Thank You mehulkambar, I presume you are referring to Steve over on The Firearms Blog, he's pretty generous to me, this is the second rifle of mine he has wrote about.

Bigdog, the bore on mine measures 1.275" and the balls cast 1.255" I used standard pillow ticking from Walmart, lubed with Crisco. I haven't weighed any of the balls to find out what they actually weigh, but I know they are less than yours because they are not only smaller in diameter but I cast mine from wheel weights, so they are a lighter alloy as well. The calculator says they should weigh about 2868 grains. I found that a rubber mallet makes a very nice short starter, cut the patch at the muzzle, tap it in with the rubber, then flip it over and use the handle for a short starter. Then I used a 1" hardwood dowel for a range rod, it makes for a lot to grab hold of and push the ball down, but it wasn't a tough fit since mine is smoothbore they rammed right down and seated easily.

I tried some 1/2" thick felt wads that were a little over bore size, but I didn't notice any difference in accuracy or performance, so other than adding another step to the loading I'm not sure what they would accomplish. Since this is a smoothbore having more lube on a wad is really no benefit for fouling.

Colin