RB Sprue and accuracy

[ElkStalker]

If I had cast those I would throw em back in the pot and do em again

I thought the same thing. I need to buy a pot to throw them into.

 

[necchi]

I guess my only concern,

I read and hear all that.
I'm in Minnesota,, for me it breaks down to casting sessions in the spring and fall, when weather is right for outside (open door garage) conditions.
A good casting session is a 3-4hr window with melt to finish, it's labor, it wears ya out after a bit. I might do two three of those in a week, with that much time I can create months of active shooting product that will end up within acceptable tolerance.
After the melt and cast, inside sorting is easily done within safe handling protocol.
Don't hesitate longer,, make the jump,

 

[ElkStalker]

I read and hear all that.
I'm in Minnesota,, for me it breaks down to casting sessions in the spring and fall, when weather is right for outside (open door garage) conditions.
A good casting session is a 3-4hr window with melt to finish, it's labor, it wears ya out after a bit. I might do two three of those in a week, with that much time I can create months of active shooting product that will end up within acceptable tolerance.
After the melt and cast, inside sorting is easily done within safe handling protocol.
Don't hesitate longer,, make the jump,

I appreciate your encouragement. Thank you!

 

[Salty]

I bought some cast balls for my 45cal to shoot this rifle for the first time. I started going through the balls to gauge uniformity and found that very few have what I consider a nice sprue. I know to load them sprue up for best accuracy, but I’m curious if a globbed up sprue, or sprue that obviously ran down the ball, would affect accuracy. I really think I am going to start casting my own because I have had issue with every cast bullet and ball sold by this particular place. They don’t shoot well in my 50’s so I’d imagine the sprue might be the culprit. Hornady swaged balls are super accurate in my rifles so far but they get a bit costly after paying shipping. I’m just asking about the sprue for my own education and what to watch for when casting my own down the road, and sorting them now. I usually sort by weight for any serious shooting, but maybe I need to cull the balls with bad sprue also.
The ball on the left has a nice uniform sprue, the 3 on the right look like a mess. Not going to hurt to shoot them at paper, but I only imagine this may effect tight groupings, and since my goal for this rifle will be a downloaded PRB for grouse, hate and squirrel, accuracy is going to be a factor.

I know the Hornady RBs are nicer but would you be willing to mention where the messy ones came from? Save some of us making the same mistake.

 

[TrophyGuy]

Been a long time since I cast lead balls, but I do recall alloy composition having a big effect. One of the common alloying elements promoted void filling by lowering surface tension of the melt. I think it's antimony. I wouldn't be concerned with casting round balls too hard for use in a rifle with a patch. Uniformity would be the goal. The Lyman Cast Bullet Handbook has a wealth of information, beginning with basic metallurgy and practical troubleshooting.

 

[ElkStalker]

Been a long time since I cast lead balls, but I do recall alloy composition having a big effect. One of the common alloying elements promoted void filling by lowering surface tension of the melt. I think it's antimony. I wouldn't be concerned with casting round balls too hard for use in a rifle with a patch. Uniformity would be the goal. The Lyman Cast Bullet Handbook has a wealth of information, beginning with basic metallurgy and practical troubleshooting.

I have that book. It’s a good one. I do think you are correct about the addition of antimony. I’d have to double check. It’s been a while since I’ve read that book for anything more than load data.

 

[nchawkeye]

I mold my own, out of a bag mold, use a Coleman stove to melt the lead and use old vegetable cans to melt the lead and mine look a hell of a lot better than those, I'd change suppliers...Frankly, for hunting purposes I don't think most of us could tell the difference in accuracy between cast or swaged balls...I haven't bought a store bought ball in about 3 decades...

 

[ElkStalker]

I mold my own, out of a bag mold, use a Coleman stove to melt the lead and use old vegetable cans to melt the lead and mine look a hell of a lot better than those, I'd change suppliers...Frankly, for hunting purposes I don't think most of us could tell the difference in accuracy between cast or swaged balls...I haven't bought a store bought ball in about 3 decades...

