Lead Free Ammo?

[HatchetJaque]

I want to do some pig hunting with my .54 GPR (with slow twist barrel for PRB) in California's Central Coast, but lead ammo is banned in this area because it's condor habitat.

So for I have not been able to find any lead-free round ball. Wondering if I could cast my own .54 balls from bismuth? Anybody ever given this a try? Any other options for lead-free traditional ammo?

 

[necchi]

Spendy, about a buck a shot,, but the stuff is out there, http://www.ballisticproducts.com/ITX-50-cal-non-toxic-roundball-12-balls/productinfo/TXRB50/

 

[dbutch]

Spendy, about a buck a shot,, but the stuff is out there, http://www.ballisticproducts.com/I...oundball-12-balls/productinfo/TXRB50/[/quote]
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Couple of members here have tried them..Hope they chime in!

 

[Darto]

I wonder if anyone here has tried casting lead substitutes?

 

[brubincam]

does solder have lead in it--used straight solder in 45 TC "440 balls & 10 thou patch"at a shooting match --was a top shooter with them

 

[Robby]

I want to do some pig hunting with my .54 GPR (with slow twist barrel for PRB) in California's Central Coast, but lead ammo is banned in this area because it's condor habitat.

So for I have not been able to find any lead-free round ball. Wondering if I could cast my own .54 balls from bismuth? Anybody ever given this a try? Any other options for lead-free traditional ammo?

Hatchet, I have not tried to cast with bismuth, but have used it as shot. One thing I have found is, though it is nearly as heavy as lead, it is brittle. I'm not sure but I think hitting a bone or maybe even just that grizzle shield on a pig, the ball would break up, and a large part of it would be bismuth dust. Maybe adding tin would make it more malleable and hold together better, I don't know. Somewhere, someone must have done some experimenting on this but I can't find it. Good luck!
Robby

 

[HatchetJaque]

Hey, thanks for that link Necchi! Guess I was googling for the wrong thing with my search for "lead free roundball"!

I see that the .54 cal only comes in .524" so I wonder how thick of a patch I'll need to use as I normally shoot .535" Hornady roundball with an .018" Ox Yoke patch?

I reckon expensive is OK, much better than unobtainable! Once I get my load worked up and my rifle sighted in I will not be taking that many shots while on the hunt. According to DFG stats the Central Coast is the most productive area for wild pig and it would be a real bummer to miss out on this region due to the non-toxic ammo rules.

 

[Sperit de bois]

Now Before I post this, I'am totally serious not being a S/A.always wondered about this.
Being as the ball is wrapped in a patch, so the Lands/Groves are protected,
Would it be possable to use a Ball Bearing of the correct size,,with a thick enough patch????
I am thinking it would be like an A/P round for M/L. Now I know,it wont expand,,so,,,1/2" hole or bigger has got to leaks,should/will not break up if it hits a bone,and the anti's cant ban it cause it wont cause cancer in California.
I have an older 50 cal Hawken might load it,tie it down,back off,pull the string and see what happens.
IN theory it should work,ball wrapped in patch,patch engaging the L/G to give spin to the ball,have to take into concideration the ball weight being much higher than lead,so load accordingly.The B/B should be round and balanced???
All you Physic/Engineers/builders out there, what say you????
Other than,Your nuts"""""

 

[GreyWhiskers]

This is a .492" ITX r/ball that I had to pull from the muzzle of my rifle. I was able to seat the first one with a .010 patch. When I tried this one with .016" patch it STUCK! Couldn't push it down any further with normal methods.

I removed the nipple and then the powder. Dribbled a few grains back in and tried to fire it out. No luck.

Took it home and drilled/tapped it. Threaded this bolt in and used the vise to pull it out.

These balls are hard. They don't deform at all when shot into dirt.

Buripity had better luck with them in his .54 cal. I think they measure .524". Plenty of room for a thick patch and no problems with the limited testing he's done. They shot to same point of aim at 25 yards.

