Round balls

[Samuel]

I also use a .562 round ball in a 58 cal Mississippi Rifle. mine has a 1 in 72 Twist its plenty accurate.
Now for the-- Reason it's Fun, Kills Deer well, cheap to cast, Did I mention Fun to Shoot?

 

[sgeisz]

I had a Tom Stence .570 mould I used with my Numricn 7 groove Zouave barrel. Don't know if he's still in business or not.

 

[SamTex1949]

I had a Tom Stence .570 mould I used with my Numricn 7 groove Zouave barrel. Don't know if he's still in business or not.

WOW ! I finally see someone else who has (had) one of those barrels ! many moon ago I went to Dixie
and bought one for my Zouave (1970 version). Now I didnt shoot RB as much as the minie but I discovered that Lyman 350gr SWC mould and that barrel loved it ! I was accused of cheating at one of the AMLGC shoots 50 yd X stick buffalo target ,when we were done and I turned in target with cloverleaf holes cut beautifully in the "X". rules didnt specify what type of minie had to be used! Sadly
I traded that rifle off long ago.

 

[sgeisz]

I used that Zouave for many things. I built a bracket from angle iron and mounted it to the tang so I could put on a Redfield receiver sight, put a base on the front for a Lyman 77 front and shot it in our local bench rest matches. Much complaining but it was legal as it was round ball, metallic sight. Won a fair share of matches. I also use that swc 350 grain lyman minie but with really light charges. The round ball load got me a record at Friendship that stood up for a whole six months.

 

[Loyalist Dave]

79 dollars seems like a pretty steep price for a Lyman SINGLE cavity mold for casting .570 balls.

Well those are steel while the Lee are aluminum...
So I guess the $300 for setting up and having a .570 mold made for you by Lee is out-of-the-question?

LD

 

[Dr5x]

If you have a .58 caliber rifle, I would suggest using a .575 ball so that when you load the ball and the patching and the lead of the ball are extruded into the rifling you have a better fit than when using a .570 ball and must therefore depend more on patching than the lead of the ball to engage the rifling.

Moulds that have two cavities will frequently turn out two slightly different balls, American tolerances being what they are. Accordingly I would suggest avoiding the double cavity moulds.

Dutch Schoultz

Well folks, I must be the last one here to realize that .570 ball molds under 100 dollars AND in double or more cavitys are non-non-existent .

Please someone tell me of the WHY of Lee not building a .570 diameter ball mold ... instead jumping to .575 diameter.

79 dollars seems like a pretty steep price for a Lyman SINGLE cavity mold for casting .570 balls.

 

[Dr5x]

I think the reason people shoot roundball out of .58 caliber rifles rather than mines is because mines cost so much more than round balls or are too complex to cast.

An Australian corespondent of mine bought a rifle designed for mines and was shaken by the price of the projectiles.He switched to round ball and was amazingly accurate at great distances 160 meters.

Dutch

Yes I shoot proper roundballs out of my .58. 1/66/twist. When did minnies become the only bullet for a 58?

 

[Dave Marsh]

Well probably because most shooting a .58 are using proper Minies, those who insist on using roundballs for unknown reasons shouldn’t be surprised a company isn’t supportive.

Actually I have a custom flint lock rifle with a 58 cal Rice barrel and a 1/66 - 1/72 round ball twist. Rice specifically states "DO NOT:Load with more than ONE round ball at a time and never attempt to shoot a conical bullet in a round ball (slow twist) barrel." So shooting roundballs in my 58 is my preference and I also prefer to follow the manufacturers advice. In addition I prefer Tanner molds which I can get in the size I need. I shoot ,562 roundballs. And now the reason is no longer unknown and as Paul Harvey would have said you know the rest of the story.

So if you are using minnies or conical bullets as I consider them the same go and enjoy shooting them.
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I think the reason people shoot roundball out of .58 caliber rifles rather than mines is because mines cost so much more than round balls or are too complex to cast.
Dutch

As I stated above it has nothing to do with cost just preference. I do not worry abut costs when it comes to shooting my flinters. I am going to enjoy it as long as I can. I prefer roundballs.

Dave