Weighing Swaged Round Balls

We all know swaged round balls vary in weight and that accuracy can suffer when they do. But I had never actually taken the time to weigh them myself. I had 47 RBs left in this box of Hornady .490’s.
Lightest - 176.2 gr. ( 2 balls, the other was 176.3 )
Heaviest - 178.3 gr. ( 2 balls, the other was 178.2 )
Besides these 4 balls, the other 43 ranged from 176.5 to 177.5 with the majority between 176.7 to 177.2

I was surprised and disappointed by the results. A 1/2 grain I can live with, but 1 and 2 grain differences are a bit much. Guess I need to start casting again.

A thing to try is shoot 10 balls that weigh the same and then take 10 balls with the widest weight spread and see if there's a difference on the target. You might find there's not much, if any, difference in the results. Easy test and might put your mind at ease. Or easier yet just shoot them and hide the scale. If you're shooting offhand there's plenty of other things to open a group besides a grain or two of weight.

Weighing is value added and it does not cost a thing.

When i cast balls for my BP guns I go by the following rules: for 45 caliber and smaller, the balls must be within 1/2 grain of the average. For 50 caliber and larger they must be within 1 grain of the average. I have found that balls that vary by 2-3 grains from the average tend to shoot to a far different point of impact that the balls within the tolerance levels.

Grimord said:

When i cast balls for my BP guns I go by the following rules: for 45 caliber and smaller, the balls must be within 1/2 grain of the average. For 50 caliber and larger they must be within 1 grain of the average. I have found that balls that vary by 2-3 grains from the average tend to shoot to a far different point of impact that the balls within the tolerance levels.

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That’s what Dutch Schoultz says too. 2 grains difference is too much, even for causal shooting.

After going through the trouble to weigh them, I did set aside 8 balls that only varied by .02 grains. Have them in my loading block for next time. For my shooting ability it may not make much difference but you never know till you try.

Joe, Blue Face Wainwrite trapper for American fur ran a set with three others and a camp tender. Not far from three forks they were hit by a war band of Blackfoots. The trappers fought like warriors poets. But one by one all went down, all except Blue Face( nicknamed for a powder burn)
He escaped, he alone survived
He wrote in his journal how he escaped in to woods and down a branch scaring up a small herd of elk that covered his trail.
He was taken aback by his loss of horse and much of his gear, and of course his fur.
But as he escaped he had his coat and grabbed his wallet.
He wrote:
“ I was in a bad way. I knew that ahead I would find others of the company but I may be ten or twenty leagues on foot, under constant threat to life.
I did feel pert though that I could give fight if needed and shanks mare could at-least see me well camped. I had my rifle gun, but all my ball had been shot in the fight and half my horn depleted.
But my wallet had a fire kit, worm and tow and a good turn screw, some fine linen patch and flint wallet. A spare horn though it be small, a tin cup and wad of jerky and an hunk of black chocolate. Also a few bar of lead, my dipper and mould. And thanks be on to Providence, but my scale for weighing the ball I cast, for my gun as it would be as useless as empty should I not know the weight of the ball’

Just couldn’t resist

TDM said:

We all know swaged round balls vary in weight and that accuracy can suffer when they do. But I had never actually taken the time to weigh them myself. I had 47 RBs left in this box of Hornady .490’s.
Lightest - 176.2 gr. ( 2 balls, the other was 176.3 )
Heaviest - 178.3 gr. ( 2 balls, the other was 178.2 )
Besides these 4 balls, the other 43 ranged from 176.5 to 177.5 with the majority between 176.7 to 177.2

I was surprised and disappointed by the results. A 1/2 grain I can live with, but 1 and 2 grain differences are a bit much. Guess I need to start casting again.

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Many will argue that weight variations of roundballs will have no effect on accuracy, at least not their accuracy. Guess that means a lead vs steel vs brass vs plastic roundball will all shoot the same. I’ve posted what follows before. Plenty of opinions, just like roundball weight and accuracy, the opinions vary widely.

I have been repeatedly disappointed by swaged roundballs, sometimes by diameter variations, other times by weight differences. Others claim these differences do not matter as long as they can hammer the patched roundball down the bore accuracy will be outstanding.

As an example of what I have found, here are photographs of the weigh-in of two different balls from a single box of purchased swaged roundballs. Found nearly 10 grains of weigh variation, though less than .0005” in diameter variation. Have seen worse, but don’t have photographic evidence. Personally have found that when everything is perfect and using weighed balls will have groups in the one inch range at 100 yards. Mix in the known goofballs from the same box and in the 3-4” range or more. Have seen significant weight variations in both red and yellow boxes of purchased swaged roundballs.

