Making round balls

[Avery Arms]

It's been a few years since I made round balls, back then all I had was 2 cavity lee mold and pure lead. I did make some good bullets but it took me a while and a little frustration before I learned that everything had to be very, very hot.

Now I have several lyman 4 cavity molds and plenty of pure lead and tin.

I have read of people using 20:1 for BP bullets but with round balls couldn’t I be a bit more stingy with my tin supply?

What is the least amount of tin I can use and still avoid the frustration I had before?


PP

[Gar]

Assuming you are shooting the RB out of a BP gun, I'll stick with straight lead. Just cast the RB with hot lead and a hot mold, should be fine. Save the tin for the smokeless stuff.

[ktw]

The only reason to add tin is to improve fill-out in the sharp corners and/or increase BHN.

With muzzeloaders softer better and there aren't a lot of corners in a roundball mold.

-ktw

[mooman76]

I agree. They say pure is best for BP anyway. Save the tin for the bullets. You could ad a smig for fill out if you want.

[Avery Arms]

Yes soft is good these are for patched rifle balls and cap n' ball revolvers.

I guess I will try it again with a pre-heated mold and pure lead, as usual thanks for advice:drinks:


PP

[Wayne Smith]

For C&B revolvers you don't really want anything harder than pure. To much strain on the loading lever.