12 gauge round balls

[Greg5278]

I need a little bit of help here. I am working on a 12 gauge round ball load for a Friend. I have fired the .678, .690, and .715" balls. The load I am going to work on needs a ball of .635-.675" diameter. I wanted to cast them from WW. Does anybody have a mold I can rent/borrow?

I will share the loads, and they should shhot fine. The major issue with rounds balls is the lack of a good bore fit for proper stabilization. Usually the loads will shoot better in the smoothbore, than the rifled bore. I am goin gto use the tough Steel shot wads to get a good bite in the rifing.

So far my 880gr slug has done 1400-1500FPS in the 3" load. I don't know if anybody else has gotten around to firing the ones I sent them last Fall.

Thanks for any help you can provide,
Greg Sappington

[webfoot10]

Hi Greg, I was reading about your 12 ga round ball loads. I load 2 3/4 in 12 ga
shells with a magnum load of herco powder and a plastic shot cup wad with
the fingers trimed off. I then use 12 ga filler wads under the .680 dia round ball
to keep the ball just under the crimp fold. I use soft lead for my round balls and
roll them in my mud ball machine to swedge the spue into the ball. Then I wrap the ball in two m16 cleaning patches and seat into the shell on top of the paper
wads. Then one overshot wad and then crimp. I use these in an old H&R topper
slug gun and can keep the shots in a 6 inch circle at fifty yards. I got my .680 dia
mold from Dixie gun works, costs about $20.00. Its a cast iron sissor mold that
they cut to your order. The only drawback is you have to cut the spue with a
nipper and roll the balls to round them out, as the mold is not perfectly round.
You may have to play with the patching on the ball to get a good fit. My gun
has no choke, But I have shot these loads thru full choke guns with no problem.
The patches will keep the ball centered in the bore and will compress in the choke
and drop away as the ball leaves the barrel. One of the guys at my gun club tried
these in a scope sighted Rem 870 and could keep the shots in 6 inches at 100 yds. So give them a try. Webfoot

[Greg5278]

I was looking for the smaller round balls. My loads will do better than 6" at 50 yards. I wouldn't consider that acceptable. The wads I have will require a ball around .662" give or take a few thousandths. I want to give the ball a minor cruch fit in a smoothbore, or enough grab arcoss the lands for proper rifling engagment.
I am looking for 2" or less for a group at 50 yards. A smoothbore is capable of surprising accuracy, if the projectile fits the bore.

I have fired several groups of 2" with handloaded hand cast Foster type slugs.
The Rapine 600 grain slugs work well, except for the fact that the mold is .002" out of round.
Greg

[Leftoverdj]

Dixie Gun Works will make a mould to the diameter you specify. As noted, their moulds are a bit crude, but they work. There's also a Brit who offers a similar service, but I've lost his name.

Other than that, there's always ebay.

[whisler]

The Brit's name is Jeff Tanner. Try www.jt-bullet-moulds.co.uk or google Jeff Tanner

[Blammer]

there are some easy mold tricks around here somewhere that may help you get that bullet back into round....

If I think I understand the principal correctly...

[Linstrum]

Hi, guys. You have quite an interesting project!

I can't say much except that with .672" round balls I have had good luck by taking a great big wide wood rasp and rolling the ball around under it while pressing on it quite hard to impress it full of hundreds of little dents from the rasp teeth. It is the same idea as golf balls having dimples, it helps it slide through the wind so it will go farther and retain its energy farther down range. It works well with either rifling or smoothbore, the rifling of course being quite a bit more accurate at distance.

[leftiye]

Plus, you could LLA it and the holes would keep lube on the surface.

[Linstrum]

Hey, there Leftiye, now thats some GOOD thinkin'!

I'm gunna remember that!

[Pepe Ray]

The simpelist trick to dimpeling lead balls is to tumble them together.
AT least thats what I remember. NOT a vibrator (tho that may be worth a try),
but a tumbeler. I don't have a tumbeler but I'd stitch them up in an old dungeree pant leg and toss them in the dryer on COLD for an hour.
If it's too heavy for the dryer you may need to readjust the weight.
Seems to me I read this here in this forum. Author unknown.
Pepe Ray

[725]

Greg, I've gotten a few of the moulds made by J. J. Tanner. Very good quality. Cast well and he will make any size you want. Best of all, the costs seem cheap to me and he stands behind his workmanship. Figure out what size you want and contact his web site. Seems like my turn around time was a few weeks.
725