where to get pure lead ball for slugging a barrel

[wertman94]

Can anyone direct me to where I can buy some pure lead balls to slug a barrel for my 45acp?

[Taylor]

Rotometals, sinkers and stick on wheel weights. And round balls for muzzleloaders.

[RU shooter]

Go get a egg sinker or whatever kinda round shape the have at the Wally mart or bait shop If it's not big enough dia. smack it with a hammer a few times to make it oversized

[one-eyed fat man]

Go get a egg sinker or whatever kinda round shape the have at the Wally mart or bait shop If it's not big enough dia. smack it with a hammer a few times to make it oversized

Be careful with sinkers. Lots of them are NOT lead any more. With several states banning lead fishing weights (https://bicojigs.com/lead-law/), some of the big box retailers only stock the "approved" types.

[Rich/WIS]

Check any local shops selling muzzleloader supplies, may have .454 or .457 RB for BP revolvers.

[centershot]

Track of the Wolf will have properly sized round ball for your purpose but it's less expensive to visit the bait shop and pick up some lead sinkers. As stated above, be sure they are lead.

[bedbugbilly]

As noted above - if you buy round balls from a dealer - such as hornady balls, etc. - you are going to have to buy a minimum of a box - usually 100 unless a large caliber.

Lead sinkers work well - but if you can't find lead sinkers and just want a few lead round balls - you can always put a post in the WTS/WTS section and ask if anyone has lead balls of a certain diameter to meet what you need. Right now, I don
t have any on hand as I'm in AZ and not back in MI - but there are quite a few muzzleloading shooters on here that would be happy to help you out by sending you a few I'm sure.

The last time I slugged a bore - it wass on my 1907 Danzig GEW98 Mauser - 8m. I didn't;t have a ball near the size (which ended up a perfect .323 - so I cast a pure lead slug in my 8mm mold - cut a short section of he bullet out and used that.

[gwpercle]

The easiest thing to find are Lead Fishing Sinkers ...look in the Salt Water / Deep Sea fishing area.
they have large egg , bank and bell sinkers .
Bell sinkers are smaller on one end , larger on the other sort of pear shaped and have always been the easiest to get started down a barrel . Grease the bore and sinker , snip off the brass loop and start the small end into the barrel ...read the stickies on how to do this !
I bought a large assortment of weights of bell sinkers and have used them on 30 to 45 cal. slugging jobs with perfect satisfaction ...make sure the sinkers are soft lead ...some states have outlawed lead fishing everything .

Gary

[Burnt Fingers]

Can anyone direct me to where I can buy some pure lead balls to slug a barrel for my 45acp?

I've never bothered to slug a 45 ACP. I just size to .452. It works in every 45 ACP I've tried it in.

9mm....that's a different story.

[tazman]

The best setup for straight walled handgun cartridges to slug the barrel I have found is to take split shot(nearly always pure lead) and partially fill a fired case with them and melt the shot with a small torch, adding another shot or two as the melt level drops.
When it cools, use a impact type bullet pullet to pop out the slug. This gives you a slug that is round with a tapered end that will start easily into the barrel and, because you used a fired case, will be slightly larger than groove diameter and fairly easy to drive through the barrel.
Grease or oil the slug and the barrel liberally and insert the tapered end and drive it through the barrel from the chamber end(if the barrel is removed from the pistol or from the muzzle if the barrel cannot be removed(revolver and a few autos) using a brass rod or equivalent.
Barrels with an odd number of lands can be difficult to measure sometimes. I don't have a really good method for those. Others have posted techniques for that on this site previously. I believe most 45ACP barrels have even number of lands but I may well be mistaken about that.

[megasupermagnum]

The best setup for straight walled handgun cartridges to slug the barrel I have found is to take split shot(nearly always pure lead) and partially fill a fired case with them and melt the shot with a small torch, adding another shot or two as the melt level drops.
When it cools, use a impact type bullet pullet to pop out the slug. This gives you a slug that is round with a tapered end that will start easily into the barrel and, because you used a fired case, will be slightly larger than groove diameter and fairly easy to drive through the barrel.
Grease or oil the slug and the barrel liberally and insert the tapered end and drive it through the barrel from the chamber end(if the barrel is removed from the pistol or from the muzzle if the barrel cannot be removed(revolver and a few autos) using a brass rod or equivalent.
Barrels with an odd number of lands can be difficult to measure sometimes. I don't have a really good method for those. Others have posted techniques for that on this site previously. I believe most 45ACP barrels have even number of lands but I may well be mistaken about that.

