Tinker, these balls are just under groove size (1.005") but still shoot well. I've used 1.025" balls sized down to 1.007", but they didn't shoot any better and looked like gumdrops instead of spheres after going through 4 different sizing dies, making the 1.000" ones much quicker and easier to load.

Here's a picture of the wad column next to the RMC brass (it's lathe turned just polished a bit).

In reality the felt wad would be rolled in melted wonderlube. For this trip I used a 1/2" felt wad over the card (as opposed to 1" shown here) and 4 1/2" fiber wads instead of 3, then some lube under the ball. The lube did cause the fiber wads to stick to the ball in some cases and twice I found the fiber in the exit wound or under the far side skin. I think that may cause fliers, but hasn't bee a issue in AK where the lube is usually very hard.

As far as loading tools go, on this trip I loaded everything by hand each night with a measure, hammer, depriming rod, dow, and a small flat steel anvil. That worked well and avoided the 5kg airline limit and hazmat issues.

Bob