Bullet molds

[MSW]

if the sprue really bothers you, i have heard that you may want to get a pair of the nippers used to groom the claws on large dogs. you can use these to trim off the extra lead and the ball will be nearly spherical.

also, i understand that if you put a bunch of roundball in a brass tumbler and let them whack into one another for a few hours, the sprue will be all smoothed out.

i'm not so good a marksman, so the small variation doesn't open or close my group all that much, but if you are, then these might be things you may want to try.

 

[beardedhorse]

I have Lyman Steel Block molds in .451,.589, .610, .715 AND .535. Wished I had not sold my .530 as I can't seem to sell or trade my .535. Lyman for a .530. Also a Cliff Noll made bag mold for .54 caliber. I use it to demonstrate how to "run balls" at re enactments or classes and use it during primitive season hunts with home made black powder. The .589 mold I got used at a gun show and some ***** coned the block below the sprue cutting plate leaving a cast round ball with a parachute shaped sprue. It was bought to cast balls for an odd ball Getz .60 caliber swamped barrel. I use a friend's Lee mold and RCBS mold for .530 casting. RCBS is on par with Lyman. Seems like the price of Lyman keeps going up every year while Lee stays affordable. Haven't been as many gun shows or rendezvous to try to find used steel molds which I prefer to aluminum. Have some Dixie scissor handle hair straightening pliers that you cut the cherry in to make your own mold. They are steel but hsve no spruce cutter, so you have to make an add on one. I wish the Callahan molds had straight or straighter handles. The Cliff Noll mold I can add hollowed out (the ends only) sticks from the forest to make them useable over an open fire. Ran balls using it and the blacksmith's forge at Bent's Old Fort National Park site near La Junta several summers ago. It is a long stretch from using a bottom pour electric casting pot.