Difficulty Loading T/C MaxiBall

[whitemtncruiser]

Hi,

I am an experienced shooter just getting into shooting muzzleloaders more frequently. I have a .50 and .54 caliber T/C inlines. Both guns are a number of years old but barely used and are like-new. I recently purchased a box of T/C .50 caliber 320 grain MaxiBalls. The packaging states that they are lubed and ready to fire as they come from the box.

I have fired a variety of saboted rounds out of the .50 in the past and patched round balls out of the .54, and I am confident I have the loading/firing portion well understood. I clean the rifles per the owners manuals every time I use them.

When I tried to load the Maxi-Balls in the .50 this past weekend, I could not get them to load. I couldn't even get them completely into the rifling. I have had some tight fighting sabots in the past so I have experienced some hard to load projectiles. And I have a sturdy range rod to make loading easier. But these things were impossible. I was deforming the top of the Maxi-Ball noticeably while trying to get it down the barrel, and I was only using pressure - not striking it with the ramrod or anything. The barrel was not fouled.

I shooting partner brought a brand new LHR Redemption .50 cal. The gun had been cleaned and prepped properly. We had the same problem - we could barely get the Maxi-Balls to start into the barrel.

I had to remove the breach plug from both rifles and tap out the partially inserted maxi-ball because it just would not go down any farther.

Has anyone else had this type of difficulty loading the Maxi-Balls? I'm not quite sure what my problem is as they claim to be easy to load in the field. I haven't had a chance to get out my calipers yet. Could they possibly be oversized? The packaging is new and the lube was fresh so I'd say these were recent production.

Thanks for the help.

 

[PapaG]

Could be the maxis were oversize. They are designed so that the two bottom bands are slightly under bore size, the top band is a couple thou over. Pop it once with a short starter and it should slide down with finger pressure. Barrel undersized? Check both with calipers. 50 cal should be .500 across the lands.
Most of the new TC guns have relief at the muzzle to help get these things aligned and started.

 

[D. Buck Stopshere]

Get the dial caliper out and mike them.

The T/C Maxi-Ball was designed, as I remember, for the rear and middle band to be bore diameter, and the top
band to be slightly over-sized to allow it to "engrave the rifling" as the Maxi-Ball went down the barrel.

You probably know this already, so get out the calipers and report back the diameter of the three bands.

I suppose its possible a batch was made with a lead alloy instead of pure lead, which might account for the hard starting, but T/C is pretty sharp about quality control.

I'd suggest contacting T/C's Customer Service after you mike the bullets IF they are way oversized.

 

[dickydalton]

Hi,

I am an experienced shooter just getting into shooting muzzleloaders more frequently. I have a .50 and .54 caliber T/C inlines. Both guns are a number of years old but barely used and are like-new. I recently purchased a box of T/C .50 caliber 320 grain MaxiBalls. The packaging states that they are lubed and ready to fire as they come from the box.

I have fired a variety of saboted rounds out of the .50 in the past and patched round balls out of the .54, and I am confident I have the loading/firing portion well understood. I clean the rifles per the owners manuals every time I use them.

When I tried to load the Maxi-Balls in the .50 this past weekend, I could not get them to load. I couldn't even get them completely into the rifling. I have had some tight fighting sabots in the past so I have experienced some hard to load projectiles. And I have a sturdy range rod to make loading easier. But these things were impossible. I was deforming the top of the Maxi-Ball noticeably while trying to get it down the barrel, and I was only using pressure - not striking it with the ramrod or anything. The barrel was not fouled.

I shooting partner brought a brand new LHR Redemption .50 cal. The gun had been cleaned and prepped properly. We had the same problem - we could barely get the Maxi-Balls to start into the barrel.

I had to remove the breach plug from both rifles and tap out the partially inserted maxi-ball because it just would not go down any farther.

Has anyone else had this type of difficulty loading the Maxi-Balls? I'm not quite sure what my problem is as they claim to be easy to load in the field. I haven't had a chance to get out my calipers yet. Could they possibly be oversized? The packaging is new and the lube was fresh so I'd say these were recent production.

Thanks for the help.

Measure them first.

 

[whitemtncruiser]

Thanks for the help. My .50 does have the relief section to help get them started. The LHR did not. I will measure them ASAP and see what I get.

 

[Patocazador]

Muzzy barrels vary in diameter. If you measure different muzzle diameters, they can vary by as much as .005". Custom barrels can be even less uniform. Cast lead varies also depending on temp. changes during the process.
Inlines are made with sabots in mind. People with .45 cal muzzies find that the "standard .451 or .452 bullets vary a bit also. They have to be knurled (rubbed between 2 rasps to increase their diameters for a good fit.

The point is, use what works. Don't beat yourself up trying to use something that won't fit. Try Harvester Scorpion PT Gold bullets in a crushed rib sabot .. very accurate and deadly.