TC maxiball too tight in a TC Hawken ?

[bang]

I'll second this if it's too tight for your liking. Buy a LEE resizer closest to what you need. If they don't make the exact size there are vids on how to polish them to the desired size.

Rolling on hard surface can help if the amount to size is minimal. I've found that most of the time the amount to size is just enough of out of round to cause issues. Typically at the mold seam.
A drill press and a selection of micro adjustable reamers is all you need to make sizer block. I use a mandrel in drill press to push projectile through sizer.

 

[morehops52]

I cast T/C Maxi 50's and they all go down every 50 I have no matter the brand. I also have a custom 50 with a slightly tight bore. The maxi starts hard but once the top ring is engraved to the rifling it goes down smooth. I've joked about my short starter being my slug sizer but I think a true sizer is your best option.

 

[longcruise]

Mine were very tight but a Lee 501 push through sizer solved it.

 

[user 34300]

It should not be tight all the way down. Once past the short starter depth the original size should not matter. Are you suing pure soft lead? Cleaning between shots is pretty much necessary. IF you are already doing that I suspect the bore is rough. Work it over with scotchbrite or steel wool and polishing compound?

 

[Sudsy]

The bore on your TC is smaller than any I have ever loaded Maxi Balls in. Are you sure there is no rust or bad spots in the bore?

Never shot before, and it's equally tight from the top to the bottom.
Brutally tight at the bottom after 2 shots when the crud ring starts forming. Probably deforming the bullet because I have to hammer it so hard.

 

[ETipp]

Never shot before, and it's equally tight from the top to the bottom.
Brutally tight at the bottom after 2 shots when the crud ring starts forming. Probably deforming the bullet because I have to hammer it so hard.

Is there any rust or bad places in the barrel? Did you slide a bore light down the barrel all the way until it bottomed out and looked at the bore? It's normal for projectiles to start fairly hard for the first 5-6 inches or so. Then they should go easy until seated on the charge. Crud ring will make it more difficult to seat.

If there is no rust or bad places in the bore, my suspicion is the lead is not soft. I give you an example. I've cast Maxi Balls out of wheel weights. They start hard and continue that way all the way down. I bought some Hornady Great Plains Bullets, melted them down, and cast some new Maxi Balls using the same mold. They were a tad tight at the muzzle and freed up the remainder of the way down. Same mold, different lead.

 

[Sudsy]

Rolling on hard surface can help if the amount to size is minimal.
A drill press and a selection of micro adjustable reamers is all you need to make sizer block. I use a mandrel in drill press to push projectile through sizer.

I suspect the bore is rough. Work it over with scotchbrite or steel wool and polishing compound?

Great ideas ! I'll start with these.

I have a laboratory flat granite plate, and a small heavy flat bit of steel to roll them with. That should work really well.

I have a machinist friend, I'll see if he can drill me a few holes in a block of steel and use my drill press to push them through.

And I've had really good results polishing a new bore using a length of dowel with a slot cut, a few grades of sandpaper from 600 to Crocus cloth in the slot, chucked into a drill at high speed, and worked up and down the bore. I'll have a go with that, knock off any burrs.

 

[SDSmlf]

Before getting the right die I need to figure out how to slug a barrel that you can only access from one end.

Just drop a short brass rod (you could add to few wraps of tape near the ends of the rod for more barrel protection) down the bore, then push your lead ‘slug’ partially down the bore, leaving 12” or more between it and the brass rod. Repeatedly tilt the barrel up and down until the sliding brass rod drives out your slug.

 

[SDSmlf]

I have a laboratory flat granite plate, and a small heavy flat bit of steel to roll them with. That should work really well.

I have a machinist friend, I'll see if he can drill me a few holes in a block of steel and use my drill press to push them through.

You know the Maxi Ball was designed to have a smaller diameter at the bottom and larger diameter at the top to make it easy to load straight, similar to the Lee REAL. They were not intended to be sized. Do your Maxi Balls drop in the bore and stop in the top ring?

Below is the blurb from an old TC catalog explaining the concept.

 

[Sudsy]

Not on my gun it doesn't
Takes an effort to get the first bands in, take the mallet to get the top one in and moving

 

[user 34300]

Alloy lead casts larger than pure.

Sizing the bullet is not the answer. If you size it down enough to load easy you loose the larger top band. That is not how it was designed to work. You want the top band over bore diameter. It will shoot more accurately and it will stay put on the powder charge better. If it is loosie goosie it may come off the powder and you could ring your barrel.

I suppose you could make a size die that matches the bore. Then set he sizer machine to stop before the top band is reduced. It seems like a lot of trouble. I'd find some pure lead.

 

[ETipp]

Not on my gun it doesn't
Takes an effort to get the first bands in, take the mallet to get the top one in and moving

Not pure soft lead! Get yourself some soft lead and cast some more. Even if you have to melt down some other soft lead bullets, such as Hornaday Great Plains Bullets. That is is fastest way to figure this out. If you still have problems then there’s a reason why that rifle was a wall hanger.

 

[Sudsy]

Last time - YES IT"S PURE SOFT LEAD !
From an industrial source that used pure lead, and tested at 5 - which is pure lead.

 

[SDSmlf]

Not on my gun it doesn't
Takes an effort to get the first bands in, take the mallet to get the top one in and moving

What size do the top and bottom rings of your cast Maxi measure? The bottom should be bore size or just under, and the top about .005” larger.

I have TC molds in 45, 50 and 54 caliber, and the bullets they drop fit the same in multiple TC bores. There are a few barrels by other manufacturers that though labeled 45, 50 or 54 caliber that will swallow up the TC bullets. The TC bores typically will look like this with a Maxi Ball placed in it.

 

[Sudsy]

Top band is .510

 

[ETipp]

Last time - YES IT"S PURE SOFT LEAD !
From an industrial source that used pure lead, and tested at 5 - which is pure for the

Last time - YES IT"S PURE SOFT LEAD !
From an industrial source that used pure lead, and tested at 5 - which is pure lead.

I’m finished with you.

Good luck!

 

[SDSmlf]

Top band is .510

Top band should be about .505”. And the bottom band is?

We know you are not using an alloy which would cast harder and larger than pure lead, so someone has modified the mold to cast a larger projectile.

 

[Sudsy]

.5075
I bought it new many many years ago, only shot it out of my old Traditions Hawken, which loved it.

Really wishing I had sold this gun and kept the Traditions

 

[SDSmlf]

.5075

Should be .500” max or a little less.

The TC barrel sounds like it is to spec.

You have a mold someone ‘customized’ to fit their gun with what they had to cast. Might want to sell it or give it to whoever bought your Traditions Hawken as it has quite the oversized bore if the slugs you cast fit it.

Or hold on to the mold until you stumble in a gun with an oversized OEM bore or a bore that has been refreshed. Hazard of buying used stuff.

 

[Sudsy]

Or hold on to the mold until you stumble in a gun with an oversized OEM bore or a bore that has been refreshed. Hazard of buying used stuff.

I actually bought it new near 30 years ago
Could it just be wore out ?
The finish inside the mold is completely worn off