Alloy -vs - Pure Lead Musket Balls

[mtmeredith]

Hello,

I am just getting into casting and intend to start will balls and minnie balls. Minnie balls and balls rammed into a pistol cylander without a patch need to be soft, pure, lead. I get that. A comment in an earlier post stated that patched balls need to be soft lead as well. This I don't get. Since the ball is patched, what affect does the lead content have on the musket ball? The most common form of inexpensive lead is the wheel weight. If I can't get decent results with them, I don't want to spend the time and effort collecting them until I am ready yo start reloading for my .357. Thanks for the help.

[Sasquatch-1]

I have used WW for my .54 cal Tradition's Hawkins for years with very good results.

[44man]

Yes, you can use WW metal but the ball needs to be smaller or you will need a hammer.
I can't use hard lead because I stay just under bore and some guns use bore size. My .45's use a .450 ball, .54 uses a .535" and I even have a .540 ball.
I use a thick enough patch so the ball is engraved .005" deep by the cloth at the grooves.
Hard lead depends on the patch to seal and take rifling.
RB guns are more critical then you might think. Even a .002" difference in a patch can mean the difference between just shooting and punching a ragged hole.
A Minie' might be real good if harder but I would use a good fit to the bore with any lead.

[captaint]

mt - I don't - but it would seem that ALL of the black powder guys use soft lead, for whatever reason. If it were me, I would save the WW's for the .357 or some other smokeless load. enjoy Mike

[45-70 Chevroner]

The patch on the ball is squeezed into the soft lead and conforms to the groves of the barrel that is what gives the proper spin to the ball and seals the bore better. Harder lead like WW will not work as well because the patch will not squeeze in the groves as well. I have shot muzzloaders for over 40 years and have used WW air cooled but only for plinking. I can shoot 2"groups with my custom made 50 caliber at a 100 yards using pure lead but that group opens up to 5 or 6" using WW. Of course that was when I was in my earlier years, I don't do that well any more as I am in my 70's and my eyes are not as good as they once were, I also shake a little bit.
As 44man said it is much harder to ram the ball down the barrel using WW he is right and you might have to use a hammer to seat the ball. In my 50 caliber I use a .495 RB and .0015 tight weave pure cotton patch. When I have used WW I have to use a .490 ball and a thinner patch.

[rmark]

With the .50 Perdersoli Tryon rifle I had I cast .495 soft balls and .490 ww balls, which shot to the same point at 50 yards. The barrel was 1-48 with .005 grooves which may have helped with the ww balls. Deeper groves might result in blow by with the harder ww balls.