Hand cast vs. swaged round balls

[erhunter]

I am having a difficult time on which balls to buy. I was told buy other members to avoid Hornady swaged balls and by hand casts. I have an accurate 500 grain powder scale and compared Hornady .530 to Rush Creek balls. I had 30 balls left of Hornady and they all weighed within .4 of a grain of each other and the Rush Creek weighed 4 grains difference out of 50. According to this the Hornady's are better than the Rush Creek? Any opinions would be appreciated.

 

[William Sublette]

It doesn't make any difference till your shooting skills are tight enough to tell the difference.

 

[user 31257]

The Hornady’s would be good enough for me.

 

[Walkingeagle]

I shoot Hornady. They are great.
Walk

 

[hanshi]

Never have I missed a target/game critter because of a lack of accuracy of the gun or load. I also don't know of anyone who has missed because of this. A match shooter has/needs higher standards in the accuracy department; hunters rarely do.

Addressing patch lube, some of us have dried up over the decades and can no longer wet a patch with saliva. I use mink oil in the bush - for reasons already given - and Hoppes BP Lube for most other shooting.

 

[LME]

I am having a difficult time on which balls to buy. I was told buy other members to avoid Hornady swaged balls and by hand casts. I have an accurate 500 grain powder scale and compared Hornady .530 to Rush Creek balls. I had 30 balls left of Hornady and they all weighed within .4 of a grain of each other and the Rush Creek weighed 4 grains difference out of 50. According to this the Hornady's are better than the Rush Creek? Any opinions would be appreciated.

I don't know what others have experienced with Hornady,s balls but I have had excellent results with them. Why would someone tell you to avoid them?

 

[TFoley]

Hornady swaged .44cal balls are a tad under $20 a hundred here. I can shoot ten times more, with a very little reduction in accuracy, by casting my own.

 

[TFoley]

errata - Just had another look - just a tad under $30 a hundred here.

 

[GregLaRoche]

Have you ever considered casting your own ? For me it’s added enjoyment of the sport.

 

[TFoley]

Have you ever considered casting your own ? For me it’s added enjoyment of the sport.

Asking me? I do cast my own. I've never paid for a ball in my life - the last four words of post#27 refer.

 

[erhunter]

Thanks for all of the replies!

 

[Stony Broke]

I still shoot competition on a regular basis, and use a lot of Hornady's. I think they work just fine, but granted they cost a bit more than home cast balls. I do still cast some for some of my rifles and don't seem to have any problem with them either. Your choice in the balls dept....

 

[dlidster]

errata - Just had another look - just a tad under $30 a hundred here.

Wow! Hornady .490 balls are $12.99, Speer .490 are $11.99 per hundred at Scheel's and Sportsman's Warehouse in central Iowa. Where do you live?

 

[TFoley]

Wow! Hornady .490 balls are $12.99, Speer .490 are $11.99 per hundred at Scheel's and Sportsman's Warehouse in central Iowa. Where do you live?

Hell, Sir. I live in shooter's hell.

 

[VADSLRAM]

I bought for a while, even getting the sabot/45 cal poly tip... My cast balls and cast minnies are every bit as accurate punching paper ~3 inches at 50 yds open sight. I'd say that is as good as anything but maybe the Olympic shooting team needs. I don't even buy lead anymore, service stations have to pay hazmat fees to dispose of wheel weights so they are pretty happy to give it away.

 

[renegadehunter]

Wow! Hornady .490 balls are $12.99, Speer .490 are $11.99 per hundred at Scheel's and Sportsman's Warehouse in central Iowa. Where do you live?

This is what I normally pay for Speer .530 RB's, give or take a buck.
I live in Lewiston, ID where the CCI/SPEER plant is located, so I normally buy their product to support a "local business", but have used Hornady RB's that I received as a gift and they were fine too. I just recently got a scale so I could check the grain weight of some new arrows I put together and out of curiosity I weighed about 20 RB's out of a partial Speer box I had. I didn't see more than a .8 grain variation in the ones I checked. That will be more than fine for the accuracy the nut behind the gun is capable of.

 

[Eterry]

I would recommend for a new shooter to buy a box of the cheapest RB'S and make smoke.

If you enjoy it, and can wrangle a supply of free lead, check out flea markets etc for used molds. I bought 3 recently for $10 ea.

I also started casting with a Coleman stove and a small cast iron skillet, short piece of wood to cut the sprue, and home made left hand ladle.
As to patches, i cut mine before hand, (i'm sure some here think im doomed for hades), and put several in my mouth when I'm ready to start loading.
I end up chewing on them a little, but doesn't seem to hurt anything.
I suck the extra spit from them before loading.
I even use them when hunting, have left it loaded overnight, the gun didn't blow up.

Welcome to the addiction!!!

 

[F.G. Ford]

If you cast your own, chances are you will never run out.
It is a bummer to head out for a shoot and you realise that you only have a 1/2 dozen or so.

 

[Tanglefoot]

erhunter, I join many of the others here in suggesting that you find a mold of the right size and cast your own ball.
The differences in accuracy and consistency between those and any cast or swaged commercial rb's you buy might possibly be significant if you're a competition shooter where high levels of those things are important but for the rest of us who shoot for fun and for meat they don't signify. Plus,
if you're casting your own, you're more independent of the stores and traders.

 

[Boston Bill]

The lube topic will get you a 1000 opinions, but there are a few things most people will agree on.
1. Spit works great for plinking and on the range, costs nothing and applies easily.

2. Generally speaking it is best to avoid petroleum based products.

3. Many people use a combination of beeswax and oil or some other fat.

4. Many people are followers of Dutch's system of lubing patches.

5. It is important to properly lube your patch regardless of what lubricant you use. Over-lubing and under-lubing will both cause problems.

6. Store bought pre-lubed patches are generally junk.

7. Patches can be round or square, many guys cut at the muzzle. (I don't)

Dutch's system?