Oversized round balls

[soldierbilly1]

OK, going to the hive here.
I am shooting "50 cal" round balls out of my flinter and loving it.
My CVA's and Gander Mts (ie, RB's) run about 0.490 per my calipers.
The RB's out of my newly acquired Lee mold are listed as 0.490 BUT they
are dropping at 0.500! Yikes.
I can get them down my bore using 0.015" patches but they are a little tough.
(BTW, sprue first) Is there anything I can do to reduce the size of the molded ball? I am using
melted stick on weights, no Tin.
Or, should I just buy patches listed as 0.010"??
Add a little tin? (a BP no, no) or reduce size by loading the mold cavities with mold release?
thanks for the advice.
Billy boy

[runfiverun]

i'd go with a thinner patch first.

[44man]

Thinner patch!
The stick on weights can be anything so you do not know if you have pure lead.
Put the sprue UP.

[243winxb]

Buy pure lead.

[fouronesix]

Echo all above. Adding tin will do nothing but harden the alloy and add some diameter. Adding mold release won't decrease diameter enough to matter.

Your pre-cut patches are probably comparable to ticking at .015".

I'd try pure lead and get some bulk .010-12" patching material. Mic your .015" to get a feel for it. Then take your calipers or mic to Wallyworld or a cloth store and look for tight weave, 100% cotton. Color doesn't matter. Get a yard or two. Wash and dry to take the sizing out. Cut into strips about 1 1/2 to 1 3/4 inches wide. Cut patches at muzzle.

Always a good idea to have at least two different patch materials. You never know what works best with a particular ball/rifle combo until you try it.

Oh and almost forgot. Lee molds are notorious for iffy GC. Check to make sure the mold halves are making full contact and and there is no debris on the faces and nothing is obstructing the alignment pins as they lay into their slots. Or that the halves are not warped. Any of those things can cause over-sized or out-of-round castings.

[HARRYMPOPE]

for a good thin tough patch of about .009 Muslin is hard to beat.A yard cost about $6.

George

[cbrick]

44man is correct. Could be anything in the stickies. I am very meticulous with my tape weights, every single one gets cut with wire cutters and if it feels even slightly different or odd it gets tossed aside. It's a real PITA to do that but I have several hundred pounds of it all blended together for a single uniform lot of alloy. I have very consistent results and I think it's about as close to pure as I can get without buying pure. Even so, who knows. It does check at 6 BHN but . . .

As was mentioned, check the mold and use thinner patches while waiting for your order of pure to arrive. Once you get the pure cast some balls and compare the diameter difference between the stickies and the pure. We all might learn something from such a test.

Rick

[jhickdog]

Round ball in muzzleloaders should be pure lead. That will correct your problem. Patch should be 0.015. The moulds are made to drop the round in pure lead at the size stated on the mould. Jhickdog

[waksupi]

Round ball in muzzleloaders should be pure lead. That will correct your problem. Patch should be 0.015. The moulds are made to drop the round in pure lead at the size stated on the mould. Jhickdog
We've went around on this one at least fifty times. You do not need pure lead for round balls. Find the right ball and patch combination.