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Has anyone shot ITX round balls out of their muzzle loader? If so, how do they compare to the lead ones? Thanks
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ITX round balls
- Thread starter Huntinshep
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ITX stands for “iron-tungsten matrix.” These have been discussed a couple of times on the forum, mostly on threads concerning California hunting rules.
The iron-tungsten matrix is formed from sintered metal. The ITX balls are said to be very hard. They are made a little small for bore size, e.g. (I think) .487” for .50 caliber. However, they are still said to be hard to load, and they can damage your bore if the patch slips. You’ll never get a ball puller in one, based on what I’ve read about them.
A gentleman named Pletch did extensive, objective testing of the TomBob ITX balls, and wrote it up. You should find the report with a Google search.
Try searching “ITX” or “tombob” and you should find quite a lot.
Best regards,
Notchy Bob
The iron-tungsten matrix is formed from sintered metal. The ITX balls are said to be very hard. They are made a little small for bore size, e.g. (I think) .487” for .50 caliber. However, they are still said to be hard to load, and they can damage your bore if the patch slips. You’ll never get a ball puller in one, based on what I’ve read about them.
A gentleman named Pletch did extensive, objective testing of the TomBob ITX balls, and wrote it up. You should find the report with a Google search.
Try searching “ITX” or “tombob” and you should find quite a lot.
Best regards,
Notchy Bob
I have shot Bismuth Tin RB and done fine with it. I generally now use the Bismuth 94% Tin 6% ratio and it works fine. Absolutely will not hurt your bore. However they are a little lighter than straight lead. Easy to cast too.
If you haven't tried them already, I'll give them the thumbs up. Shoots right with lead out to roundball ranges. They are very uniform in weight and shoot very accurately. I have to use a thinner patch on the .487 balls than I do with .490 lead since they're incredibly hard. In fact, you can shoot them in the dirt, rinse the dirt off & shoot them again. Don't expect any expansion. But they'll blow through just about anything the way hardcast lead does. Just make sure you have a safe backstop behind the animal. In extremely rocky areas, I'd think twice due to ricochet potential.
Just like braindead liberals to reject a supposed danger to accept an even more danger and make it a law! Stupid CA politicians! (No offense @Nuthatch , we have them here too!)
I certainly won't defend our politicians and their antics. But I have a couple falconer friends who stand by the lead free ban. For high velocity CF stuff and even these new-fangled front-stuffing contraptions that squeeze themselves into the legal definition of a muzzleloader, I'm inclined to agree. But it's just stupid for traditional muzzleloaders, roundball & other things that stay under 2000 fps. I think the only reason why they banned it is because no lead at all is easier to enforce and teach than a long list of exceptions where it can be allowed. Sadly, politicians are usually elected by people of similar intelligence.
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