casting 101!!!!

[Pasquinel]

I also thought the idea of casting my own roundball bullets
would be great, but after reading all the posts under heading casting 101, I've decided it's alot safer to just continue purchasing them. Really need my eyesight and face. :imo:

 

[Stumpkiller]

It's safer than using a snowblower or a chainsaw. There's a lot of both of those in use. If you can operate a gun responsibly, you shouldn't have any trouble casting balls.

After all, most of us wear a potential handgrenade around our neck when playing with blackpowder, in the form of a horn.

 

[No Deer]

Don't get scared off. Just use a little caution and you will be fine. Casting is not difficult. Just make sure to keep water away and it will be fine. Some find casting to be great fun, I find it rather boring, however, it does save me a lot of money so I do it. I do not weigh any as the shooting I do I don't need that kind of precision. I cast/shoot 20 ga. and 12 ga. smoothbores so if one is not the exact same weight as another, I have never noticed the difference.

NoDeer

 

[Rat]

Keeping water out of the lead is no more difficult than keeping your fingers out of the fan, or not chopping off your hand with the table saw, pouring gas on the BBQ and lighting it, shooting yourself with the nail-gun or running the chainsaw into your leg, etc.

Rat

 

[TexasMLer]

It's safer than using a snowblower or a chainsaw. There's a lot of both of those in use. If you can operate a gun responsibly, you shouldn't have any trouble casting balls.

After all, most of us wear a potential handgrenade around our neck when playing with blackpowder, in the form of a horn.

I have often wondered about this one. My paranoia of this is the reason I do not carry a large quantity of powder with me into the woods. I usually cary just enough for a follow-up shot or two.

Have any of you fellers ever heard of a horn exploding while being worn? Surely it has happened before, but I have never heard of it happening. Talk about a big messy boom!

 

[Rat]

Oh man....I thought you were SUPPOSED to carry a full horn of powder, and some cannon fuse...."just in case"...!!!

:crackup:

No wonder those brass and cast-iron horns never caught on.

Rat

 

[RussB]

After all, most of us wear a potential handgrenade around our neck when playing with blackpowder, in the form of a horn.

Stumps...Why did you say that??? You could have gone weeks, months, years, whatever, without saying that. :hmm: :what:


Russ

 

[Stumpkiller]

Stumps...Why did you say that??? You could have gone weeks, months, years, whatever, without saying that.

That's true. I carry 3/4 lb in my horn. Never loose sleep over that. Just making the point that you're in more danger driving to the junkyard to buy scrap lead than the dangers of casting with it, aside from the occasional minor burn. Don't take me long to look at a mold when I've forgotten to put my welding glove on and grabbed the sprue cutter!

In more than 25 years I know of no first or second-hand account of ANY powderhorn blowing up. I've never seen anyone try and load directly from one. I have seen CW muskets and revolvers being loaded directly from the flask. Not especially brilliant, but they survived.

 

[strongarm]

Actually I did hear of a guy who kept a loaded horn above the fireplace and there is a beetle that likes to bore and lay eggs in cow horns which makes them raher porous.

You guys can figure out the rest. No one was hurt. :redthumb:

 

[Slamfire]

The horn my son made for me to go with the rifle he gave me for Christmas is way too pretty to take outside. I'll stick to quick loads. I kind like castin' but stick to conicals, swedged round balls are cheap enough and a lot rounder than the ones outa my mold. :results:

 

[horkeye]

TexasMLer wrote:[quoteHave any of you fellers ever heard of a horn exploding while being worn? Surely it has happened before, but I have never heard of it happening.[/quote]

On 2 occassions, the first about 15 years ago to one of our members while he was wearing it (I am reasonably sure it was a powder flask, not horn), sparks from a FL jumped into the spout & KABOOM! Witnesses claim he was enveloped in a ball of fire, which I presume lasted for a split second or two; thankfully he was NOT injured. Ever since then, the trend at that range has been to wear flasks with the spout pointing DOWN. The second occured about 10ft away from me (about 6-7 years ago) whilst shooting at another club, a member had his flask on the bench & whilst shooting a PERCUSSION ML rifle a spark jumped into the spout and MAJOR EXPLOSION!!! (initially I thought he had put 2 powder charges down the barrel). THIS FLASK LITERALLY BLEW-UP, MUCH LIKE WHAT I WOULD IMAGINE A GRENADE WOULD DO; IT WENT THROUGH THE CORRUGATED IRON ROOF OF THE SHOOTING AREA, AND LATER WE COLLECTED SEVERAL PIECES OF THE FLASK; THE MEMBER WAS FORTUNATE NOT TO LOSE HIS RIGHT EYE, AND HE STILL COMPLAINS ABOUT DIFFICULTIES AIMING PROPERLY.
VERY IMPORTANT POINT -> WHEN THE PIECES WERE COLLECTED WE DISCOVERED THAT IT WAS NOT A POWDER FLASK IT WAS A SHOT FLASK. I UNDERSTAND THAT WHILST THE FLASKS MAY APPEAR SIMILAR ON THE OUTSIDE, THEY ARE ASSEMBLED DIFFERENTLY IN THAT A POWDER FLASK IS DESIGNED TO SPLIT AT THE SEAM IF THE POWDER IS IGNITED, A SHOT FLASK IS NOT DESIGNED TO DO THIS.
:m2c:
Jim

 

[sturgeon]

Well, of course i carry a full horn. What are you supposed to light and throw when the squirrels set lines and charge. :haha:

Tim

 

[2172]

I shoot from the left shoulder, carry my horn on the right side, make sure the plug is in my horn before I load the ball...I've never heard of a horn or flask blowing up. I remember early writings on bp shooting stressing the need to have the horn/flask on the opposite side from the ignition...they made it a big deal..Hank

 

[Gatofeo]

I charge my cap and ball revolvers directly from the powder flask. Been doing so for 35 years or so. Never had a problem and never heard of one --- but I've heard a fair amount of "what if ..."
I don't use paper cartridges with my cap and balls. I used to, but they were just too much of a bother to make. When I did fire paper cartridges, made with nitrated paper, then I either waited 10 minutes for any embers from paper to subside, or pushed a damp patch into the chamber to extinguish embers.
Incidentally, if the paper is well-nitrated I've never seen any trace of it in a chamber.

 

[Stumpkiller]

I've been in on a couple sessions of the vent side vs. horn side debate. When I shoot I position my body so that my right hip is BEHIND a line drawn down from the buttplate, anyway. If I carried the horn on my left side that would actually be below and CLOSER to the vent during a shot, so that a falling ember would have a better chance of finding the horn spout (which is always plugged when I shoot).

Another good debate is the high horn carry vs. the low horn. If you tuck it up in your armpit it is easier to control and keep from bouncing, but it is also exposed to more sweat moisture and [in the unlikely event of an explosion] will stop your heart and/or break your arm . . . off. I carry mine as far down as I can still press it with my elbow to keep it in place when ducking under branches or hopping a creek.

If you're moving so fast it's banging around, you're moving too fast to begin with.

 

[Tlukes]

Another good debate is the high horn carry vs. the low horn. If you tuck it up in your armpit it is easier to control and keep from bouncing, but it is also exposed to more sweat moisture and [in the unlikely event of an explosion] will stop your heart and/or break your arm . . . off. I carry mine as far down as I can still press it with my elbow to keep it in place when ducking under branches or hopping a creek.

If you're moving so fast it's banging around, you're moving too fast to begin with.

:agree: 100%

 

[Deadeye]

A horn blew up on one of our club members a few yrs. ago.
The plug was out of the spout and somehow a spark entered the spout. No permanent damage was done to him but his clothes were in pretty bad shape. Last yr. a CVA flask that was on a table about 10 yds. from where we were shooting exploded, never figured out why, no one was hurt but part of the flask put a big dent in a pickup truck about 25 yds. away, had to have gone right by some of us.
A knife that was on that table, part of the handle was all we ever found of it.

 

I keep my horn in my bag. It is a smaller horn and it is easy to get out when I need it. This way it is out of the enviroment of sparks and weather.
Actually I find it more comfortable shooting with out it hanging on me.
I also carved the tip of the horn down and then threaded it so a cap will fit on it instead of a plug. It has never lossened up and I am not one worried about PC'ness except for the looks of the gun it's self.

Woody

 

[Slamfire]

Ny horn's way to purdy to take into the field. I carry quick chargers. If you are worried about being PC make some out of cane. :m2c: