Cast or Swaged?

[Robby]

Cast balls using a ladle, No air bubbles.
Robby

 

[Salty]

I used a Lee bottom pour lead pot for years, Cast many round ball. Reading a Bevel Brothers article about bottom pour pots and the round ball produced. So, I cut several of my cast round ball in half. Each one had an air pocket inside. It would create a slight unbalance in the ball. I have since switch to a ladle for pouring ball. A faster fill and no air pockets.
I will pour enough roundball each winter to last for the shooting season. .45, and .50

Good info. Thank you.

 

[ETipp]

You’d be surprised at the difference in the weights in a box of swaged balls.
I weighed all the balls in a box of Hornady .395 once and there were some that were significantly different.

I just weight some swaged Hornady .310 RB and .530 RB. The maximum deviation was .5 grains out of both sizes. Most are either right on or within .2 grains of each other.

With that said, I did not weigh the entire box of either size and these are newer RB. Not old stock. I would reckon that if I were a competition shooter I would weigh all RB. However, for general hunting I do not believe 1/2 a grain is going to yield any noticeable difference in accuracy.

I am, however, considering a .310 RB mold.

 

[necchi]

Question. has anyone else here had good luck competing with their own cast balls?

Absolutely, I cast and use my own exclusively.
I could go on for a long time about the massive inconsistencies I've found in both Hornady and Speer swaged ball.
Those inconsistencies are what finally guided me to cast my own, and I've never looked back.

 

[oldramrod]

I find my hand cast balls are more consistant than any swaged balls I have had at varuous times.I use a bottom taped pot and hold the mold against the spout for few seconds after filling.