Predator Hunting with Lyman and lead free round ball

[James Stella]

I can't afford the Don Sith Hawken because I have the horse. However if I do dry ball one of those ITX balls I may have to buy the Don Sith Hawken because I might never get the ball out.

 

[Ron LaClair]

Prim doin's :hatsoff:


I shot a Bob Cat a few years ago while deer huntin. They're good eatin, light colored fine grain meat with good flavor.

Some folks might gag :barf: thinkin about it, but as they say, "meats meat when yer in the mountains" :wink:

 

[Sean Gadhar]

Jay54 making smoke in a lead free zone :applause:

That Gabe would sit still while you 1st call, then shoot 100 yards away & then load a fresh kill predator. Being myself a poor horsemen at best all I can say is :bow:

 

[Mad Professor]

They are not round like a round ball. They have a belt or band around them. I seat them with the band running around the muzzle of the rifle so that the entire band ingauges the rifling at the same time ( if that makes sense). I am using Cabelas pre lubed patches at the moment. At 50 yards they actually group better than I am getting with PRB. They are expensive about a buck a ball but they group with PRB at 50 yards so I am practicing with PRB now but hunting with the ITX. I do not think they will flatten out like lead. That is going to be the next step is to shoot them into something and compare them to lead. I am thinking phone books. I want to know if they flatten at all. Will post when I do the test.

I am very limited by my choices for what I use. It can't just be lead free it has to be approved by fish and game and be on their web site. The ITX is.

Thank you for the info and quick response. We are not limited to lead subs here but good to be on top of things if the need arises.

Now I'm more interested and have more questions.

When I looked things up on the ITX website the ball dia were listed quite a smaller than standard swaged balls (.530-.535) for 54cal.

1)Is the dia listed on the "band" or the "round" of the ITX?

2) Concerning the above know what patch thickness the cabelas patches are? Might be rebranded ox yoke?

Might use wet newspaper or tele books to see effect of mushrooming. Another possibility is a fresh roadkill :grin:

Keep us updated and Thanks in advance!

 

[Cpl. Ashencheeks]

I hope you were able to recover your ITX roundball or at least the patch for inspection.

The ITX lead free round ball resembles an old
Brunswick rifle ball in a manner except the band is not pronounced.

A person has to be conscious of how the ball places in the rifle and have the band or equator of the ball loaded so that it engages the rifling. It is almost like loading a patched conical. Be careful they might possibly cant in the barrel.

I have some in .45 caliber which is on average .436" in diameter.

I tried testing a patch through a barrel using a .018" lubed pillow ticking patch with Wonder lube and found pinholes in the patch from the rifling and it was a bear to get started and ram it down the barrel.

Then I tried a T/C .015" lubed patch with much better results with easier loading and no pinholes to worry about, but I think loading some wasp nesting material over the powder charge followed by the patched round ball might still make a better gas seal.

These things are really hard and you can't smash them with a pair of pliers, so I don't really imagine any kind of expansion, but maybe some fragmentation. Some reports have said they could sometimes re-use the balls if recovered.

The only thing I would worry about is what these might be doing to rifling. More reports after long use will need to come in on this.

A ball recovery screw can't be used on these, so have a CO2 discharger to unload any potential dry ball. Beyond that a person will need a removable breech, or capable gunsmith for a really nasty stuck ball.

 

[BrownBear]

The only thing I would worry about is what these might be doing to rifling. More reports after long use will need to come in on this.

A ball recovery screw can't be used on these, so have a CO2 discharger to unload any potential dry ball. Beyond that a person will need a removable breech, or capable gunsmith for a really nasty stuck ball.

At around $1 a pop, it would take me several lifetimes to shoot enough to worry, I bet. :rotf:

But I sure agree on the CO2 discharger.

One other point. I've played with #4 ITX shot and a pair of pliers, and results were kinda interesting. First squeeze, not much happens no matter how hard you squeeze. Squeeze again and it's almost as soft as lead. Makes me wonder if they aren't using some kind of annealing or hardening process of some sort. Food for thought anyway.

 

[Mad Professor]

For misfires/dry balls could also use the messy grease fitting for a nipple trick, or some powder trickeled into the breech after pulling the nipple.

 

[Patocazador]

"or some powder trickeled into the breech after pulling the nipple."

Has worked for me many times. I even used this method in my .45 Southern flintlock with a non-removable vent liner. I just kept poking 4F from the pan into the touch hole using a toothpick. It took a while but it worked fine.

 

[Cpl. Ashencheeks]

BTW, Congrats on the bobcat kill, it sure is nice to see an animal taken with one of the compliant rounds.

I would definitely welcome more ITX hunting results.

I will try to get a .32 rifle at some point for squirrel hunting using these. These would be the most most cost effective round for the ITX round balls.

The .54 compliant rounds are a bit steep in price, but at least I have another option besides using sabot rounds with my 1:48 twist Hawken replica which are also somewhat expensive.

 

[James Stella]

Ok sorry for the slow response. I had to double check some stuff at home before I posted. The ITX balls are .524 and I am using .020 Cabelas pre lubbed patches. The lead balls are Hornady .530 and I am using the same patches. I am shooting it over 105 grains of Pyrodex RS. The lead RBs are pretty tight but I can load them.

The .524 is the band. But the round side is almost the same size even though it does not look like it.

 

[GreyWhiskers]

Good hunting! :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

GW

 

[GreyWhiskers]

I shot an ITX ball into ballistic gel at 25 yds and it passed completely thru without expanding. I've shot them into a dirt bank and reused them twice. They looked just like new. They don't expand or flatten unless they hit something hard like steel. GW