Lead Shot For Casting Round Balls

[Greenmtnboy]

I agree with pure, soft lead. One of the exceptions is using 000 buck in my .36 caliber rifle. The antimony makes lead somewhat harder, but I have no problem pushing it down the barrel. Shooting squirrel does not require much expansion.

exactly,
All tho I stopped shooting buck shot out of my Greenmtnbarrels because I couldn't get the hard ball to abturate enough to engage the rifling and accuracy was not good enough for consistent head shoots on bunnies out to 75 yrds.
:thumbsup:

If the buckshot would not shoot its likely a fitment problem. But one never knows. Usually accuracy problems are from a too small ball or too thin patch. It might just be that the barrel does not like the diameter. Also a good cast ball will out shoot swaged balls and likely buckshot as well. So it may not the the alloy.

Balls cast from harder alloys, for example, may require a thinner patch than lead balls from the same mould since they cast larger than pure lead. I shoot a .015 linen for WW alloy in my 16 bore rifle and .020 ticking for lead. The accuracy is identical as near as I can tell and if I had to choose I would likely take WW for accuracy.

Dan

When it comes to shallow grooves like on commercial guns I agree but when you are talking about .010 to .012 deep grooves in a Greenmtnbarrel or a Rice barrel, even with a .030 canvas patch and .010 under ball or a .020 canvas patch and a .005 under ball the hard balls were not engaging the rifling enough to get what I would term acceptable hunting accuracy.
I tried this is 45,50, and 54 cal rifles.
with custom barrels. :thumbsup:

 

[BrownBear]

Different guns (or strokes) for different folks.

Too many folks make alloy work just fine for a blanket statement that it won't work. Sure plain lead is easier to work with, but that doesn't mean alloys simply can't work. Too much experience sezz it can when you work with it.

 

[Greenmtnboy]

Different guns (or strokes) for different folks.

Too many folks make alloy work just fine for a blanket statement that it won't work. Sure plain lead is easier to work with, but that doesn't mean alloys simply can't work. Too much experience sezz it can when you work with it.

absolutely with conical bullets and shallow grooves.
your specialty isn't it Brown bear.
I hope you were not thinking that I felt hard R.B. don't work.... I spent the better part of a winter doing hard cast R.D. so I could use a R.B. for moose hunting.
I firmly believe that I would use a conical over a hard cast R.B. any day because of accuracy issues with the r.b.
I casted, loaded,shot, and recorded three different cal with four or five different alloys.

I tell you what, there is no way in hell a second shot is fesable in the field with a normal rifle rod and a hard cast round ball.
I shot five consecitive hard round ball loads(without wiping between shots) and the only way I could load a hard cast down the barrel was with a steel field rod and a mallet.

 

[majg1234]

well I guess everyone has an opinion on this one so I'll state mine I've used WW alloy to good effect with my 40,36,and 32 rifles,In the Smooth bores 56 62 and 12 gauge too. In the 40 I've shot as many as 15 shots in a row with no trouble loading of course I use a felt wad over the powder on all these lubricated with bees wax and olive oil and it does help get the fowling down out of the way.Patch thickness has varried based on the guns likes but routinely runs .014 to .020 so the answer to the question is (based on my expiriences) you CAN use alloys in ML guns

 

[Greenmtnboy]

how were your 50 and 100 yrd groups?
were you using a wet patch?

 

[majg1234]

SB all calibers I limited to 60yrd the 62 cal posts less than 3" pretty much always the 56 is a renegade and it posts about 4" at 60 yrds the 12gauge is a Navy arms double one barrel shoots to POA @ 60 yrds with about a 6" group the other barrel is EVERYWHERE!! Now the 40cal S MTN TVM shoots less than 1 1/2 @ 60yrd and about 3 or less @ 100 if I do my part which is hard with iron sites for my old eyes,the patch is not wet but has a good bit of beeswax olive oil soaked into it and hardened,the wonder wad for this particular rifle is from my ruger old army and soaked in th same thing and squeezed out while still wethttp://www.muzzleloadingforum.com/fusionbb/showtopic.php?tid/250927/post/906233/hl//fromsearch/1/

 

[Rifleman1776]

as far as yelling i have all ways printed in upper case and i guess it carried over to my keyboard

Wadja say? Can't hear ye. :wink:
BTW, besides the expense thing, someone said arsenic was in shot. I don't know how dangerous it would be to have that in lead one is melting at near 700 degrees, but it doesn't sound like sumpin' you would want to mess with carelessly.

 

[Zonie]

I think the arsenic is only dangerous if your wearing your "Old Lace" shirt while your around it. :hmm:

:grin:

 

[TGJaeger]

I think the arsenic is only dangerous if your wearing your "Old Lace" shirt while your around it. :hmm:

:grin:

A man who would pun would pick a pocket!

...or so I have heard! :grin: