Hard Round Balls with a Paper Patch

[BS]

My brother has 1500 pounds of hard lead, so I have to use some!

He said that it is about half as hard as wheel weights, not sure, but you can scratch it, slightly!

I molded up some .610 balls that came out about .612, my bore is .625.

I fired one fowling shot , then the next three went into a 1 1/4" group at 50 yds.

Then, I tried 2 wraps of 20# paper and the shot was about 3"s left. Then I used 3 wraps of paper and........got nearly the same point of impact as the patched ones. 3 shots in just under 1 1/4".

Now I have to get a .715 mold for my .729 rifled barrel!

The lead is in 55 to 60 pound blocks, about the size of a bread pan......I need to come up with a way to melt it faster than using a propane torch to an end! I will hace to find a big pan for my 'fish cooker' and make some 2 pounders!

 

[TANSTAAFL]

Never tried paper patching, but I started casting wheel weights for balls in the smoothie fusil. Tried cloth patched WW balls in rifles and never bothered using lead again for general shooting. For hunting, still go for the softer lead.

 

[BS]

The reason for the paper patch, is to make tapered speed loaders. Tear the poined bottom off and pore the powder in, then short start the paper wraped ball. Quick second shot, and seems to work quite well!

I got the idea from Daryl Sapergia, he uses it with his .69 cal.

This is a picture of Daryl's pouch and paper cartridges. "Speed loaders"

Cannot remember how many seconds to reload, but I will look!

 

[roundball]

If that's a smoothbore, that's an outstanding group...looks like you've got it all together
:front:

 

[BS]

Roundball,

It was a smoothbore, then someone put some groves down the side of it, and made them twist.

If I could see better, I think the groups could even be better!

This little 62 will make a dandy Elk Killer in "the dark timber"

Short, Light and Carries a Big Thump!

 

[roundball]

Short, Light and Carries a Big Thump!

That's how I feel about my .58cal...has a high "Whompability Factor" !!
::

 

[BrownBear]

There's a much easier way to melt large chunks of lead:

Use a Sawzall to cut it into chunks that will fit in your furnace or melting pot.

 

[SCATTERSHOT]

Try cutting the lead with a hacksaw into smaller ingots, say, 1/2" x 1" x4", or however long they turn out to be. They'll fit in your pot that way. Good shooting, BTW.

 

[rmonday2]

Turkey deep fryer burner and a big iron skillet.
Plenty of heat and plenty of room.

 

[BS]

There's a much easier way to melt large chunks of lead:

Use a Sawzall to cut it into chunks that will fit in your furnace or melting pot.

Ever try to cut a hunk of lead, the size of a loaf of bread, well I just did, and then I went and found my half of a 20# LP tank! I think it will work just fine in melting the lead on my 170,000 btu fish cooker. Just need a large dipper.

 

[Rebel]

LArge Dipper
How about a metal soup ladel?

 

[BS]

If she catches me, I'm 'DEAD' .......do you know how many of her 'tools' I have ruined already! :boohoo:

Sounds like a trip to the 'thrift store'

 

[Rebel]

Go to the Goodwill store and get one of your own. ::

 

[Runner]

Buy some muffin tins while you are out. They form the perfect sized ingot.

 

[Rebel]

Yep,i plumb forgot them That is what i use to make ingots. they fit right in my Lead melting pot. :front:

 

[BS]

My 20# pot doesn't work well, so I am using a 10 pounder and I think the muffin tins might be a bit large, but I will check. I do have two RCBS ingot molds that work quite well, thanks for the muffin idea!

Bruce

 

[Rebel]

I use a cast iron RCBS 10lb pot and the muffin tin ingots fit fine in it.

 

[Runner]

Same here with a 10 pound Lee production pot.

 

[TANSTAAFL]

I just finished casting up 200 pounds of WW's into 5-10-25 pound barbell plates using an old cast iron skillet and a 10 dollar electric hot plate from Wal-Mart. Worked great and saved some bucks for the time involved.

 

[Richard Allen]

Harbor Freight carries two sizes of inexpensive Dutch ovens. The smaller one fits well on a fish cooker.

Richard/Ga.