light-hearted casting talk/ keeping it real

[armymedic.2]

Hey all i just wanted to share how i cast round balls, since it is no where near scientific and i get very acceptable results for what i use my guns for (hunting/plinking). i also noticed alot of casting questions lately, so this may alleviate some fears our newer casters have.

i know there are more controlled ways to cast, i just don't need them.

let's talk realistic necessity for a second-

I shoot and teach shooting as part of my living with modern guns. i reload for handgun and precision long range. i am full aware of what bullet weight variations do to downrange accuracy.......not as much as someone new to the sport may think. as an example, i shoot 1000 yards with bullets that can vary up to 3 grains in wieght (out of 178 grains) i do weigh and sort for competitions, but for practice i use the failures and they don't act all that much different at 1000 yards, let alone at 100 yards.

no slow that procetile wayyyyyyy down to BP speeds. make the average range 50 yards, and make it a relatively stable heavy round projectile instead of a violently spinning pointed lightweight cylinder.

what is a grain or two going to do to your accuracy? nuttin. what will some ripples do? nuttin except it's indicative of possible voids in the ball as well, and now we are talking way out of spec. yes, drop those bad boys back in the pot.

i think it is important--IF YOU ARE NOT SERIOUSLY COMPETING with your rifle and roundball, to remember how these rifles were and are loaded much of the time. a powder charge is dumped, then compressed to varying degree with every shot because we are not using a press with a hard stop. Many folks actually bang on it until the ramrod bounces on the ball, definitely deforming the ball to some extent in their efforts.

when loaded like this, what's a grain or two gonna do......nuttin

this is how i cast.

1.warm the ladle and mold next to the fire,
2.when the pot is fully melted skim the crud off the top
3. pour a few balls and dump them back in the pot (we are still making sure the mold is hot).
4. pour the rest of your balls as keepers, and pour a lot of lead.
DO NOT TRY TO MAKE A PERFECT POUR.
i let about half the balls amount of lead puddle on top of the sprue cutter. when it hardens, the ball is formed without air pockets in it from slow pouring to not make a mess. make a mess. you'll get better at it quickly.

5. cut off excess lead.
6. tap ball out onto a piece of soft leather as the balls surface is still semi fragile because they are so hot.
7. let cool, and toss any that look really bad back in the pot (should only be a few even if you cast a bunch.

that's it. done.

the sport is supposed to be beautiful in it's simplicity, no need to over comnoplicate it (unless you are SERIOUSLY competing with them)

if YOU are capable of shooting a four inch group at 100 yards, and your RIFLE is capable of shooting a 5 inch group......your in the 9 inch pie plate assuming your sights are centered. your hitting a four inch mark or so at 50 yards. that is alot of wiggle room people!

hope that helps someone not stress over the perfect ball. there isn't one, and even if there was you would not need it.

If you need the perfect ball because you are competing at a high level and good enough to notice the difference between a few grains ( i can think of more than a couple on this site that fit this description) , i highly doubt you don't already know how to cast a very good ball.

keep it fun keep it light. heck my favorite gun doesn't even have rifling!!

 

[George T.]

I'm fairly new here but I have been in the shooting game for a very long time. I agree that there are times when all shooting processes are presented in a way that might scare a novice off.

However when I started casting balls in the 60's it was a trial and error experience. It was only when a friend took 6 of my cast round balls and sawed them in two that I saw the reason for my occasional fliers. I am here to tell you that I had some fairly large air bubbles in two of them. I could shoot 4 to 5 inch groups with my rifle but once in a while I would get one several inches out of the group.

I sought councel and learned the importance of fluxing , skimming and sorting for obvious defects. I am going to guess that most of the shooters that go into casting have a reloading scale and I would suggest that they weigh enough balls to establish confidence. If it were me and I found balls that weighed light I would weigh them all. But thats me! To each his own.
If the scale is set up right it doesn't take much time to weigh balls. I would rather spend this time rather than drive myself crazy as to why the shot was way off the mark!

Have fun and as it was said this game is fun!

Geo. T. :surrender:

 

[necchi]

Thanks for sharing

let's talk realistic necessity for a second-

Well, Reality is a Relative term isn't it?

 

[matt denison]

Good post. All practical information. Such good advice from someone so young. :thumbsup:

 

[Little Wattsy]

:thumbsup: :thumbsup:

 

[Rifleman1776]

Guys like you take all the fun out of jug passing and arguing. :cursing:

:wink: Good post.

 

[armymedic.2]

from someone so young. :thumbsup:

Iraq and kids have aged me, i bet you have more hair than me! :grin:

 

[Lonegun1894]

I thpight you seemed older than your age shows. I don't have any kids, but understand the other part. As a wise man once said, "It aint the years, it's the miles"... THANK YOU!

 

[Lonegun1894]

That was supposed to say "thought". I apologize but didn't catche the misspelled word in time to edit it.

 

[Cohutta Ranger]

Good information for folks of all skill levels.

Thank you for your sacrifice and service to our great country. Seeing your alias, were you a 91W?

Dan

 

[armymedic.2]

Thanks guys, yes i was a 91W (combat medic) until they changed it to 68 and called us "health care specialists" :barf:

Our jobs stayed the same, except i was forced to run a clinic after i got promoted while i wasn't in a whirly bird.

had to edit to add what i just wrote reminds me of george carlin's bit on "euphamisms"..... computer tells me i don't know how to spell that big word but im ignoring the red line.

 

[mooman76]

Good post and I agree. For example some people get hung up on thermometers and the temp of lead too much. Mostly newer guys to casting and I'm not knocking thermometers because they are a useful tool but I've been casting for over 30 years and never had one and see no reason to start now.

For example guy complains because he knows when he casts his lead is xxx degrees and on this mould or even the same one the bullets aren't coming out right but the temp is right so what's wrong? There are many variables to casting that change. Speed of casting, different moulds, room temperature and so on. You get a feel after you've casted awhile and you know when the lead isn't hot enough or too hot. The best way to know is that when you pour it should take a few seconds for the lead on the sprue plate to harden. If it hardens too quick the lead or mould isn't hot enough. If it takes longer, the lead/mould is too hot and you turn the heat down.
I like to start a little hot and gradually turn the heat down as the mould gets hot enough.

 

[Many Klatch]

Like you I like to keep it simple. I have a 20 pound electric bottom pour that leaks, so I don't use the bottom pour spout anymore, dipping works just as well.

I drop my just molded ball into an old paper egg carton. I use three of them and that helps me to keep track of how many. I dump out the first one after I have filled the third one, that gives the ball a chance to cool off enough to handle. The egg cartons are soft enough to cushion the ball. Don't try this with the plastic ones :grin: I have never had to smoke my molds. I don't weigh them. If they are badly rippled they go back into the pot. I always leave a pool of lead on top of the sprue cutter so I have eliminated my voids, especially in my .715 Bess roundball.

I have about 1,500 pounds of lead that I have recycled. I get lead from various sources and when I get enough to make the work worth while I spend a weekend melting the lead and pouring it into a cornbread cornpone cast iron mold. Each "ear" of lead weighs in at about 1.5 pounds. I use a different lead pot to recycle the lead, so I can keep the one I use for lead ball fairly clean.

I have found that the brass molds from Jeff Tanner are better than the Lee aluminum ones and heat faster than my Lyman steel ones.

I used to use a Coleman stove to cast ball for years. That worked just about as well as my electric pot. I have cast ball over charcoal but that is a hot proposition.

Many Klatch