• If you have bought, sold or gained information from our Classifieds, please donate to Muzzleloading Forum and give back.

    You can become a Supporting Member which comes with a decal or just click here to donate.

  • Friends, our 2nd Amendment rights are always under attack and the NRA has been a constant for decades in helping fight that fight.

    We have partnered with the NRA to offer you a discount on membership and Muzzleloading Forum gets a small percentage too of each membership, so you are supporting both the NRA and us.

    Use this link to sign up please; https://membership.nra.org/recruiters/join/XR045103

Round Balls

Muzzleloading Forum

Help Support Muzzleloading Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

DB43725

32 Cal
Joined
Jun 16, 2021
Messages
13
Reaction score
16
I recently went to an estate sale and bought a couple of lot's which contained all sizes of round lead balls. So any help with finding some one who would be interested just pm me. I got a mic so I can measure the balls someone my be able to use. No looking to get rich off of these just trying to recoup some of my investment. Thanks for any help.
Dennis
 
Balls can be sorted. I was given a repurposed cat litter jar that the man's widow had filled with all of his powders, Black FF,FFF, and FFFF, plus at least three different smokeless powders. The powder mixture makes nice bombs for blowing ground hog holes!But not good for anything else! With the price of flat rate boxes these days you would need a large quanity to make it worth while shipping. You will just have to find a local club to get rid of them
 
Well I understand but I did find about 8 or 10 boxes of Hornady round balls unopened. I was going to just melt it all down and add some Linatype for hardness for cast bullets. But my health may not let me. He must have been a caster as their's a lot different sized bullets.
 
They are all looking for ball.
Sort them out by size, tossing each size in a pile, then list them in the classified section.
Lead here is selling around $2 a pound plus shipping.
It takes about 40 50cal ball to make a pound.
A box of ball is $15+
Do the math,, :)
 
Just me - but I won't shoot some random lead cast by someone I don't know and from a source of lead that I have not tested.
For the Hornady balls in sealed boxes - those are good to go. They would be dependable and made of soft lead.
The rest I would sort by what looks or measures the same - and re-melt into 1# ingots for hardness testing using a reliable and calibrated lead hardness tester.
For accurate testing - melt and cast into some ingot form - let it sit for 24-36 hours before testing. This gives the lead the time to fully settle the crystalline structure and will result in the most accurate hardness test. Remelting will also help determine if there are any unwanted metals in the mix - like zinc - which will show up as oatmeal looking skim floating on the pot.
The leads ability to harden smoothly and finish shiny will help determine if it has tin or silver content.
Since this is not the for sale area - I can't make an open offer, but would be willing to work with you on the final disposition of this lot.
 
Interesting, Griz; I'll shoot any ball I can patch and get down the bore. I guess I'm a cheap date. :dunno:
I shoot a lot of lead from guns other than muzzleloaders.
Using a too soft or too hard lead that is not in line with the hardness-pressure curve can cause severe leading - from over plasma melt over obituration of soft lead to gas blow-by cutting on lead that is too hard.
I have shot lead bullets from my K-91 at close to 2350 fps with no leading (using 24+ BH and adding a gas cap on the base).
In a 45-70 softer lead works fairly well, but the same hardness bullet in a 45-110 will leave heavy lead in the barrel - it's too soft to handle the excessive pressure.
I can shoot a pure lead 45 conical from a muzzleloader but the exact same mold casting a bullet for a 45ACP will lead the bore - it needs to be 8.5-11 BH and it will function perfectly with no leading. I don't like having to de-lead a barrel and make every attempt to avoid it - by using the right hardness lead for the application.
 
I shoot a lot of lead from guns other than muzzleloaders.
Using a too soft or too hard lead that is not in line with the hardness-pressure curve can cause severe leading - from over plasma melt over obituration of soft lead to gas blow-by cutting on lead that is too hard.
I have shot lead bullets from my K-91 at close to 2350 fps with no leading (using 24+ BH and adding a gas cap on the base).
In a 45-70 softer lead works fairly well, but the same hardness bullet in a 45-110 will leave heavy lead in the barrel - it's too soft to handle the excessive pressure.
I can shoot a pure lead 45 conical from a muzzleloader but the exact same mold casting a bullet for a 45ACP will lead the bore - it needs to be 8.5-11 BH and it will function perfectly with no leading. I don't like having to de-lead a barrel and make every attempt to avoid it - by using the right hardness lead for the application.
Very well said as I used to make a lot of lead shot and added a anamony to it along with some tin. When I say a lot I mean a few tons.A lot of hard work involved. Anyway I also have hundreds of brass gas checks and different sized bullets with most being in a bin box a labeled in thousands.
 
What sizes of Hornady balls do you have?

Generally speaking, most of us on the forum here want pure lead. Hornady's plain round balls are pure lead, generally speaking, although they do make .485 "hardballs" put up in blister packs with a little plastic sabot or cup for each ball. As far as I know, their round balls in the red boxes are all pure lead

As for the assorted balls, if they are not clearly and reliably labeled, your best bet may be to just sell them by the pound. Measuring and sorting them would be a tedious job.

Best regards,

Notchy Bob
 
I got. .440 some. .451, 7 boxs of .570 Right now I got a box of .350 and 2 boxs of .490 I'm waiting to hear back on the last 2.. The ol boy has balls stuffed in plastic bags and plastic 22 boxs so far all the ones he had marked are spot on. Some the marking are faided and hard to read.
 
What sizes of Hornady balls do you have?

Generally speaking, most of us on the forum here want pure lead. Hornady's plain round balls are pure lead, generally speaking, although they do make .485 "hardballs" put up in blister packs with a little plastic sabot or cup for each ball. As far as I know, their round balls in the red boxes are all pure lead

As for the assorted balls, if they are not clearly and reliably labeled, your best bet may be to just sell them by the pound. Measuring and sorting them would be a tedious job.

Best regards,

Notchy Bob
I had plenty of time last evening as power was off so got into sorting and it appears he had bought all these balls from the sporting goods store in Columbus, Ohio. Their's still bag's i haven't checked yet. Because I am mic them for size.
 
I had plenty of time last evening as power was off so got into sorting and it appears he had bought all these balls from the sporting goods store in Columbus, Ohio. Their's still bag's i haven't checked yet. Because I am mic them for size.
If you have any in the .525"- .527" range, I would be interested.

Thanks!

Notchy Bob
 

Latest posts

Back
Top