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If you want to shoot hard lead, you'll need a smaller mould- say a .710" or even a .700" & much thicker patch. You have to have enough patch to go to the bottom of the grooves - or the fouling will build up and you'll have to wipe the bore clean just to load it. If you have to wipe the bore at any time while shooting, say 50 shots, the patch is too thin, and perhaps you're not using enough lube or the proper lube. .010" patches are not even thick enough to use for cleaning, unless tripled. Too - they don't hold enough lube and they cannot seal to the bottom of the grooves.

The Pedersoli 'should' have a .730" bore with about .008" rifling - just a guess. Even if the bore is a tight .725", the .715" ball, in pure lead is still easy to load with a .022" patch - if the rifle has a good crown.

Using a ball that is only .005" smaller than the bore plus a .022" denim patch is normal loading for rifle for most of the guys I shoot with - every week. The reason they don't use a ball .010" smaller is that the smaller ball is less accurate.

My 14 bore, a true .690" bore, with .012" rifling depth, uses a .684" ball and .030" patch. It also shoots between 1" and 1.5" at 100 meters, and under 2 moa at the 200 yard traget butt - both off the bags, of course. 5 shot groups, not 1 to 3 like many guys shoot.

This is how each barrel of your gun should be able to shoot.

Making the decision to re-crown the gun is a good one & should make a big difference in your ability to load it.

It's an easy job and only takes a few minutes. It's just about impossible to screw up, if using your thumb. Using tools to do it is when things get out of line. Make certain you turn the gun every now and then to keep the process even, is all.

Mine was shooting right high and crossing 1" @ 50 yds. Going to a heavier patch, 100gr. to 110gr. 2f GOEX put them side by side, not perfectly, but into a slightly flattened, roundish group that I can certainly live with. More powder, without going to a heavier patch merely made them shoot closer together, but did not do anything about the vertical dispersion. Changing from a .018" to .0215" patch fixed the vertial dispersion I had. It is no more difficult loading in my double than the thinner patch.

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Daryl

"a gun without hammers is like a Spaniel without ears" King George V

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