Round Ball with a belly?

[William Sublette]

Have you ever seen a round ball with a belly, or a keel?

In a hurry I bought these on ebay last summer. Just now got around to using them, and noticed the weird shape. The sprue is exactly opposite the keel.

I thought it might be a wonky mold, but they're all too perfect. Seems like they might be on purpose.



Are keeled round balls an actual thing?


They shoot as well as my eyes do, so I'll go ahead and use them up.

 

[ohio ramrod]

Looks to me like a mold cavity problem. If exactly opposite the sprue they should be "balanced" if you load sprue out

 

[Cowboy]

That’s definitely a first for me. Never seen nor heard of anything like that??

Wether on purpose or accidental deformity within mould cavity? It seems to be accurate and groups well!

Respectfully, Cowboy

 

[Phil Coffins]

No arguing with success.

 

[Kansas Kid]

I’d say the mold had a splash of lead on the bottom preventing it from closing all the way.

 

[mooman76]

Odd. I never heard of such a thing. If the mould doesn't close all the way I've seen them get what some call fins but nothing like shown here.

 

[Yewbender]

Never seen that before

 

[tallpine]

I'd say it's a defective mold. I think that this makes the case for a properly tuned rifle, right patch, right load and good marksmanship. I think this proves we sometimes are way over thinking these old front stuffers. Good shooting.

 

[Eutycus]

I like that last sentence "They shoot as well as my eyes do, so I'll go ahead and use them up." That sums up my philosophy. I'm not one who strives for real great accuracy. If the gun goes bang and the gong makes some noise , heck I'm happy..

 

[Griz44Mag]

I like that last sentence "They shoot as well as my eyes do, so I'll go ahead and use them up." That sums up my philosophy. I'm not one who strives for real great accuracy. If the gun goes bang and the gong makes some noise , heck I'm happy..

A kindred spirit here!
(thus my tag line!)

 

[Treestalker]

Such anomalies were placed on the earth to lead men astray. Like Bill Hickock said, just aim for the belt buckle and let the shock of impact in the guts do the rest.

 

[William Sublette]

I like that last sentence "They shoot as well as my eyes do, so I'll go ahead and use them up." That sums up my philosophy. I'm not one who strives for real great accuracy. If the gun goes bang and the gong makes some noise , heck I'm happy..

I used to take great pride in accuracy.
It frustrating. I started with a Lyman Great Plains 25yrs ago.


That group in the picture is 50yds of the hood of the truck. (new .58 flint lock plains rifle)

I used be able to do that at a 100yds with my gpr, in .50 perc.

and a .54 gpr flinter. (off a rest)


now I can barley put the front sight and point of aim in focus at 50yds.
The light has to be right. lol



Life's about change, what are you going to do.

 

[Blogman]

Finally, I can add some odd info about something!
I had a buddy, very old dear friend (RIP) and he was of the ol' school way of doing things. He actually drilled one of his molds with a slight bubble/belly/bump as you will, as William Sublette
has. He only used them with his revolvers and seated the "belly" up-side to seal, as he said, to discourage chain fires.
This is his thinking not mine.

 

[reddog]

Now, how to make a mold like that on purpose...

 

[Blogman]

Now, how to make a mold like that on purpose...

I honestly don't know, he has passed and the wife has sold all his stuff. He had some really weird but usable stuff, caddywampampus type.

 

[William Sublette]

The more I think about it, it has to be on purpose.

Like was said above a mold that didn't close properly would leave a thin fin of lead where it leaked.


I went back in my purchase history on ebay to contact the seller and see what he knew about the mold, but going through his site, it looked like mostly all stuff that he was reselling from storage wars. And no more round balls for sale. So I'm betting they came out of a storage unit somewhere.

To cast a ball like that the mold would have to be machined that way.

Someone was experimenting or something. Maybe they weren't even for muzzle loading. They are harder than hornady swaged, but not too much. They still deform with the short starter.


It sucks that they shoot nice, and probably cant find anymore.

 

[Bledfor Days]

Those are armor piecing balls. Yup. That's it.

 

[nessmuk]

I like that last sentence "They shoot as well as my eyes do, so I'll go ahead and use them up." That sums up my philosophy. I'm not one who strives for real great accuracy. If the gun goes bang and the gong makes some noise , heck I'm happy..

Every time you hit a gong it is a 10X.

 

[Sinner]

Maybe you could share some pics of the mold itself. It certainly doesn't seem to be a problem out of your rifle.