If weight and diameter variations don’t negatively impact accuracy for you, guess you are good to go. Otherwise you may want to check diameter and weight. Up to you.

TDM said:

Guess I need to start casting again.

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Yup. nuff said.

TDM said:

Guess I need to start casting again.

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What is the deviation on the cast ball weight?

Good info. I did not know they could vary that much.
This will give me something to do today. Weigh my balls.

Has anyone actually done the testing I suggested? Of course it would have to be a blind test so no preconceived opinions would come in to play.

TDM said:

We all know swaged round balls vary in weight and that accuracy can suffer when they do. But I had never actually taken the time to weigh them myself. I had 47 RBs left in this box of Hornady .490’s.
Lightest - 176.2 gr. ( 2 balls, the other was 176.3 )
Heaviest - 178.3 gr. ( 2 balls, the other was 178.2 )
Besides these 4 balls, the other 43 ranged from 176.5 to 177.5 with the majority between 176.7 to 177.2

I was surprised and disappointed by the results. A 1/2 grain I can live with, but 1 and 2 grain differences are a bit much. Guess I need to start casting again.

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Really, I mold all my ammo out of old car wheel weights. I've never had an issue with accuracy. We have an ol' saying in the Marine Corps. "It's not the dope in the gun, it's the dope behind it". The dope being you sight in. Semper Fi.

ColonialRifleSmith said:

Really, I mold all my ammo out of old car wheel weights. I've never had an issue with accuracy. We have an ol' saying in the Marine Corps. "It's not the dope in the gun, it's the dope behind it". The dope being you sight in. Semper Fi.

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Or another way of saying it, the old adage, it's not the arrows it's the Indian.

But some people love to get caught up in the equipment race.

In the late 70s and early 80s, I had the chance to shoot a lot of round balls in competition. We were supplied lots of swaged round balls from a major manufacturer. I also cast my own .457s for pistol use.

The variation in the swaged balls was higher than those I cast myself. After a warm up period, I only kept those that were within 1 grain of the heaviest in the lot. Not based on the average, but on the heaviest. Results at 25 and 50 yards showed the difference.

To this day, I only shoot my own cast round balls. I use the same protocol; warm things up, get a rhythm, and then weigh sort the balls. Only keep those that are closest to the heaviest for match shooting. Anything lighter may have voids, wrinkles, or other defects.

ADK Bigfoot

I cast close to 400 .395" balls this fall, after weighing I sorted them into two weights groups. Each group weigh in a .8 grain spread. Anything outside these two weights went back into the pot.

French Colonial said:

Or another way of saying it, the old adage, it's not the arrows it's the Indian.

But some people love to get caught up in the equipment race.

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I agree. People also can't take responsibility for being a horrible shot. Semper Fi.

wganz said:

What is the deviation on the cast ball weight?

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I have never weighed a ball. I inspect for waves, frosty or visible holes, about 20% give or take
But
I’m going to bet it’s the same or maybe worse than swagged. However…
You buy a box you have a hundred ball.
You run a hundred ball and maybe forty are in your limits as weight.
So you drop sixty back in the pot. In an hour you have another hundred to go through.
What do you do with the ones not up to par from bought ball.
Track doesn’t want them back.
You can make two piles. One for plinking one for hunting and ‘blood shooting’ , but all in all you buy a box you’re stuck with a box.
You run your own you only have ones that fit your limit.
Honestly, you pour powder in to a measure, do you fill exactly the same, with in three grains? You grease your patch, are they all the same? Ram home your ball. Do you get the same pressure… within ounces?
You sight over plain iron. How perfect is your sight picture? How perfect is your ignition? Even nipple huggers vary. Cold your barrel is smaller than warm.
You swab between shots, but how clean is your bore by the second shot, or the tenth.
Constancy is the key, ask the ghost of the late Dutch Schultz. But in the final watch are you as consistent that five grain, 2% difference in a .50 enough to change your shooting if you don’t make any other mistakes in loading?

French Colonial said:

Or another way of saying it, the old adage, it's not the arrows it's the Indian.

But some people love to get caught up in the equipment race.

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I agree to a point, but there are rifles that just don't shoot. I have a friend that is a very good shot, pistol, rifle and muzzleloaders, he can shoot them very well. I know of two rifles he's bought that didn't shoot so they were sold. One day I noticed pieces of a muzzleloader barrel I questioned him about them. He said he'd built the rifle and tried all summer to get it to shoot and couldn't. He cut the barrel up in pieces so he wouldn't mess with it more.

So yes, a good shooter will make a fair rifle shoot better than a good rifle with a poor shooter. But there are rifles that just don't shoot well.