Swaged or Run Balls?

[Swampman]

You don't need a scale. 5-8 grains of weight varation doesn't hurt a thing.

This hobby is so simple. That's what makes it fun.

 

[roundball]

Hey.....that's right.....we don't need no stinking twist!
:grin:

 

[Dave_B]

"I agree completely. We are talking about muzzleloaders here. Logic would lead one to think it was important in them too, but it isn't. They can shoot some pretty crappy projectiles and a wide range of charges with outstanding results. There is no measurable difference in the way culls shoot, and the way perfect projectiles shoot. Weighing and sorting is a waste of time."

I haven't spent any time on serious target shooting with my muzzle loaders yet, so I can't offer a valuable opinion. I do have a chronograph and lots of weight/size measuring equipment as well as a great place to shoot. I'll spend some time and see what results I get. It seems to me that less variation at the gun will result in less variation at the target.
Dave

 

[Halftail]

That's what makes it fun

Swampman,
In your present frame of mind do you really think it's fun? :hmm:

 

[Stumpkiller]

It just bothers me that so many quit or avoid the hobby because they think it's complicated. I'm thinking it's all the cheap guns that require the load development.

Oh, but belittling their equipment keeps them happy and content? I wish it would also worry you that folks may quit or leave because of the attitudes of others. Many folks make do with what they have even if it is not perfect. Happiness is not from having all that you desire, but from enjoying all that you have.

If you can take a handfull of mismatched and deformed balls and outshoot 38 riflemen in a match you have intimidating skills. Or . . .

Do you bother to measure your powder or just toss a scoche at approximatly the muzzle somewhere without looking?

Need a little forum warning label: "The results in some fantasy relms may not hold true in this reality."

 

[Dave_B]

I decided to measure some of my cast balls and some Hornady swaged balls and see how they compared. Both were .490 lead balls.
Here is what I found:

15 each were weighed and the diameter measured
-----------------swaged----------cast
avg. weight: 178.2 gr -----175.9 gr
min. weight: 177.2 gr -----175.9 gr
max weight: 178.5 gr -----176.9 gr

The cast balls were right on at .490" and the swaged balls were a few thou over at .492"

15 of each isn't a large population, but it gives a clue.
Dave

 

[Stumpkiller]

Something else that occurred to me when considering "What would Jedidiah do?" as regards to casting. I bet in 1760 they weren't using scrap plumber's lead and reclaimed crusty pipe like I am. I get more dross than lead when I melt down my free scrap. Solder, okum, calcium carbinate, dried poo . . . you name it.

Part of why I weigh and inspect is because I'm skeptical of my own skills. I know the first 10 balls will be from a cold mould and wrinkled, then occasional voids as I allow the mould to cool too long between pours or when I slop a pour and see the sprue suck in as it cools (a visual sign you have a possible void). I keep +/- 0.4 grains or so. Enough to float the bar on my balance scale.

Back to the original queston: I like cast balls better because it is fun and rewarding to roll my own. Taking a buck with a ball you cast yourself is a feeling that can't be bought. But if I had to shoot a shotglass off my dog's head at 50 yards I'd probably choose a swaged ball to try it. :winking: I'd use a cast ball if it was my neighbor's noisy cur. :haha:

 

[soggy]

:winking: I'd use a cast ball if it was my neighbor's noisy cur. :haha:

:hmm: With my luck that's when I'd dry-ball :rotf:
Soggy

 

[Blivetmaker]

Quote: The results in some fantasy relms may not hold true in this reality." :rotf: :rotf: :rotf:

This post was generated utilising analog, bioelectrical equipment. Exposure to physical and
chemical stress over 40 years of service may degrade the results of this equipment, rendering said results inappropriate for certain purposes.

 

[Swampman]

"Do you bother to measure your powder or just toss a scoche at approximatly the muzzle somewhere without looking?"

I'm not that careful. A couple of grains either way in powder or ball weight won't effect the group size.

It just isn't that critical. They coolest thing about this hobby is it's simplicity. It's actually fun, if you just shoot and quit worring.

 

[AZ-Robert]

It's actually fun, if you just shoot and quit worring.

Could be that some of us enjoy worrying and fretting over getting things "just right," and that is what makes it fun for us. For others, just slinging lead is all that matters.

The quest for penultimate accuracy is sorta kinda maybe like fretting over whether or not to use olive oil instead of bore butter, or whether or not a blend is okay to use instead of pure hemp in the fabric of a shirt. People just "worry" over different things... or, to take a different slant... people just care about different things.

And in the "how to start a flame war" tactic... it is all about how ________ you want to be.

(fill in the blank with the value-laden word of your choice, sort of a take off on the tactic of "if it is not my way, it is wrong and you can't be having fun")

 

[AZ-Robert]

This post was generated utilising analog, bioelectrical equipment....

Hah! :rotf: I'm recycling that one!