612-424-2500
http://www.trackofthewolf.com/(S(tck0tg4...e=25&Page=3
Casey