.

My thoughts are start with some light smokeless loads as blackpowder will let you know you pulled the trigger.  After you decide that the recoil won't disable you, then go to black with a fairly light bullet. My Pacific in 40-85 thumps pretty good with a 400 grain bullet and black so I cannot imagine what a 500 grain bullet with some 90 grains of black would do!  My rifle shoots much more accurate with blackpowder.  Tom

Very nice rifle. Want yer money back????




JMH

Sweet!  I paid $1300 for one (in need of a couple of minor repairs) at an auction about 20 years ago and thought I’d done well. You got a screaming deal.  It looks like the finish is well above average for a Ballard of that age.

Mine was in the elusive 40-90, so I haven’t shot it very much!  It has a couple of oddities. The barrel and fore end have matching numbers but are different from the matching numbers on the whole rest of the gun.  If that weren’t strange enough, the barrel is not marked with the chambering.  I could only be sure of what it was with a chamber cast.  Has anyone else encountered original Ballard barrels without caliber markings?

Froggie