The two of us are going to do more serious testing of non-toxic projectiles later this summer. We're going to hunt deer on Catalina Is which is also in a lead free zone. GW

 

[fyrfyter43]

Now Before I post this, I'am totally serious not being a S/A.always wondered about this.
Being as the ball is wrapped in a patch, so the Lands/Groves are protected,
Would it be possable to use a Ball Bearing of the correct size,,with a thick enough patch????
I am thinking it would be like an A/P round for M/L. Now I know,it wont expand,,so,,,1/2" hole or bigger has got to leaks,should/will not break up if it hits a bone,and the anti's cant ban it cause it wont cause cancer in California.
I have an older 50 cal Hawken might load it,tie it down,back off,pull the string and see what happens.
IN theory it should work,ball wrapped in patch,patch engaging the L/G to give spin to the ball,have to take into concideration the ball weight being much higher than lead,so load accordingly.The B/B should be round and balanced???
All you Physic/Engineers/builders out there, what say you????
Other than,Your nuts"""""

I don't know that the rifling would impart spin to a hard steel ball bearing. The patch won't grip the bearing like it will a lead ball. And to get it down the bore, the bearing would have to be smaller than a lead ball.

Also, a steel ball bearing would weigh quite a bit LESS than a lead ball, not more.

 

[HatchetJaque]

What sort of patch lube were you using with the ITX load there, Grey Whiskers? And what size ball/patch combo do you normally shoot in your .50 caliber?

I figured that the description of "similar characteristics to lead" on the Ballistic Products web site may have been a bit glassy-eyed... I'll be sure to have some thinner than normal patches on hand for the first few rounds of ITX. Maybe these super-hard roundballs will finally smooth down that rough patch near the bottom of my barrel!

 

[GreyWhiskers]

Normal lead ball size for me is .492" and patching is usually .016" or close to it. Don't remember the lube but it was probably simple green.

These balls will NOT deform when loading like a lead ball will.

A smaller diameter ball, say .480" would allow a much thicker patch to compress since the ball won't. This would also help protect the rifling and keep the patches from cutting or burning with heavy loads. GW

 

[gmww]

Some years back I thought Roundball did some experimenting with marbles and maybe ball bearings.

 

[russecv58]

Rotometals has some low melt alloys that are lead free (40% bismuth-60%tin / 58% bismuth-42% tin)ive been toying with the idea of casting some RB with either of these just to see how they'd work. only thing that concerned me was the low melting point aspect of it. i have no experience with tin or bismuth, so im not sure what kind of hardness you would end up with in the finished RB's. :idunno:

 

[russecv58]

not to be a nay sayer, but although you could probly shoot a ball bearing out of a rifle (pondered the idea myself), they wouldnt be legal to hunt with here in california. DFG regs specify soft or expanding projectiles. on that note, i wonder how the itx rb's pass muster on that one? :v

 

[GreyWhiskers]

Cap,

A guy that works with me did some experimenting with ball bearings in his smoothbores. I had the same concerns about the non-expanding issue for hunting. DFG told us that expanding bullets aren't required in muzzleloading regulations.

These ITX balls do not expand, I know that for sure. GW

 

[russecv58]

i stand corrected :surrender: thats an interesting bit of info. guess they figure that most anything coming out of a muzzleloader leaves a big enough hole as it is :wink:

 

[HatchetJaque]

Looks like the ITX balls also come in .487" diameter. Maybe you ought to give those a try?

I'm also a big fan of the pre-lubed patches from Ox-Yoke. I started shooting with those just for convenience, but ultimately they seem to work the best for me. I've tried moose milk, spit, etc. and don't see any difference in accuracy, but the barrel of my rifle stays a LOT cleaner with the Ox-Yoke patches. I can shoot all day and never need to swab my barrel, but my wife has been cutting patches at the muzzle with a strip that was pre-lubed with moose milk and needed to run a wet patch every 10 to 15 shots otherwise so much fouling would build up that she could not ram the ball all the way home. I recently got 500 pre-lubed patches for her. :wink:

Just thinking the Wonder Lube 1000 on the pre-lubed patches is probably a bit more slippery than Simple Green and may allow you to run a tighter patch with these hard ITX rounds...

 

[brubincam]

does solder have lead in it

 

[Sperit de bois]

You can"finance" a lead free solder,cause it isnt cheap.It's called AQUA CLEAN and is lead free for potable water systems.MFG FEDERATED-FRY Metals.