The title says it all: I'm looking for a .610" diameter round ball mold, which actually casts [very close to] .610." I'd like to try those in my 20ga. trade gun with tow overpower and over ball wadding.
WTB .610" round ball mould
- Thread starter Maven
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Greyfeather
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Buffalo arms carries one by RCBS http://www.buffaloarms.com/rcbs_round_ball_bullet_moulds_pr-4461.aspx
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I'll check this out. Thanks!
You can get a .610 mold from Jeff Tanner for about half what you would pay for the above mentioned one.
If nothing else pans out, I most certainly will be emailing Jeff. Nothing against RCBS or Lyman moulds, but the price of the former is outrageous.
nwtradegun
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if you want a bag mold larry calahan makes them
http://www.bagmolds.com/UNZIPPED/htdocs/1.shtml
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Maven said:
I am curious about why you are so specific about using a 0.610" diameter ball. Have you used other sized balls and were not satisfied with the results? Have you measured your bore and what does it measure?
You other thread in the Shooting Accessories forum has some good links to sources for cast round balls. Try some ball before you spend a lot of money on bullet molds.
Eric Krewson said:
True. But you will need either Lyman or Lee large handles.
It was suggested to me to get a fishing sinker mould and round file ball in the needed size and make your own custom round ball mould.
I never said I haven't tried other RB diameters or lack molds for them, Grenadier. Rather, I was impressed by Mike Beliveau's article on loading the RB in 20ga. smoothbores in the July - August issue of "Muzzleloader" enough to want to try to duplicate his loading of the .610" RB with tow over powder and over ball "wads." I'm having trouble grouping with the .597" - .598" Tanner & Lee Precision RB's + a felt OP wad + a .014" or .018" patch @ 50 yd. so I thought I'd try Mike's method.
Btw, I've seen no difference @ 25 yd.between the 2 RB diameters I mentioned above or with the .600" RB I also cast from a Lyman mold.
Btw, I've seen no difference @ 25 yd.between the 2 RB diameters I mentioned above or with the .600" RB I also cast from a Lyman mold.
Are you using pure lead? As LarryP mentioned different alloys or impurities cause different rates of contraction as the lead cools (coefficient of expansion). The mold is cut larger than 0.610" to get a cool 0.610" round lead ball.
Yes, I've been using pure Pb. However, I did try casting with wheelwrights + 1% tin the other day and got the Lyman mould to drop .604" - .605" (v. .600", pure Pb), which may be promising.
Sorry Stumpy, auto correct substituted "wheel wrights" for wheel weights. Needless to say, I sometimes cast round balls from the latter with 1% tin added.
hanshi
Cannon
My Lee mold casts beautiful .600" ball from pure lead. When I substitute WW they fall out about.606" which shoots much better in bare ball loads than the lead ball.
Maven said:
I read Mike Beliveau's article and see the basis for your request for sources for a 0.610" roundball. There are a few things to consider before you get a 0.610" ball stuck in your 0.610" or perhaps a bit larger bore. Mike's bore was 0.615". One of his 20 gauge guns would only accept the 0.610 ball required wiping between shots. The other worked fine with the 0.610 ball. Mike stressed that each gun is unique to its own use and the ball should be about 0.005" under bore diameter to allow the tow to have room to wrap the ball and get pushed down the bore. Mike also used a stout charge of 110 grains (volume) ffg to get his load to work.
Don't be surprised if a 0.610 ball is hard to load in your fowler. Let us know how it works.
Grenadier & Dewey, I remember Mike's caveat about each gun being a law unto itself. At 25 yd., a patched RB either .597" or .600" and 80gr. FFg are equally accurate. However, rather than buy a .610" mould, I've asked for and hope to receive samples of same shortly. Once I get them, I'll be able to determine whether the larger bare ball will fit my bore. Btw, I tried the 100- & 110gr. patched RB loads and found no huge improvement over 80- or 90gr., but I need to retest them using a bigger target (8" black circle, 1" white X ring).
Woody Morgan
62 Cal.
Conversely, if one was to custom bore a barrel to a smoothbore 20 gauge, what would the optimum diameter be (in thousanths)?
A suitable RB mold would be what diameter? Planning on using ~.012 patches, btw.
wm
A suitable RB mold would be what diameter? Planning on using ~.012 patches, btw.
wm
You could buy some ready made .610 balls from Track to try before you buy a mold. I bough a Lee .690 mold for my 12 ga, they shot poorly, I tried some ready made .700 that shot really well so I ordered a Tanner mold in .700.
Like was mentioned Tanner molds don't come with handle but you can buy them from Tanner when you buy the mold. In my case I have so many molds that I have a variety that I don't use and took the handles off them to use on my Tanner.
Like was mentioned Tanner molds don't come with handle but you can buy them from Tanner when you buy the mold. In my case I have so many molds that I have a variety that I don't use and took the handles off them to use on my Tanner.
