RANGE REPORT: Cheapshot Cast Balls

[roundball]

06/10/06 Range Test
"Cheapshot" brand commercial cast .490 balls

.50cal TC Hawken Flintlock
50grns Goex 3F
.015" Oxyoke prelubed cotton patch
"Cheapshot" brand .490 cast balls
6" hanging steel target at 50yds
Sitting in a chair simulating a treestand
Bright, clear, calm weather

For years I have shot this way using good quality Hornady swaged balls, and the norm for thousands of shots is a 3" circle of lead splatter in the center of the 6" steel plate, and this morning I shot quantity 50 of the "Cheapshot" brand .490 balls as a test the same way.

The "Cheapshot" balls, as ugly as some of them look, produced exactly the same results and I paid no attention to spru position at all”¦if fact I intentionally offset the spru in a variety of positions for the first dozen shots and saw no difference whatsoever”¦so I guess the rifling twist does what it’s supposed to do, which is to cancel out the effect of voids, etc, through ball rotation”¦.so much for worrying about ugly balls, voids, spru position, etc.

Regarding diameter consistency, while I didn’t mic them, all starting / seating seemed completely consistent from one ball to the next”¦so overall, if I didn’t know better, I would have assumed I was shooting Hornadys.

Other than the occasional test to verify how a particular hunting load of mine does at 100yds, and not being a bulls eye shooter aligning patch weave with the planets, I live my weekend range trips at 50 yards and in that regard, this brand of cast balls does everything the expensive Hornadys do for me, yet only cost $22.95/500”¦about half the price of Hornadys.

 

[Bearbait2]

"...not being a bulls eye shooter aligning patch weave with the planets..."

Good way to start my day! :rotf:
Best Wishes

 

[Bountyhunter]

I too use the Hornady swaged. I only have a couple boxes of them left, and as everything, they think that raising their prices equates to quality.

I do like their GP Bullets in my rifle, they are the only "bullet" that I can get any accuracy from in that 66" twist barrel. However at an average of about $8 for 15 bullets, practice is out of the question, as you are throwing $0.53 down the range with each shot. They also do not make their Pennsylvania bullets in .54, only .50.

I called up and talked to them a while back about getting some GP bullets in bulk to lower the price and the shooterette that I got laughed at me and told me that they could sell all they could make in the 15 bubble packs so why would they want to lower their prices and offer the bullets in bulk of 50 or 100? She said it was the high price of lead that determined the price of the bullets, and I said that was funny because the other makers were offering their bullets at less than $50 for 500, so the price of lead wasnt that much of a factor. She asked me if I had any more questions as she was very busy, and cut off the call.

Something about that just raised my hackles. I have used Hornady for a long time for their products, but it only takes one smartalec genius to ruin a good run for me. I guess I should have demanded to talk to someone in authority rather than that customer service rep as she sure didnt do their customer service any good that day.

This info gives me a very good alternative. Now if someone would just come out with a good short hollow based copy of that GP that I can get down that tight .53 bore, I'd be overjoyed.

B

 

[roundball]

Which caliber GP's are you looking for?

Just within the past day or so I think I saw several boxes on an EBay auction, a few bucks a box

 

[CoyoteJoe]

Good point. One can buy Hornady lead pistol bullets in bulk for a fraction of the cost of similar weight roundballs, so there is clearly more to it than the cost of lead.

 

[snagg]

Roundball:

Have been waiting for your range report before ordering these balls. I'm glad to hear you had good luck with them. I'll be placing an order, also.

I realize this might be a difficult question to answer without making an actual kill, but what are your thoughts on using these for whitetail deer, as they refer to the balls as plinkers?? Is there a firing test that a person could do to check expansion? Do these balls seem to be about the same weight as the ones your used to shooting?

Thanks, snagg

 

[jimeckersley]

I do like their GP Bullets in my rifle, they are the only "bullet" that I can get any accuracy from in that 66" twist barrel. However at an average of about $8 for 15 bullets, practice is out of the question, ...

You may be happier with both cost and results if you cast your own. You can produce more consistent quality yourself and there are an infinite variety of moulds available.

 

[roundball]

Roundball:

Have been waiting for your range report before ordering these balls. I'm glad to hear you had good luck with them. I'll be placing an order, also.

