Lyman 370gr 50 cal Maxi

[Beagler]

Cast my first Maxi's and pre lubed them with 50/50 crisco/beeswax. Got the mold from my dad. Guess they where called T/C Maxi Hunters. He used the same type lube and he would drill a hollow point into them. Found the loads for it in my Lyman BP handbook. Guess this should be a big diff from my Round Ball

[Doc Highwall]

A round ball has it's uses but for greater energy down range a maxi or mini is the way to go.

[Beagler]

shot my share of deer with the round ball figured I would try the Maxi on some oinkers. I;m just worried about leading from the soft PB.

[stubshaft]

Those are Maxi Balls the Maxi Hunters look like this.

[Beagler]

Thanks for the info. Are those molds still made?

[stubshaft]

NO - IIRC the only one who made them was T/C. I may be wrong but have never seen one made of anything but aluminum in a single cavity.

[Beagler]

Thanks! Will see if I can find a decent used one some where.

[wgr]

shot my share of deer with the round ball figured I would try the Maxi on some oinkers. I;m just worried about leading from the soft PB.

not to worry you wont lead your barrel. ive shot hunreds of them on top of 90 grains of 2f. some in a 1in 48 twist some in 1in20/28

[longbow]

Beagler:

I have the same mould but got very poor performance using them in my CVA Hawken with 1:66" (or 1:70") round ball twist.

Not sure if it was partly fit but they certainly didn't work for me. I figured it was the slow twist as round ball shoots quite well. I had no leading problem, just poor accuracy.

If you have faster twist they should do well and it seems to me they are supposed to work in the round ball twist but regardless, I was unsuccessful with them.

Oddly, I had a .44 Kentucky rifle with round ball twist and shot Minie's out of it and they shot very well. Go figure!

I am sure you will be checking them out at the range before hunting anyway.

I hope they shoot well for you.

Longbow

[Nobade]

Accurate Molds has some designs like that in his catalog. And you get to specify diameter.

[Doc Highwall]

The 66" and 72" twists are great for round ball but are too slow for a conical that is more then 1 caliber long. The reason I say this is IIRC Buffalo made a 50 caliber Ballet that would shoot with a slow twist. For a conical you will want a 1-48" twist or faster.

[Beagler]

My T/C Hawken Flinter should be just fine then

[Good Cheer]

Just stuff Uncle Sam worked out in the 1800's and I got lucky and stumbled over...
A six foot twist worked well with .58 minies. The shape of "traditional" minies and the hollow base help to stabilize them. The lube grooves at the rear end act like fletching on arrows. All that generally keeps them from needing a fast twist.

[Doc Highwall]

Remember a larger diameter bullet has more centrifugal force and needs less twist to stabilize then a smaller caliber.

[357maximum]

A few years back I asked BaBore to make me a 280 grain TC Maxi-Hunter like boolit for my .50's. It turned out real well, shoots great and is available from him via BRP moulds in the vendor sponsor area. I will never part with mine, but he will make you one just like it. I lube mine with several different lubes and they all work pretty good. My favorite lube is a somewhat soft concoction that is microwax/vasoline/deertallow/beeswax based and it works good and stores well.

[Good Cheer]

Beagler,
Glad to see you let your dog listen on the head phones. Our oldest cat was a great fan of listening to them. And loved the silly kitty videos on youtube. We miss her.