Round ball with sprue

[wb78963]

I did al test with a Uberti 1860 Army by dry balling a chamber sprue up, sprue down, sprue sideways.
In every case it gave a good band sealing the chamber even with the sprue on the side
I cannot speak for accuracy but in sealing the chamber it makes no difference as far as I could see.
The test was with hand cast .451" balls using a Lee mold and pure lead.
For what it is worth
Bunk

 

[Rfp10000]

Does the tumbler cause changes to the ball size beyond removing the sprue?

 

[FishDFly]

Nope.

 

[Art Caputo]

I have used both quite extensively and have seen no difference in accuracy. Given the choice, I prefer swaged LRB’s simply because of the time saved centering the sprue(upwards) when loading.

 

[FishDFly]

I have weighed swaged balls by both Speer and Hornady and their weight variability is greater than my cast balls. Most line shooters that I know use cast balls, especially in bench guns.

 

[Cpt Flint]

When using a bottom pour furnace it is very possible to cast a ball with a void in it. This most often occurs right under the sprue when the mold does not fill out completely. If the ball is seated always with the sprue in the same place we hope that it helps negate the imbalance. The answer is to ladle pour which does not cast balls with holes in them.

 

[Rfp10000]

These come from a Lee 6 ball mould.

 

[J. Paul]

Muzzle Blast magazine was asked this question many years ago. They drilled holes half through roundball for a 50 rifle. They loaded several each with hole up, hole down and hole sideways to both 45° & 90°. Their conclusion was that the ball stabilized around its center of mass during rotation and pivoted either forwards or backwards to being most stable and at distances of over 10 yards there was no difference as to point of impact with target.

 

[FishDFly]

When using a bottom pour furnace it is very possible to cast a ball with a void in it. This most often occurs right under the sprue when the mold does not fill out completely. If the ball is seated always with the sprue in the same place we hope that it helps negate the imbalance. The answer is to ladle pour which does not cast balls with holes in them.

Can you explain the difference in each casting way and why? Lead is flowing into the mold from above in each case.

 

[wb78963]

When using a bottom pour furnace it is very possible to cast a ball with a void in it. This most often occurs right under the sprue when the mold does not fill out completely. If the ball is seated always with the sprue in the same place we hope that it helps negate the imbalance. The answer is to ladle pour which does not cast balls with holes in them.

Interesting Cap. I pour into the mold from about 1/4 inch below the spout much like what you would get ladle pouring. Actually i am not set up for ladle pouring my furnace is an RCbS Promelt with the temp aset bout 750. The Lee molds used are aluminum and stay very hot. I will run some .451" balls made yesterday across my scale and check.
My method is cull as I cast and any thing that does not look right get scrapped.
Thank
Bunk

 

[Rfp10000]

Thanks for all the great info. I’ll make up a bunch of cartridges and give them a try shortly.
All things being equal I’d rather use the balls cast by an independent source.

 

[wb78963]

Interesting Cap. I pour into the mold from about 1/4 inch below the spout much like what you would get ladle pouring. Actually i am not set up for ladle pouring my furnace is an RCbS Promelt with the temp aset bout 750. The Lee molds used are aluminum and stay very hot. I will run some .451" balls made yesterday across my scale and check.
My method is cull as I cast and any thing that does not look right get scrapped.
Thank
Bunk

Cap. I grabbed a random hand full of balls out of yesterdays casting and weighed them. They varied +- one grain and could easily sorted out many +- .5 grain so I am not casting voids at least from the 10 I checked. These were .451" cast in a Lee mould.
The alloy was a mixture of 1:40 tin and pure lead. The 1:40 was a small amount I had and did not feel like throwing it away.
I used some of them in my1860 Army snubby and they seated easily with a small lead ring shaved off.
Hold center
Bunk.

 

[M. De Land]

Does the tumbler cause changes to the ball size beyond removing the sprue?

I stopped tumbling mine because it made it harder to find the sprue so I could orientate sprue up at loading. I cast all my own balls with Lee molds. The reason is if any voids happen it will be under the sprue and one wants that centered if present. You have to be able to see the sprue to get it centered when loading.
I do use pre-cut patches and am beginning to wonder if they are as accurate as cut at muzzle patching is. I wasn't getting accuracy as good as my hold was last match off the bench and found two things that I think effected that. The nipple port was eroded oblong and I was using pre-cut patcbes.
OOOOOOOOOOOOps sorry, on the wrong forum thread. Thought I was on percussion rifle and can't figure out how to move or delete it.

 

[Oldbear63]

I have a 1/2 inch round end mill bit and I could make a pair of "dies" to hammer out or flatten the sprue on my cast .495 balls. Would this be worth the effort? I would essentially be making a swage.

 

[M. De Land]

I have a 1/2 inch round end mill bit and I could make a pair of "dies" to hammer out or flatten the sprue on my cast .495 balls. Would this be worth the effort? I would essentially be making a swage.

My experience says you would be wasting your time.

 

[fishmusic]

Some say sprue up so you can center the ball. Some say sprue down so it's more aerodynamic. In the end when you place the sprue up and swage it into the cylinder you probably deform the sprue so that is doesn't mess with the aerodynamics anyway. Same with a tightly patched rifle ball. Your short starter rounds the sprue.

I've tried the tumbler method. It didn't get rid of the sprues it just made them into a smooth lump on one side of the ball and mades the devil's own noise which was disdained by my distaff half. I don't think there is a need for tumbling.

 

[Oldbear63]

My experience says you would be wasting your time.

At my shoot today I was shooting cast balls (I ran out of swaged) and I shot some of my better scores (offhand), so there would likely be little difference.

 

[wb78963]

since satisfaction for this child comes with "minute of pie plate" at 15 yards I just load 'em sprue up, sprue down, sprue sideways.
It is not rocket science, so sprue it and load don't try to IBM it just SHOOT!
But that is just me.
Happily banging away
Bunk

 

[Bassdog1]

I shoot Sprue up cause that is how I was taught and they shoot as well as swaged balls. The only problem I have is that with my 32 caliber using a TC mold the sprue is very thick. I am currently trying to find a different mold that throws a .315 ball with a flatter sprue.

 

[M. De Land]

I shoot Sprue up cause that is how I was taught and they shoot as well as swaged balls. The only problem I have is that with my 32 caliber using a TC mold the sprue is very thick. I am currently trying to find a different mold that throws a .315 ball with a flatter sprue.

I use Lee molds that drop almost surface level sprues.