hard round balls

[black44hawk]

Hey y'all, got another question for you. I am thinking about casting .49 round balls for my muzzleloader. I only have access to WW. I know you are supposed to use soft lead for this purpose, but are their any ill effects of using air cooled wheel weights? Should hard round balls be slightly undersized?

[Crowkiller]

I have fired WW round balls from my muzzleloader just fine, as well as REAL bullets cast of WW. The REAL bullets took some effort. I'd want to make sure a pure lead ball of the same diameter was not a "hammer in" fit, or you might have problems.

Pure lead was more accurate in my rifle.

[44man]

Many get away with hard balls but they must be smaller and a thicker patch used. You will depend on the patch material and some obturation to take the rifling. Not the best combination for top accuracy. You will also lose some effect of expansion when hunting.

[NickSS]

I have used hard round balls for years in my ML and find that they work fine but are harder to load. They also do not expand in game worth a hoot. I use soft lead when I can get it but have noticed no decernable difference in accuracy out to 100 yards or so.

[SharpsShooter]

You can anneal the WW roundball. Put them on a baking pan and place it in the oven. 450* for 1 hour works very well for My BPCR and would do the trick for you. BTW, after 1 hour, leave the oven door closed and allow them to cool slowly on their own.


SS

[black44hawk]

Annealing is an interesting trick I would have to do in absentia uxoris. I know I would loose expansion but 1/2 inch is a pretty big hole. I was surprised about hearing of obduration in Round Balls: I never really thought about round balls being deformed by pressure. Doesn't the patch work as a seal instead of the bullet base? Is accuracy still dependent on obduration?

[Leftoverdj]

WW RBs of .490 will work fine in most .50 cal muzzleloaders. You may have to experiment a little with patch material because all the compression will be in the patch.

[Andy_P]

I use a wheelweight RB 0.600" in diameter in a Snider whose grooves slug to 0.590" 0.010" seems like a lot of squeezing, but with a round ball, it's a very little amount of material that is touching the bore. The issue with such a large ball is with the throat, which must be generous to allow it to chamber.

[Ricochet]

I was surprised about hearing of obduration in Round Balls: I never really thought about round balls being deformed by pressure. Doesn't the patch work as a seal instead of the bullet base? Is accuracy still dependent on obduration?
Yes, they obturate from the acceleration forces, and that's important in the ball/patch combination taking the rifling. If you stop one in a suitably soft material, you can see that there's a substantial cylindrical section around the equator with the rifling impressed into it through the patch.

[ANeat]

Black44hawk; Ask around, you may be able to track someone down and trade some of your WW for pure lead. Ive done it myself a few times but shipping priority boxes around gets a little old. Where are you located.

Adam

[Blammer]

I shoot WW 50 cal RB's out of my MZ, and pure lead ones.

I'd have no problem hunting with a WW RB.

Just for grins I shot 80gr FFg, 50 cal (.495 actually and .015 patch) RB into 8 1 gallon water jugs placed back to back at a distance of 20 yards. Retrieve the ball out of the 8th one and it was still perfectly round with a small bit of indentions from the patch.

Seeing the devistation it did, I'd have no problems deer hunting with it.

If you're gonna use WW for RB in your MZ your patch choice will be most important.

[black44hawk]

I live in Northern Kentucky if anyone wants to swap pure lead for WW. I imagine the shipping would be dreadful though. Does anyone have any tricks for salvaging pure lead? I have been getting the WW cheap enough at the local metal scrap yard, but never seem to find the lead pipe, wire, etc.

[ANeat]

Northern KY?? Black44Hawk we may be pretty close together. I live in SW Ohio. I sent you a PM.

Adam

[whisler]

Black44hawk: Where in Northern KY? I live in Campbell County.