In preparation for shooting black powder and my Brown Bess for the first time, I purchased some 0.715 balls. I noticed that they have a small protrusion on them that I assume was formed from where the lead was poured into the mold. Should I remove this protrusion with a file before loading?
Musket Balls
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That is the sprue cut off from when it was cast. Just load like you would a rifle with the sprue facing up.
In your Bess (which is a smoothbore, not a rifle), the sprue (the protrusion where the lead was poured into the mold) won't matter. I load sprue up.
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So I have a bullet mold for 32cal and when you knock off the sprue it leaves a flat spot behind. Should I try to load flat up or flat down?
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Flat up or down will work. (Called sprue) The bad thing about down is you can't see 100% that it is down. I do only up. You just don't want the sprue going against the bore as if will make for an uneven fit. You always want consistency.
Flintlocklar
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I have a Lee .310 mold that make a flat spot where the sprue is cut. It probably doesn't make much difference where it ends up, but I'm with Larry and always load with the sprue up. I have several other caliber muzzleloaders and at least one steel mold that leaves a longer sprue and it definitely needs to be up or down. Up has just become habit for me. It also give me a place to use my short homemade ball starter to go without slipping.
hanshi
Cannon
Most of my ball molds are Lee and leave no sprue. For these I generally pay no attention how they are oriented when seated as the tiny flat is often impossible for me to even see. For all other molds I mostly tumble them which removes or at least flattens the sprue.
If you are using a cast ball with the sprue, there is one consideration to think of. Lead shrinks as it cools and will draw lead from the sprue into the cavity. Sometimes there is not enough lead to draw in and a void can form. This void is always under the sprue and on the centerline of the ball. If you load sprue up, the ball will spin around the void maintaining a true flight without wobbling due to the void. The possible presence of a void is one reason to weigh the balls or load sprue up.
For most of us weighing the balls really don't help much for accuracy. If you want to consistently place your ball in the same spot on the target, then weighing the balls is a good practice.
When you start out casting, weighing the balls will inform you of how consistent you are in filling the mold. How consistent you are in keeping the mold halves together during the pour.
Look at the sprue on a cast round ball. If there is a dimple in the center of the sprue, it is likely that the ball has a void. If the top of the sprue is flat, then you have filled the mold. There can always be exceptions of course, but is the ball looks perfect from an external inspection, then it likely is good.
For most of us weighing the balls really don't help much for accuracy. If you want to consistently place your ball in the same spot on the target, then weighing the balls is a good practice.
When you start out casting, weighing the balls will inform you of how consistent you are in filling the mold. How consistent you are in keeping the mold halves together during the pour.
Look at the sprue on a cast round ball. If there is a dimple in the center of the sprue, it is likely that the ball has a void. If the top of the sprue is flat, then you have filled the mold. There can always be exceptions of course, but is the ball looks perfect from an external inspection, then it likely is good.
I always load sprue up. I am not superman with X-ray vision to see if the sprue really is centered with sprue down.
Removing them is a pain although the can be rolled smooth between plates, tumbled till gone, hand filed etc. I competed in light bench and Buffalo shoots and found sprue up has no problem.
If I want totally round balls I buy swaged. In fact my 54 rifle that is what I use. Got a closeout by at Wally world 15 years ago, 15 boxes of Remington Golden balls[2.99 per 100]. Have not cast .535/.530 since. Deer have big X-rings.
Removing them is a pain although the can be rolled smooth between plates, tumbled till gone, hand filed etc. I competed in light bench and Buffalo shoots and found sprue up has no problem.
If I want totally round balls I buy swaged. In fact my 54 rifle that is what I use. Got a closeout by at Wally world 15 years ago, 15 boxes of Remington Golden balls[2.99 per 100]. Have not cast .535/.530 since. Deer have big X-rings.
As every one has pointed out load up or down makes no difference. As NH Moose pointed out you can roll between plates and knock them off.
One last ditty. As your asking about a smooth bore and not a rifle, and as you can roll them between plates, should you want you can get rasp, and roll them between that. The rasp raises a whole bunch of flakes of lead and makes a bunch of dimples.
The flakes grab the barrel wall and keep it centered, the dimples act like the dimples on a golf ball and keep it flying true.
This is called chewed balls, since they were chewed like this between teeth when rasp weren’t handy and no one cared about lead poisoning.
Personally I’ve not found it to work, but some folks swear by it, it only takes a few minutes and gets rid of the sprue.
One last ditty. As your asking about a smooth bore and not a rifle, and as you can roll them between plates, should you want you can get rasp, and roll them between that. The rasp raises a whole bunch of flakes of lead and makes a bunch of dimples.
The flakes grab the barrel wall and keep it centered, the dimples act like the dimples on a golf ball and keep it flying true.
This is called chewed balls, since they were chewed like this between teeth when rasp weren’t handy and no one cared about lead poisoning.
Personally I’ve not found it to work, but some folks swear by it, it only takes a few minutes and gets rid of the sprue.
Col. Batguano
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The problem with balls with a sprue on them is that, when seated, and then short-started, if they get a little bit kittywumpus in the process, there is no way to unkittywumpus them. In Dutch's book he cites off-center sprues as being a MAJOR source / reason for flyers in a group.
You should use a short starter with a brass concave tip that will round off the sprue even if it rotates somewhat off center. Once the ball is seated, it is unlikely that the ball will change orientation as the ball is pushed to the breech.
AZbpBurner
54 Cal.
Conventional wisdom from ancient times has always been to load sprue up or down. I've practiced that for the past 50+ years and never had reason to overthink it or agonize over it since then.
stink koat
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JUST USE SWAGED BALLS and be done with it!
FlinterNick
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Doesn’t really matter if the ball is undersized to the bore. .715 with a paper cartridge or greased patch still allows for windage For the ball with spru to fit. You’ll foul out quicker with the larger ball.
Ive shot a .75 ball out of a .77 bored Brown Bess, those musket shots I smoothed out, and still had significant recoil enough to possibly break the stock.
Ive shot a .75 ball out of a .77 bored Brown Bess, those musket shots I smoothed out, and still had significant recoil enough to possibly break the stock.
Most protrusion sprues can be cut off with a sharp pen knife.
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