Bullet mold

[Buffyshine]

Hellow fellows,I'm expecting a Pedersoli Bess musket in a few days.I was getting ready to order a lyman Bullet mold along with a few other things.I was'nt expecting to have a choice on diameters,but Midway has a.715 and a .735 to choose from.My gut tells me I should get the larger.If you were me which would you get and why.Thanks,Keith

 

[Britsmoothy]

I would wait and then measure the bore or at least ask the seller to measure it for you.
Do you mean ball mold?
Bullets need to spin!

B.

 

[Buffyshine]

Britsmoothy, yes,sorry,it is a round ball mold,to late to ask about barrel dia. it already in route to me. Keith

 

[Stumpkiller]

Definitely find the true bore measure.

Assuming it is 0.750". Then if you are paper cartridge shooting use the 0.735", but if you are cloth patching use the 0.715"

I'd also recommend you order 25 of each size (cast balls) and try before ordering a mold. You can use the ones that didn't work for recasting once you know what size mold will do.

 

[mhb]

My experience with my new Pedersoli Bess is that the bore diameter is exactly .750" - my original India Pattern measures .753".
The original likes the .715" ball for paper cartridges, and I can shoot up to 20 rounds or more without significant difficulty with built-up fouling making loading difficult - this is not the case with the Pedersoli: for whatever reason, it becomes difficult to load the .715" paper cartridges after only 2 or 3 rounds. I'm going to acquire a .690" mold for the new Bess - that is the diameter of the original British rounds, and should make loading easier. I expect it will shoot well, also.
The .735" ball makes for a tight load in the new Bess, and requires a thin patch and water-based lube for good performance - neither does it shoot better than the .715" ball with a thicker patch, which is considerably easier to load, or the paper cartridge with the same bullet. I do not think the .735" ball will work at all well in paper cartridges, unless you remove the paper wrap completely from the ball in loading.

Good Luck!

mhb - MIke

 

[nwtradegun]

they vary widley. from 729 to 750. mine was 729 and I used 715 rd ball.

 

[Wes/Tex]

The other comments are spot on. One other possibility is to order balls from someone like TOTW in both sizes and test them for best performance before ordering a mold. Just a idle thought from an idle mind! :wink: :haha:

 

[Buffyshine]

Well she showed up a little while ago.I've took it completely apart already. I had to just to clean the grease off it.It was completely covered in what looked like vasoline.I'm pretty happy with how it looks,but I had a bugger of a time removing the tang screw.A quick read on the end of the muzzle with a dial caliper is showing .739-740.It still will be some time before I can shoot it,so I can use the time polishing and getting to know it better.

 

[Buffyshine]

Correction on that last post.Muzzle opening reads at .749-750 to much Jack Danel.

 

[Wes/Tex]

It's like counting a herd of elephants...count the legs and divide by four! :wink: :haha: The .715" ball will probably work best with less bore cleaning for more shots before it's necessary!