That's a very good idea. I've tried fishing weights like egg sinkers. They never seem to be the right size for anything, and they never seem to push through straight. I don't trust them. I have a good collection of round ball molds, and I use those if possible. If I don't have the right size RB, I cast a bullet of pure lead. Sometimes you have to squish the bullet slightly to get it big enough, but it works.

I'll try casting in an empty case next time.

[Billwnr]

I bought a 100 pack of Hornady .375 round balls for about 7 bucks. Now I know they won't slug your bigger barrel but Hornady makes larger balls. I found them at a local sporting goods store in the black powder reloading section.

[onelight]

If your young and your like the rest of us buy a hundred you will have plenty of barrels and cylinders to slug and will use them all up :)

[tazman]

That's a very good idea. I've tried fishing weights like egg sinkers. They never seem to be the right size for anything, and they never seem to push through straight. I don't trust them. I have a good collection of round ball molds, and I use those if possible. If I don't have the right size RB, I cast a bullet of pure lead. Sometimes you have to squish the bullet slightly to get it big enough, but it works.

I'll try casting in an empty case next time.

Thanks for the compliment, but it wasn't my original idea. I got it from someone on this site years ago.

[Targa]

If your young and your like the rest of us buy a hundred you will have plenty of barrels and cylinders to slug and will use them all up :)

There you go..and if you don’t use them just melt them down...:-D

[torpedoman]

check plumbing shops

[wertman94]

Pretty sure I dont want to be cramming sinkers of unknown source down my barrel. I did finally find some .454 ball at Sportco

[wv109323]

I do as Tazman does. I take a fired case and use some of my pure lead to pour into rhe case. I put the lead into a spoon and melt with a propane torch. I drill out the primer hole (before pouring the lead) to use a punch to knock out the lead slug. Using an inertia puller is a better idea. The resulting slug is the perfect size for the slug. Use a lubricant on bore and slug. I bought a steel rod and placed a 9mm case over the end to drive the slug through the barrel and protect the bore. Odd number rifling barrels are hard to measure. I put the land on one side of the micrometer and rotate the bullet. On a 5 groove Smith barrel you can get the diameter by doing so.

[Shiloh]

Wall mart or a farm supply with a decent fishing tackle area.
Sinkers. They have Lots of sizes.

SHiloh

[Mk42gunner]

If nothing else, take a scrap piece of wood and drill some slightly over the desired size holes in it then fill with lead. Split the wood to remove the slugs.

Robert

[charlie b]

FYI, I don't push the slug all the way through the barrel. Start at breach and just push it in the barrel far enough to fully engage the grooves. That way you have a 'cast' of the throat and can see the distance from the chamber mouth to the lands.

In a pinch I've just used a bullet. Put it in a vise and compress it lengthwise until the dia is bumped up. Doesn't take much.

[one-eyed fat man]

FYI, I don't push the slug all the way through the barrel. Start at breach and just push it in the barrel far enough to fully engage the grooves. That way you have a 'cast' of the throat and can see the distance from the chamber mouth to the lands.

In a pinch I've just used a bullet. Put it in a vise and compress it lengthwise until the dia is bumped up. Doesn't take much.

Sometimes pays to do the same at the muzzle end to find out if it belled or out of round. Pushing the slug all the way through, aside from measuring the tightest dimension can often reveal bulges or other inconsistencies in the bore.

[Conditor22]

I've never bothered to slug a 45 ACP. I just size to .452. It works in every 45 ACP I've tried it in.

9mm....that's a different story.

I agree with BF, I've never slugged a 45 ACP .452 has always worked

As for lead for slugging barrels, I put some of the purest lead I had in a lee production pot and cast a couple dozen of the largest boolit I have for each caliber I have a mold for and use those for slugging barrels.

IF I don't get a good reading I will tap the nose of the boolit before I slug the second time making it shorter and fatter.