ROUND BALL 58 CAL

[Peter B]

I just finished up a Trans rifle with a 58 cal bore. I have put it on the bench and at 50 yards and scored a 89 using a 25 yd pistol target. But here is my rub. I was using Hornady 570 round ball bullets. But I had to go trough each box and pull out those that would fit my rifle????? Now if they are being swaged then why are they consistent. I have e-mailed Hornady on the subject with no answer. I suppose they dont give a damn about me since they sell some much other stuff. So Hornady if you are reading this you SUCK! Now here is my question. I need a good round ball that will deliver me good preformence on at the rifle shoots. I have been reading on Buffalo Bullet company and would like some input on purchasing them and where to go for the best deal. I normaly purchace 500 rounds at one shot for my muzzleloaders. Or do you recommend a mould as I have been using for years in my Civil War weapons. Help is needed here.

P

 

[MikeChapin]

I use a .562 in my Green Mountain barreled .58. You can get cast .562 and .570 roundballs from TOW and a few other places on the web.

Lee makes a double and single cavity .562 and .570 molds. Lyman makes a single cavity .570. You can pick them up at TOW or other black powder dealers on the web.

 

[roundball]

I just finished up a Trans rifle with a 58 cal bore. I have put it on the bench and at 50 yards and scored a 89 using a 25 yd pistol target. But here is my rub. I was using Hornady 570 round ball bullets. But I had to go trough each box and pull out those that would fit my rifle????? Now if they are being swaged then why are they consistent. I have e-mailed Hornady on the subject with no answer. I suppose they dont give a damn about me since they sell some much other stuff. So Hornady if you are reading this you SUCK! Now here is my question. I need a good round ball that will deliver me good preformence on at the rifle shoots. I have been reading on Buffalo Bullet company and would like some input on purchasing them and where to go for the best deal. I normaly purchace 500 rounds at one shot for my muzzleloaders. Or do you recommend a mould as I have been using for years in my Civil War weapons. Help is needed here.
P

That's intersting, and would suggest that's definitely not the norm with all the Hornady's I've used over the years (.440/.490/.530/.570).

My .58 is a GM x 1:70 and I've run a few hundred Hornady .570's through it with .018" pillow ticking...always been extremely accurate & consistent with the Hornady's.

I've also run a few hundred Remington gold colored balls through it...they all seem to run larger like .575's instead of .570's...need a sharp rap on the short starter but are also extremely accurate.

Maybe you got a bad batch...hard to say...the main reason I've always stayed with Hornady's was their apparent quality control from batch to batch

 

[Peter B]

Thanks so far for the help. These hornady balls are comeing out from 570 to 576. I have sizers that are miked out up to 578 and at 576 the ball some of the balles where a bit snug. Bad batch or not I have not heard a word from hornadys customer service department. This has caused me to take my business elswhere.


I have a green mountain barrell so the Buffalos shoud do fine. How does the lee moulds mic out to fit this bore.

P

 

[roundball]

Bad batch or not I have not heard a word from hornadys customer service department. This has caused me to take my business elswhere.

How many boxes of Hornady .570's did you buy / have left over?

 

[jim gray]

My Lee mold is .575 and every ball that I've miked out of it has been within .001" of the nominal. I haven't miked any since the first couple batches though, and I'm sure that size will depend on the purity of the lead.

Thanks to the other resppondents for mold info. I have never been able to find a double cavity Lee mold for .570 balls, but now I guess I'll try again.

 

[Peter B]

I bought three full boxes Roundball. And only about 20% where any good to me. The rest where given away.

Peter

 

[jimeckersley]

I bought three full boxes Roundball. And only about 20% where any good to me. The rest where given away. Peter

You seem to be frustrated, maybe angry with Hornady. No need to be. That's the nature of swaged balls, unless you have the bucks to buy a Corbin press and swage your own.

The Hornady and Speer balls are hammered into a spherical shape. They are often times more out of round than are cast balls. I don't have a problem with the swaged balls but I roll them between two flat steel plates to bring them into round. That may be more trouble than you care for.

I'm not aware of a Lee 2 cavity mould for .58. You may need to try NEI for a 2 or 3 cavity mould in .570 or .575.

 

[brubincam]

lee has a double mold for 562,,, :bull: :bull: :bull:

 

[BS]

lee has a double mold for 562,,, :bull: :bull: :bull:

Lee-562-DC

Listed in my ole TOTW catalog! :blah: :blah: :blah:

 

[Landngroove]

I have talked with Hornady Customer Service before, with questions about bullets for reloading, and muzzleloading. They have been very helpful. I'll bet if you call and talk to a technical rep. they will send you a new box of roundballs. They have done this in the past for me. I must admit though, they have been slow in responding to email inquires, I have sent them.

 

[Swampman]

Swaged balls aren't round. They don't have a sprue so you can't really figure out how to load them. .570s are really too big for a .58 so I'd look for something smaller.

 

[Poor Boy]

If swaged balls aren't round,Swampman than somebody better tell Hornady and Speer that they are falsely advertising their "ROUND BALLS"..So what are they? conicle,elongated,picket.Don't even get me started on the sprue..........OLSON

 

[Swampman]

Get yourself a set of calipers or a mic. Don't take my word. They aren't round. Without the sprue, there's no way to tell which way you are loading. Roundness isn't very important. Like cast balls with sprues, they shoot perfectly.

 

[jimeckersley]

Get yourself a set of calipers or a mic. Don't take my word. They aren't round. Without the sprue, there's no way to tell which way you are loading. Roundness isn't very important. Like cast balls with sprues, they shoot perfectly.

Mark is right regarding swaged balls being out of round. measure them, you'll see for yourself. I don't have a problem with using swaged balls but I do weigh them and roll them to make them round. I have used .570 Hornady balls in my .58.

Another thing Peter B may consider is coning the bore for easier loading with a wide variety of balls.

 

[scott k]

Who's this Mark guy :grin:
I asked how round the swaged balls are a few months ago. I was suprised how out of round they are. The Hornady I had where better than the Speer.
Lehigh...

 

[Old Ironsights]

My suggestion is to WWW my Lead dealer - Blackjack Hill. Hand cast soft lead, cheaper than Hornady.

Here is his .58 cal page. .

 

[roundball]

If I'm reading his page correctly, his .58cal RB's are listed at $13.00...and I'm assuming that's for 100.

Just as an alternative, Hornady .58cal RBs can be bought $12.00/100 from "wholesalehunter", a big muzzleloading wholesaler who keeps his full scale store listing on all the big auction sites all the time. (two boxes of 50 @ $6/box)

 

[paulvallandigham]

Have you ever recovered a round ball shot into water, even in front of a squib load? They aren't round, either. The reason we use pure lead to cast these is because the soft lead upsets in the barrel on firing. Mark certainly understands this, as he is always advocating using undersized balls and thick patches. So, worrying about how round a ball is maybe worthwhile for piece of mind, and for extreme target work, but for the average shooter, swaged balls are round enough. Cast balls can be rounded by putting them in a tumbler, or rolling them between tempered glass plates or polished steel plates. Separating the balls by weight seems to be the more worthwhile effort, however, IMHO.

Paul

 

[Old Ironsights]

Well, it's cheaper than retail here. And shipping is included on all orders over $30.