School me on Sniders

Good read here. I was wondering how quickly this thread would fill up. I've had a three band snider for some time and over the last few weeks starting thinking about firing it. Anyone know of a 24 gauge plastic shell source? I may try the folks at bilozir next time I see them. I really just don't want to invest in dies, molds etc.
 
If you are using a .600 ball in a .577 barrel then I think some of the cheese may have slipped off your cracker. Thats dangerously close to causing cracks or blowing a barrel. It just makes no sense.

In terms of round balls in muzzleloaders you take into account your patch thickness and then try to match the bore. That way you get a good gas seal but not so hard to push down that you are swaging the bullet as it goes down the barrel. Of course all of this will vary gun to gun as all sniders are ".577" in theory, they vary up and down depending on wear, corrosion etc.

I would stick to the lands or mabye 1-2 thou over but not much more than that. Forcing the ball down the barrel that hard seems like an inherintly bad idea.

Also it seems to me that mixing cornmeal/cream of wheat with bp would give you an uneven powder burn. Depending on the orientation of the powder and filler. This may not affect accuracy as you say but velocity definately would seem to take jumps and have lows. To each there own i suppose but I have used cornmeal in my snider shells and bp revolvers for a long time and never ha any issues.

Cheers, McLean
 
If you are using a .600 ball in a .577 barrel then I think some of the cheese may have slipped off your cracker. Thats dangerously close to causing cracks or blowing a barrel. It just makes no sense.

In terms of round balls in muzzleloaders you take into account your patch thickness and then try to match the bore. That way you get a good gas seal but not so hard to push down that you are swaging the bullet as it goes down the barrel. Of course all of this will vary gun to gun as all sniders are ".577" in theory, they vary up and down depending on wear, corrosion etc.

I would stick to the lands or mabye 1-2 thou over but not much more than that. Forcing the ball down the barrel that hard seems like an inherintly bad idea.

Also it seems to me that mixing cornmeal/cream of wheat with bp would give you an uneven powder burn. Depending on the orientation of the powder and filler. This may not affect accuracy as you say but velocity definately would seem to take jumps and have lows. To each there own i suppose but I have used cornmeal in my snider shells and bp revolvers for a long time and never ha any issues.

Cheers, McLean

i'll be the first to tell you the barrels are not .58 cal at all they way over bore common bullet size used .585-.600 pure lead .590-.600 round balls being most common. remember we are no longer using a mini ball they where made to just touch the edge of the rifling when being loaded through the muzzle and expand to grip the rifling we are pushing the bullet from the other end now you want to bullet toswage down not bump up even the brits found that the hollow based bullet did not work well in cartridge form

as for COW thing again wads are a better idea
 
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Exactly. Sniders are not really .577 bore, though. They are about .585 in front of the chamber, then taper down with a sort of squeeze bore effect. Still, .600 is waay oversize in any of the Sniders I have owned and shot, and as I have mentioned, .590 was too big in all of them. I am not going to throw away 15 years of experience based on what the "expert" on BMF say.

Soft lead or not, grossly oversize bullets DO cause problems. Try forcing a too large cork into a glass bottle. The cork is soft, but eventually you will break the bottle. The internet is full of sketchy advice, like using 8mm bullets in the 1889 Schmidt-Rubin. Take it with a grain of salt. Just because "everyone" is doing it, does not necessarily mean it is a good idea.

If you are using a .600 ball in a .577 barrel then I think some of the cheese may have slipped off your cracker. Thats dangerously close to causing cracks or blowing a barrel. It just makes no sense.

In terms of round balls in muzzleloaders you take into account your patch thickness and then try to match the bore. That way you get a good gas seal but not so hard to push down that you are swaging the bullet as it goes down the barrel. Of course all of this will vary gun to gun as all sniders are ".577" in theory, they vary up and down depending on wear, corrosion etc.

I would stick to the lands or mabye 1-2 thou over but not much more than that. Forcing the ball down the barrel that hard seems like an inherintly bad idea.

Also it seems to me that mixing cornmeal/cream of wheat with bp would give you an uneven powder burn. Depending on the orientation of the powder and filler. This may not affect accuracy as you say but velocity definately would seem to take jumps and have lows. To each there own i suppose but I have used cornmeal in my snider shells and bp revolvers for a long time and never ha any issues.

Cheers, McLean
 
Thanks to all of the posters on this thread. I was offered a 3 band snider from a member who posted on this thread and bought it!! Can't wait til it shoes up in a few days!!

Well I guess I've crossed over to the DARK SIDE!! I'm now an antique owner!! My oldest gun now is 1915 which is practically new compared to the snider!

Anyhow thanks again for teaching me a thing or 2 guys, I'll be sure to post pics as soon as I can!!
 
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