mold cherries

[Flintlock]

Any of you folks know where a person can find cherries for making ball molds ? I found what looks to be a very old bag mold in excellent condition no sprue cutter on this one, looks like pictures of originals I've seen but casts roughly a 47 cal. ball. Common sense tells me to leave it alone but I would like to open it up to .487 or something close.

 

[omarick1948]

Why ruin a piece of history?

Buy a reproduction or have one made in the exact size you want. Oil it up and put it on the shelf for a conversation piece with your family and friends!....JMHO

Rick

 

[J.D.]

Cherries can be made in any size you want, but it's a lot of work and can take specialized tooling to make 'em.

The good new is, most of the tooling can be made without too much trouble, or so I'm told.

 

[streetsniper]

If you can find the book "Art of the Blacksmith" by Alex Bealer,There is a section on gunsmithing with an explanation of how cherries were made. Billy

 

[J.D.]

If you can find the book "Art of the Blacksmith" by Alex Bealer,There is a section on gunsmithing with an explanation of how cherries were made. Billy

Bealer leaves a LOT out of his description of making a cherry. IMHO, there is an easier way than Bealer describes to get the cherry nearly spherical. No hand made cherry is going to be a perfect sphere, but the balls cast in home made moulds seem to shoot as well as any.

 

[Flintlock]

Thanks guys, I have perfectly good molds but just really like this old bugger, common sense wins I'll just keep it oild and on the mantle (OR) maybe it will be a good enough excuse for another custom rifle.

 

[Chilidog]

Thanks guys, I have perfectly good molds but just really like this old bugger, common sense wins I'll just keep it oild and on the mantle (OR) maybe it will be a good enough excuse for another custom rifle.

Yep, that's what I'd do - oil it up and put it on the mantle until the new piece arrived. :grin: :wink:

 

[merdean]

Good excuse for another rifle. We can never have enough of them no matter what wifey says! :blah:

Merdean