Lead Free Round Balls

[44Bro]

Pure Bismuth is soft,,,,buuut very brittle. Cast a ball out of pure and it will crack if you look at it crosseyed.

 

[Many Klatch]

If you are really worried about this find the correct sized ball bearings. They shoot real well in a smooth bore. Probably want to use a real thick patch ball combination in a rifle.

 

[Johnny Tremain]

For $17 of current priced lead (not the 300lbs I have stashed)
I can fill a Pepsi 2 liter bottle (tho I use two, 1 liter bottles)

Lead free and fake powder has no business in a muzzle loader
It just aint natural.

 

[Historian]

Guys, I shoot bismuth round balls with no problem. 95% bismuth alloyed with 5% tin works perfectly with no major fracturing. Same ratio I use with my loose shot in 7's, 5's, 4's and 2's. The added advantage of the slightly harder alloy is great penetration. I have been shooting the loose shot for well over 20 years. Starting making it 8 years ago and have not looked back since then.

 

[Woody Morgan]

Where do you find your alloying tin? I just received a couple pounds of raw bismuth and want to try molding projectiles for hunting here in Ca.

*edit* Found it. Amazon.

wm

 

[ord sgt]

Not a round ball but one company has an advert in Muzzle Blasts for a non lead sabot slug in .50 calibre. A bit high priced at $14.99 for 10 bullets, Cali approved for hunting. It come with a bullet puller that screws into the front end of the bullet. It says works best in fast twist rifles, like 1/48".

 

[B P Arn]

I'm going to continue using lead.

 

[Woody Morgan]

Guys, I shoot bismuth round balls with no problem. 95% bismuth alloyed with 5% tin works perfectly with no major fracturing. Same ratio I use with my loose shot in 7's, 5's, 4's and 2's. The added advantage of the slightly harder alloy is great penetration. I have been shooting the loose shot for well over 20 years. Starting making it 8 years ago and have not looked back since then.

I got the tin I needed to make what turned out to be roughly 94% bismuth, 6% tin. Darned easy to alloy together, I'll tell ya. My earlier statement of trying to cast REALs with this stuff went out the window the moment it cooled and I took a knife point to it though. Fairly hard to be sure so .490 round balls it is! To be continued.

wm

 

[GrandLakeHunter]

I would try at least a couple REALs for loading testing if I were in this predicament. REAL slugs need to only deform a small amount of the very thin rifling bands in order to be loaded. Just might work OK with a ball starter. Only other downside is that they will use more alloy that sounds pretty pricey.