Casting ball & bullets

[Lorren68]

Spent an hour or so today casting some .490 roundball and 320 grain Lee R.E.A.L. bullets. These are the rounds I shoot in my T/C Hawken rifle. I plan to use the Rb for deer, and hopefully I can use the real bullets on a big hog.

Does anyone else cast there own ammo?

[Whiteeagle]

I shoot the R.E.A.L. bullets in my older CVA Kentucky caplock and they are great. Thinking about getting a .50 cal mold for my Mountain Rifle, but prb's are great in it. Hope you are using pure soft plumbers lead, wheel weight lead is rough on the rifling in most muzzle loaders. What range and pattern are you getting with each? I get 5 rounds in a 1 1/2 circle at 75 yards with the REALs and about the same at 50 yards with prbs in the .45 cal. The .50 cal shoots a 5shot/6" group @ about 75 yards. Eye-sight not what it used to be whe I was younger, but still not bad for 70 years.

[Nastytater]

I cast for the 357 and the 44. I also casted for the 45 but I use those for my muzzle loader. Been dropping some 240 and 200 gr for the 44 and some 140 gr and 158 for the 357.

[Lorren68]

Originally Posted by Whiteeagle

I shoot the R.E.A.L. bullets in my older CVA Kentucky caplock and they are great. Thinking about getting a .50 cal mold for my Mountain Rifle, but prb's are great in it. Hope you are using pure soft plumbers lead, wheel weight lead is rough on the rifling in most muzzle loaders. What range and pattern are you getting with each? I get 5 rounds in a 1 1/2 circle at 75 yards with the REALs and about the same at 50 yards with prbs in the .45 cal. The .50 cal shoots a 5shot/6" group @ about 75 yards. Eye-sight not what it used to be whe I was younger, but still not bad for 70 years.

I have been getting excelant groups from the prbs at 50 yards if I do my part from a bench I can get 1 to 1.5 in groups. The REAL bulles so far I have 1 ragged hole at 25, and 3 shots almost touching at 50. I have started stretching them out to 100 yards, and I am experimenting with different powders and amounts.

[Redleaf]

Casting bullets and balls is a good way to get ammo, and saves $ if you do much shooting too. I've got a bunch of roundball moulds, probably six or eight .40cal bullet moulds for the Sharps, and some for centerfire rifles and pistols. Been at it for a long time now. The first pot and mould I bought was about 1980.

[Flintrock]

Have a .350 , .395 , .437 , .445 , .451 , .490
all round ball moulds.
.
If you shoot at home and keep your pure muzzloading bullet and centerfire bullet burms seperated, you can dig up your used muzzloading lead and remelt it again. I would not pick up another shooters lead because you never know what kind of lead they used.
We have to keep it pure. No wheel weights !

[Ga Waters]

I 've got the same set up as you Lorren 68. I am getting good results with the PRBs but have not shot the ringed bullets enough to know what to expect. I'm shooting 70 gr with the PRBs and 80 with the bullets.The accuracy of either far exceeds my shooting ability under fait chase hunting(stalking) on public land. Most of my shots are under50 yards.

[Bernard goldsmith]

A can of worms just got open!! When i shoot my balls they don't touch the barrel, just the patching.

[Lorren68]

Originally Posted by Bernard goldsmith

A can of worms just got open!! When i shoot my balls they don't touch the barrel, just the patching.

You lost me, what is your post refering to?

[Redleaf]

wheel weight balls

[Bernard goldsmith]

Thanks redleaf, the rookies are still learning.

[Flintrock]

Originally Posted by Bernard goldsmith

Thanks redleaf, the rookies are still learning.

Do you shoot wheel weights ?

[Lorren68]

I do not currently use wheel weights, but if that is all the lead I can get I will use them for roundball.

[Redleaf]

The internal ballistics of roundball/black powder shootin involves alot of voo doo, lore, and just plain old unexplainable mystery. But, whatever goes on inside the barrel is subject to the laws of physics no matter how mysterious it may seem. Mis-diagnosis of problems is most likely the primary source of alot of lore/wivestales. That and vivid imaginations.

[Bernard goldsmith]

If i can mark the ball with my thumb nail, i shoot it. Old school test!!

[Nicodemus]

Originally Posted by Bernard goldsmith

If i can mark the ball with my thumb nail, i shoot it. Old school test!!

Which means we can also shoot 24kt gold, if we can afford it.

I can`t!!

[scambooger]

its a great feeling when you watch a deer (or whatever your after ) go to the ground in its tracks after takin a hit from the lead that you cast! here are some .58 caliber minies i cast.... 500gr bullet over 65gr of powder usually does the trick.

[Anvil Head]

You can push physics and metalurgy one step further with a little inductive studying. If you use a production pot (Lee's, Lyman, etc.) that draws off the bottom of the pot, you can somewhat clarify your wheel weights to get closer to "pure" lead. Run the heat up a notch or two higher than normal melt and pour temp.....do not stir or agitate and let cook for half hour or so. The tin, antimony, and other impurities will rise to the top (less dense metals). You can skim the top then let sit again or just draw off the bottom with out disturbing. With a little effort and practice you can get t-nail soft lead castings. Use a good scales and check batches for consistancy. You will find you can use 2/3 of the pot before things start changing. Save the top 1/3 for casting sinkers and jigheads.
Believe it of not, your choice, but a little reading/research is good for you. I shot competition off hand, trick, and cross stick with these "wheel weight" bullets with reasonably good results. They never failed on game - deer, hog, rabbit and squirrel.
It's what I had at the time and I learned to make it work.

As Redleaf and Nic alluded, it's more about being consistant with all factors that effect your shot. Science not voodoo. (I still name and decorate the muzzle of my shooters for accuracy, cain't hep it)

[blocky]

I agree with Anvil Head. You can decrease the hardness of wheel weights by skimming off some of the alloys. Just test the bullets you cast by trying to score them with your fingernail. Really hard bullets may not load into your barrel.

[Anvil Head]

They'll load ok if the paching is right, but they will be lighter due to to the alloys and won't hit the same spot as the heavier purer bullets.