I realize this might be a difficult question to answer without making an actual kill, but what are your thoughts on using these for whitetail deer, as they refer to the balls as plinkers?? Is there a firing test that a person could do to check expansion? Do these balls seem to be about the same weight as the ones your used to shooting?

Thanks, snagg

He stated publicy in the EBay auction that they were pure lead...if that's the case I don't see any reason why[url] not...in[/url] fact, if I use a .50cal this fall I use these balls.
Contact info:
[email protected]

And, you could line up 3-4 gallon jugs of water and see what expansion you get...if you examine the plastic walls closely you can tell which jug the majority of the expansion took place in.

 

[Zonie]

Boy! From the looks of the balls in the picture I've been remelting a fortunes worth of my home cast balls! :grin:

In fact, those are ugler than 90 percent of the balls I throw back in the pot.

I guess from this experiment one could safely conclude that anyone with a pot, a heat source, some pure lead, and a bullet mold that produces fairly consistant sized balls need to look no further for their ammunition if they are happy with a 3 inch group at 50 yards.

Boy, those things make my Mother-in-law look good! :rotf:

 

[roundball]

"...if they are happy with a 3 inch group at 50 yards..."

:grin:...not from a bench Zonie, just sitting in a little chair simulating a treestand...these balls had nothing to do with a 3" group under those circumstances...that's all just yours truly...and if I use any of these to take some bucks this fall, they won't know it's not a Hornady...and they'll drag out to the truck the same way they always do
:hatsoff:

 

[Deerstalker]

I just got everything I need to start casting balls, and I sure hope like heck they look better than those. Looks like the sprue cutter is worn out on the mold, not to mention the parting line going around that thing. Good thing lead is cheap. I bought a bunch in ingots off a fella on ebay, and paid 3.70 per 5 pounds for pure dead soft lead in little cakes. I combined the shipping under the USPS bulk rate, so the shipping was less than 10 bucks for 15 pounds. I've got about 30 pounds to cast right now!
Good luck with those and thanks for the report,
Bryan

 

[Wes/Tex]

Well Roundball, I think you just hit on the truth behind the old timers with scissor-molds and longrifles. Balls like those work just fine for hunting at stalking ranges and you can save the "pretty" ones for sniping at Red Coats two valleys over! :thumbsup:

 

[Blivetmaker]

From what I could see from the pics, the balls had a protruding sprue amd a definite mold line.
This doesn't really have to be so tragic. If the balls have a consistant weight and are not misaligned they should be good to go at fifty.
A protruding or ugly sprue cut can be "fixed" by setting the ball sprue-foward. The loading rod will take care of minor deformities by "standardising" them to a flat spot. As long as the end result is a consistant weight/form projectile they should shoot very well.
Those RB'S are abit on the "Fuggly" side thought :grin:

 

[roundball]

Yes, I mentioned that they looked a little ugly but to be honest I would have been surprised if they didn't do well...for example, I always pull my loads at the end of a day's hunt and save the balls for reuse at the range...after a deer season I may have 25-30 balls with that huge void in them where the ball puller screw went, but they still shoot perfectly at 50yds...and probably some amount further I just haven't bothered to try 75 or 100yds...so these are fine for my purposes shooting as much as I do every weekend, just splattering lead against steel targets, shooting cans, pine cones, etc

 

[roundball]

Well Roundball, I think you just hit on the truth behind the old timers with scissor-molds and longrifles. Balls like those work just fine for hunting at stalking ranges and you can save the "pretty" ones for sniping at Red Coats two valleys over! :thumbsup:

You got it...no way a ball cast in a bag mould over a campfire in the dark was any better if even as good as these are...I don't cast and to me it's an obvious economical alternative to Hornady/Speer balls are their ever higher prices.

Reminds me of all hoop-la over reloading modern shotgun shells for trap and skeet...articles and books with all sorts of fretting about changes to ballistics if the crimp isn't perfect, and if a shell is reloaded too many times, and you shouldn't do this and that...the real truth is I've reloaded the same hulls so many times I've had to drip candle wax on the crimps to keep the shot from rolling out and still shoot 97-100's with them.

