casting balls or bullets

Probably most of us have more than one shooting or shooting related past time. I read some of the earlier posted topics regarding "runnin' ball" and swaged balls.

One of my other shooting past times regards shooting Sharps rifles, casting and loading for them.

When casting balls or bullets if a dipper is used such as the Lyman or RCBS you can keep the spout in contact with the sprue plate which allows the weight and heat of the lead in the dipper to continue to feed the projectile and pretty much eliminates inconsistencies in projectile weight. Using this method those of us who cast heavy bullets, 400 to 600 grains in weight, can keep our weights within 1-3 grains per projectile per casting session if equal attention is paid to temperature and the length of time the dipper is held to the sprue plate. Once a rythym is achieved this variance can be held to around 1 grain. That's pretty close casting. After cooling all bullets are weighed and segregated according to weight and the ones with obvious deiscrepencies put back into the furnace. When loaded the finished cartridges are also segregated. If accuracy is to be achieved at long ranges this is necessary.

Just a few thoughts on casting lead.

Vic

 

[Voyageur]

I carried on sporadic trading with Elmer Keith before he died Vic...He was interested in the cases, moulds & bullets I had for double rifles. He & I both shared an affection for the .500/.465 Nitro.

I was getting into single shot rifles and he had some moulds he traded me and I noted something strange about them. They were one and all vented under the sprue plate. I tried it with needle files on various moulds that were not casting well and was pleasantly surprised at how they impoved. It takes a steady, gentle hand since you do not want to create 'fins' around the base but it does work...especially with the bigger moulds.

Voyageur

 

[musketman]

quote:Originally posted by Voyageur:
I carried on sporadic trading with Elmer Keith before he died...You knew Elmer Keith?

Wow, I read his book, "Hell, I was there..."

We wouldn't have the .44 mag without him...

 

[Voyageur]

Well I sorta grew up reading Keith, O'Connor and Whelen. Since I never was a great fan of the .270 Winchester I didn't try to get to know O'Connor but I sure enjoyed the way he wrote his hunting adventures. Whelen lived back East and I never did get a chance to meet him but, of the three, his approach to recording firearms data was the most enjoyable. Keith lived just 'down the steet' in Salmon, Idaho and I met him from time to time at gun shows and did a little trading with him. His stories were the most adventurous stories of the three. Since he percolated around Montana some, I could really 'feel' his stories more than the others. I hunted some of the territory that he hunted but because he hunted it at a much earlier time, well, it just wasn't the same...more built up.

His mentioning of Ed McGivern is what first got me into long range handgun shooting. I was'nt the best but I had a lot of fun. His love of bullet casting and using them for hunting got me off into that sport as well.

But all three: Jack O'Connor, Elmer Keith and Townsend Whelen were the firearms heros of my generation and I loved them all. I think I have all the books that they wrote but I'm not positive. For winters reading about hunting you just cannot beat the books these fellas have written. If you haven't done so yet, beat feet down to your local library and take them out or have the library do an 'Interlibrary Loan'. It's great stuff fellas...real history from about the 1880s to the 1980s when Keith, the last of them, passed away.

 

Keith, O'Conner, Whelen and Skelton were my heros back then. I met Ted Keith at the NRA National Convention in St. Louis a number of years back and got a first hand look at Single Action #5. Never got to touch it tho.

Did they ever get Elmers museum in Salmon opened? Ted was gathering donations and I never did hear any more.

I always thought of Keith as whiskey, barbed wire, wild horses and big bores....O'Conner seemed to be fine brandies, leather bound books in winged leather chairs in a library and smallbores. O'Conner was refined and Keith was real.....and I loved reading both of them and have several of each of their books. What incredible volumes of knowledge those two had. Whether it's good or not Elmer Keith has had a tremendous influence on my shooting life. All I've ever accomplished is to prove everything Elmer Keith ever said regarding long range handgunning and rifle shooting. If it's possible to love a person you never met I loved Elmer Keith.

Vic

 

[Voyageur]

You know...there is another 3 vol. set of books you might check out...it's called Tranquility. It records the relationship between the Judge, the Doctor and the Captain and their hunting adventures. But it is something I cannot explain here...you just have to get the books and read them yourself. They are quite small books and really would be just one book today. But I like the way it was done, the era is after WW I and up to WW II.

Here is a sample quote out of one of the books:

"Other than this and similar obscure references, history will probably have little to say about gasoline-boat motors and the lonely, desperate battles between man and his invention that are fought before daylight at thousands of landings on the lakes and waterways of the country each morning of the open season on wildfowl. In the bitter darkness, and while Jesse was frizzling bacon in the cookhouse, Alex rose and went grimly down the clay path to the landing, where he snatched the canvas from the engine. This act constituted the challenge

 

Ever read Ruarks "The Old Man and the Boy" and the sequel...I belive it was "The Old Mans Boy Grows Up".....more good....no, great, reading.

Do you know where you can get "Tranquility"?
vic

 

[Voyageur]

I believe I bought mine through Handloading magazine when it was offered by Wolfe Publications. Go to: http://used.addall.com/ and type in Tranquility for 'title' and Sheldon for 'author'. They are pricey and perhaps you should borrow them through the local libray to see if you really want to own them. I think they are worth it but then I'm pretty focused on certain aspects of life.

 

[musketman]

Amazon.com has the book Tranquility, by Harold P. Sheldon...


Here's the link...

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/stores/detail/-/books/1564160211/103-2999957-5569415

 

[Voyageur]

Thankee kindly musketman...I didn't think they were still in print. I hope some of you fellas will give them a read.

Voyageur

 

[Darkhorse]

You mentioned a name I haven't heard for a long time; Ed Mcgivern.

If he had ever faced Dirty Harry then that would have been Harry's unlucky day. 6 .38 specials in a playing card over the heart in 1.5 seconds is more effective than a .44 in the floor anyday.

 

[Voyageur]

Amen Darkhorse, Amen. Another item about Ed McGivern that is startling...short, stocky and upwards in age. Like someone's old uncle instead of a real live pistolero. Some of these old guys'll shoot your ears off while you're spinning some cap&ball, engraved single shot or magnum around your trigger finger.

Voyageur

 

Darkhorse....get our your copy of "Fast and Fancy Revolver Shooting" by Ed Mcgivern, mine is still packed, I believe the time was 9/20 of a second for those 6 shots. Less than a half second.

Vic