Runing Ball

[Old Charlie]

I ran some ball yesterday. In .54 cal. I wound up with 60 balls between 225 and 226 grains and 83 between 224 and 225 grains. I had about 10 or 12 light balls that I threw out. But I had one ball that weighted 227.3 grains. I don

 

[Stumpkiller]

That one ball was mostly pure lead and the rest have more "contaminates". I use old plumbing flashings and get occasional batches heavy in solder that lower the weight of the balls 2 grains. When I use lead pipe without joints I get heavier balls.

So, I pre-melt into ingots and use ingots from different scrap melts to try and average everything out.

 

[[email protected]]

WAY to go Charlie!
make yer own.....best and cheapest way to do it!
your weight spread really aint that big....
1 grain is only 1, 7 thousanths of a pound...
dont really think you could see a big poi change offhand or bench within ml'er distances.....

*** WV SCROUNGER ***

 

[CrackStock]

Charlie,


Most people stir their molten lead at times to keep the contents fairly consistent. This would eliminate the problem that Stump Killer mentions for future castings sessions.

While SK may have hit the culprit right, there are a few others that you might check as well.

I have a test for you to run. Do you have a micrometer?
If so, check the heavy ball against the others. It could be just a tad fatter away from the sprue line due to the failure of the mould to fully close.

Another possibility is that it was cast pretty hot and the sprue smeared rather than cut. This leaves a bit of extra weight. Check this area as well for any indication of this.

Good luck with your casting.

YMHS,
CrackStock