Personally, I wonder if we don't sometimes over-engineer this grand old hobby of muzzleloading...weighing balls with electronic scales, micing them with micrometers, etc...wonder if Davey and Daniel used Dillon or RCBS scales and micrometers?

:hatsoff:

 

[bpbrs]

and as everything, they think that raising their prices equates to quality.

:nono:

The rising prices of components is not a quality issue. The rise in prices reflects the cost of raw materials + cost of manufacture + distribution.

 

[roundball]

From what I could see from the pics, the balls had a protruding sprue amd a definite mold line.
This doesn't really have to be so tragic. If the balls have a consistant weight and are not misaligned they should be good to go at fifty.
A protruding or ugly sprue cut can be "fixed" by setting the ball sprue-foward. The loading rod will take care of minor deformities by "standardising" them to a flat spot. As long as the end result is a consistant weight/form projectile they should shoot very well.
Those RB'S are abit on the "Fuggly" side thought :grin:

:grin: Fuggly is a good one...have to remember that...they're a little on the ugly side...but I really don't care about that...I was more worried that there would be size inconsistencies making loading difficult but they appeared to be very consistent, started/seated the same every time, etc.

This guy is just trying to get a little business off the ground and like most startups I'd be surprised if his quality doesn't gradually improve over time...I gave him some private feedback after the range session yesterday...the bottom line is does his product fit a niche market (plinking at targets as his package says) at a very attractive price...yes it does...and if he strives to implement QC measures that put him up on a par with well established producers then we can predict what will happen to his prices.

PS: This was his reply to me yesterday:
============================================
I actually buy my lead from a guy in Arkansas through e-Bay. He lists it as:
This is 100 pounds of Hard, Clean Lead. The size of these bars makes for easy handling when casting bullets or pouring your favorite fishing sinkers!

I melt the 3 lb lead "pigs" down into 1/2 and 1 lb bars since they are easier to handle and load in my melter. As I recast them into bars and then melt again for bullet casting, I again flux the lead and remove any impurities. While I can't guarantee that they are 100% pure, they are pretty darn close. The differences you may see in the appearance of the balls appears to be due to the temperature of the mold. When I start a run, the balls come out nice and shinny. After about 100 or so, they start to have a dull finish and you can almost see a crystal structure in the lead. I finally figured out that if I cool the molds about half way through a run, the balls come out consistently bright and shinny. My guess is that the cold mold causes the ball to harden faster. The hotter mold may be giving the casting longer to cool at a higher temperature and allowing the lead time to form differently. So I hope my next runs look a bit nicer.

 

[TN.Frank]

The spin that a rifle puts on the ball will help to overcome a lot of flaws in the ball and help it to hit where ya' aim it. In a smoothbore I'd bet it wouldn't be the case though.
Still, many people get way too technical when it comes to shooting a muzzleloader with with worrying about the spurr location(I always put mine top and they shoot fine) and patch weave. It's not rocket science, just find something that'll shoot "miniute of deer" and I'm happy with it. Thanks for the report. :hatsoff:

 

[ktw]

PS: This was his reply to me yesterday:
============================================
I actually buy my lead from a guy in Arkansas through e-Bay. He lists it as:
This is 100 pounds of Hard, Clean Lead...When I start a run, the balls come out nice and shinny. After about 100 or so, they start to have a dull finish and you can almost see a crystal structure in the lead. I finally figured out that if I cool the molds about half way through a run, the balls come out consistently bright and shinny.

His comments are consistent with his raw material being something harder than pure lead (BHN ~5). It's likely that he's using something a bit easier/cheaper to get, like wheel weight alloy.

Not that this is a problem, particularly if you aren't having any problems loading them. But I wouldn't expect them to deform much on live game, either.

-ktw

 

[jimeckersley]

Personally, I wonder if we don't sometimes over-engineer this grand old hobby of muzzleloading...weighing balls with electronic scales, micing them with micrometers, etc...wonder if Davey and Daniel used Dillon or RCBS scales and micrometers?

Davey and Daniel NEVER used any of those shooting aids! I have it on pretty good authority though, Davey and Daniel both used NL1000 except in real cold weather when they would resort to the old standby, Hoppes No9 Plus. :rotf: