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Muskrat Mike
09-25-2008, 10:26 PM
I bought a lyman 285 round ball mould mainly to get the handles that were included with it. I cast some of the balls with it and they come out .287 with #2 alloy. What was this mould for? Could I possibly load some in the 7mm/08 for plinking and if so how? Thanks ahead of time!
gnoahhh
09-26-2008, 10:17 PM
Push a ball into the mouth of an unsized case over a charge of about 5 grains of a fast shotgun powder (Clays, Red Dot, etc.), smear a litle lube on top of it (as if you were sealing the diameter of the ball in the neck) and shoot it. Good back yard tin can load. The trick is to see how low/slow you can go. If you start getting balls stuck in the bore, increase the charge by a grain and go with it. If you do get a ball stuck in the bore DO NOT try to shoot it out. You may be playing with miniscule chamber pressures but all bets are off in that kind of a situation. At the very least you will ring the bore. Just push it out with a good rod. If you cast them out of soft lead (and you should) it'll ease right out.

You'll be surprised at how accurate those round ball plinkers can be!
Muskrat Mike
09-28-2008, 09:49 PM
Push a ball into the mouth of an unsized case over a charge of about 5 grains of a fast shotgun powder (Clays, Red Dot, etc.), smear a litle lube on top of it (as if you were sealing the diameter of the ball in the neck) and shoot it. Good back yard tin can load. The trick is to see how low/slow you can go. If you start getting balls stuck in the bore, increase the charge by a grain and go with it. If you do get a ball stuck in the bore DO NOT try to shoot it out. You may be playing with miniscule chamber pressures but all bets are off in that kind of a situation. At the very least you will ring the bore. Just push it out with a good rod. If you cast them out of soft lead (and you should) it'll ease right out.

You'll be surprised at how accurate those round ball plinkers can be!

Thanks! Sounds like fun!
MT Gianni
09-28-2008, 09:54 PM
If you can know where they shoot at 15-25 yards they make a great small game bullet.