I like those bag molds. I have been looking for one.The most authentic looking I’ve found were sold by Track of the wolf, but they have been sold out for a couple years. I wonder if they were coming from Italy…. It seems everything made in Italy has been unavailable since 2020. I just think they would be a neat tool for your kit. Probably not the fastest but would certainly do the job.

 

[waksupi]

Been a long time since I cast lead balls, but I do recall alloy composition having a big effect. One of the common alloying elements promoted void filling by lowering surface tension of the melt. I think it's antimony. I wouldn't be concerned with casting round balls too hard for use in a rifle with a patch. Uniformity would be the goal. The Lyman Cast Bullet Handbook has a wealth of information, beginning with basic metallurgy and practical troubleshooting.

Antimony is a hardening agent. Tin is added for fluidity.

 

[N5JIF]

I use these. Pretty fantastic. Weighed 50 balls and not one variation, every one is the same weight. Lee molds use a tangental plate to cut off the sprue, but I like these better, I'd rather cut the sprue than deal with the lee tangental plate that gets worse with time, and feel that the end product is better. Plus this guy will make them in any size you want. They come from England but I just got some 45 molds and it only took like 2 weeks from order to my door. I have used a lot of different molds over the years, and these are truly the best ball molds I have seen.
https://www.ballmoulds.com/

 

[beyu]

I have been buying .62 diameter round balls from October Country. Very uniform, and only a very slight sprue.

The ones I got from TOW were pretty crude...

 

[ElkStalker]

I use these. Pretty fantastic. Weighed 50 balls and not one variation, every one is the same weight. Lee molds use a tangental plate to cut off the sprue, but I like these better, I'd rather cut the sprue than deal with the lee tangental plate that gets worse with time, and feel that the end product is better. Plus this guy will make them in any size you want. They come from England but I just got some 45 molds and it only took like 2 weeks from order to my door. I have used a lot of different molds over the years, and these are truly the best ball molds I have seen.
https://www.ballmoulds.com/

Those look nice! I like all the available sizes. That’s cool! Thank you

 

[jackpine54]

I use inexpensive lee molds. They're easy to use and you can cast a pile of round ball in a couple of hours. I started with a cast iron frying pan on a camp stove. Use a lee pot now. Once your molds are warm it's almost foolproof. Lots of good YouTube videos for help if you need it.

 

[SwanShot]

Antimony is a hardening agent. Tin is added for fluidity.

Thats why I throw 50/50 solder into my molten lead. I get better weight consistency and nice smooth balls.

 

[david w]

Antimony is a hardening agent. Tin is added for fluidity.

I use inexpensive lee molds. They're easy to use and you can cast a pile of round ball in a couple of hours. I started with a cast iron frying pan on a camp stove. Use a lee pot now. Once your molds are warm it's almost foolproof. Lots of good YouTube videos for help if you need it.

For melting down large lead pieces, I use a cast iron kettle heated with a propane burner. I then cast 1/2 and 1 lb. ingots for my Lee 10 lb. melter pot, at which time I cast boolits or balls. I see no problem with the Lee moulds. I have a few rejects, but 95% come out good. Using a thermometer really helps!

 

[N5JIF]

Those look nice! I like all the available sizes. That’s cool! Thank you

You are welcome!

 

[Crockford]

Start casting your own. It's pretty easy to pick up and adds to the fun.
It's kinda like growing a garden. You know what is in it, how it was taken care of. Yes, it is a little work. But those vegetables sure taste better than store bought..

 

[N5JIF]

Cutting the sprue with a good pair of nippers comes quite naturally. You can view your work and see how well you are doing and modify as needed. It is a wonderful part of what we do, and it's relaxing for me. There is a great sense of satisfaction to make and use your own stuff, especially when you score your own food. You will get the hang of it in a hurry, you just jump in and learn. You just melt your mistakes and re pour.

 

[shorthair]

Ditto on the swaged balls. Put a few with poor sprues between to hard surfaces and roll them around. I’ve used two clipboards on a sturdy table, tv tray or whatever you have. Try to keep the pressure even. Roll a few and see how they do. Good luck and keep us posted.

I use a couple of 12" steel plates, only takes about 3 minutes to do a couple of dozen rb's and you can't tell where the sprue was.

 

[nick_1]

Spure up. Flatten it with short starter and ramrod.