lead balls per pound

[buck]

I was told that the numbers found on old bag molds were how many balls per pound could be molded. My question is what is the mathematical equasion to figure this out for various calibers? Thanks to all responses. :thumbsup:

 

[Rebel]

7000 grains to a pound, divided by the ball weight. .50 cal rd. ball at 177grs would make 39.54 balls per lb.

 

You can find a reference to this in "The Plains Rifle" by Dr. Charles E. Hanson Jr. Great reference book for Hawken type rifles. :m2c:

 

[Grenadier1758]

The simple formula to calculate the number of balls per pound from the diameter is the following:

4.655*Diameter*Diameter*Diameter

A 0.500 ball calculates out to 37.24 balls to the pound.
A 0.648 ball calculates out to 17.11 balls to the pound.
A 0.729 ball calculates out to 12.02 balls to the pound.

Now you can figure out how many balls to the pound you are carrying.

Mike
Grenadier Private
First of Foote

 

[Gatofeo]

The Dixie Gun Works catalog has a table in the back pages that lists diameter of ball, its weight and number per pound. In the 2004 catalog this is on page 671.
I haunt Ebay, looking for bullet moulds. The older round ball moulds were most often marked with the number of balls per pound, not diameter of the ball.
Thus, you may find an old round ball mould marked "84" for a ball diamter of .380 inch, "42" for .480 inch ball and "14" for a ball of .680 inch.
By the way, this is the same system used to establish the gauge of shotguns: the number of balls of equal size, that may be cast from one pound of lead.
I know of no quick mathematical equation, easily done in the head, to figure out how many balls may be cast from a pound of lead.
Use a scale to measure the weight of the ball, divide that into 7,000 (the number of grains of weight per pound) and you'll know how many balls may theoretically cast from a pound of lead.
Of course, this is only good for a perfectly round sphere, with no sprue. And it doesn't factor in waste during the casting process.

 

[Zonie]

The formula for calculating the volume of a sphere is
(4/3)Pi(Radius cubed)
The weight of pure lead is 11.34 grams/cc

If the math majors can bear with me a moment, If you were thinking about Peggy Ann in your math class instead of listining to the teacher just remember, Cubing a number just means multiplying it times itself 3 times. For instance 2 cubed is 2 times 2=4 times 2= 8
3 cubed is 3 times 3= 9 times 3= 27

Putting all this together and boiling it down a bit, to calculate the weight of a pure lead ball, first divide the diameter by 2 to get the radius.

Multiply the radius times the radius. Take that answer and multiply it times the radius again.

Multiply this answer by 12013. The answer is the weight in grains.
(Pi, 4/3 and the conversion from grams/cc to grains/cubic inch are all built into this 12013 number. There is no way of making a short cut for cubing the radius of the ball).

If you want the answer in balls per pound, divide 7000 by the weight in grains.

For a .490 dia ball, divide .490 by 2= .245 to get the radius.
multiply .245 X .245 X .245 = .01471
multiply this by 12013= .01471 X 12013= 176.66 grains.
Divide 7000 by the weight= 7000/176.66= 39.623 balls per pound of lead.

Kinda makes ma head hurt! :: ::

 

[Rebel]

Ain't that a long winded way of saying what i said? ::

 

[Stumpkiller]

The old gauge measurement is also in # of bore diameter balls per pound. 12 gauge - 12 balls per pound.

So if you told soemone you shot a 32 bore rifle it would be a .50 caliber.

 

[Rebel]

All i said was to divide 7000, the number of grains in a pound, by the weight of the ball. Nothing about bore size, guage, etc. If you divide 7000 grains by the average weight of a .50 cal. rd. ball, which is 177, you get the answer i gave above, which was 39.54 balls per pound, which is basically the same as Zonies answer.

 

[Zonie]

Yup Rebel. Wasn't tryin ta steal your idea but the way I read the original post when he asked
"...My question is what is the mathematical equasion to figure this out for various calibers?"
I took it to be asking how would someone go about figuring out how many balls per pound for any size ball?

The long winded answer to calculate the answer for any size lead ball someone would ever want to know about, is the one I gave.

 

[tg]

There is a bit of deviation when usein the standard bore sizes of 1868... a 32 gauge would have a bore size of .526 which size wise would be a ball of 32 to the lb but a ball of 35 to the lb would be the more likely projectile used, and a 20 gauge had a bore of .615 which is a ball of 20 to the lb. but a smaller ball like 21 or 22 to the lb would have been used as you generaly would not use a ball the same size as the bore.... in earlier times a gun would be named by the balls per lb. and the bore size would vary considerably larger than said ball a gun of 32 balls (.526)to the lb might have a bore size of of .540 to .580.

 

[Rebel]

Boy, i just hate it when people have to go all technical on me. :: :: I guess i misunderstood his question, i thought he just wanted to know how to find how many balls to the lb. for a known ball weight. I stand corrected.

 

[SquirrelsaurusR]

Pillowtick,
does this help?

http://www.muzzleloadingforum.com/ubbthreads/showthreaded.php?Cat=&Number=35977&page=0&view=collapsed&sb=5&o=186&fpart=1

The bore size, or gauge, is the number of balls of that diameter that can be cast from a pound of lead.

 

[crockett]

Makes you realize why the old timers use gauge instead of caliber. The number on the old mold is a gauge and a lot of old guns were referred to in gauges, including rifles. Caliber however is a better, more accurate measurement, I guess. :imo:

 

[nvbirdman]

How wel I remimber Peggy Ann. She waes in my splling class two.