Old ball mold

[TarponStalker]

A friend of mine gave this to me. He found it in his grandfathers barn. I sure wish I knew it’s history.

 

[TarponStalker]

Lol. Sorry for another odd thread title.

 

[Brokennock]

Fabulous find. Any idea of rough dimensions of the cavity?

 

[Dale Lilly]

I have a couple of those and am always looking to add more. If you decide to sell it, please list it in this forum. Thanks. Dale

 

[TarponStalker]

Fabulous find. Any idea of rough dimensions of the cavity?

I’ll try to find out. I can’t believe it but I forgot it at his house. I’ll get it next time I get over there.
It sure seems a strange shape with flat spots on the sides.

 

[appalichian hunter]

Use one almost like yours to run ball at camp. the ball mikes out at .610

 

[toot]

cast one and MIC. the DIA!

 

[Grenadier1758]

That one has all the earmarks of being quite old since there is no sprue cutter built into the mold.

 

[45man]

I never figured how they used them! The handles must get real hot.

 

[Tanglefoot]

That’s easy, 45. You wrap the grips with rags or leather, or just cut a couple of branches and put temporary wooden handles over the metal ends. Dixie used to sell “nutcracker” molds that looked very much like that. I’ve got one for my Trade Gun because I couldn’t find a .610 round ball mold from Lee and couldn’t afford a Lyman. Works fine, but there’s no sprue cutter so you have to do that withy a separate tool.

 

[hanshi]

My first mold was similar except for being a bit "flimsy". I even think it may have come with the rifle I bought, IIRC. Cheap mold with no sprue cutter and cast rather lousy ball. But the balls fit, shot as well as I could hold so I just made do until another mold came my way. Get as much rust off it as you can without damaging it and cast a few balls to measure. That's a great historical find.

 

[Brokennock]

I never figured how they used them! The handles must get real hot.

Leather wraps and gloves.
Also, dried corncobs work great for handles on many things, including molds like these.

 

[Rudyard]

Re rust suggest let soak in Vinigar. Rudyard

 

[Timber Wolf]

Leather wraps and gloves.
Also, dried corncobs work great for handles on many things, including molds like these.

Ahh, another reason to save those old corn-cobs!

 

[toot]

they were called BAG MOLDS. they were carried in the possible . shooting bag.

 

[TarponStalker]

Here are a few more photos. I haven’t tried to use it yet but it looks like somewhere in the .45 cal range to me. I think the little centering *** is really neat. Unfortunately there’s a slight gap between the halves so it doesn’t pull together perfectly.
The handles appear to have been bent a little sometime. Also one side handle is a little longer than the other.
No matter what, it sure looks old and I wish it could talk.

 

[TarponStalker]

Sorry for the duplicate photos.

 

[andy52]

soak it in vinegar to remove the rust, then use a file to flatten the surfaces, take your time and get the surfaces fitting well. Not much you can do with the concave portions without changing the dimensions, but a few bumps won't affect the ball that much.

 

[nhmoose]

If you want to get rid of the rust Evapo-Rust

 

[granth]

Nice piece of history, I wish I knew its story.