Cast Balls and Bullet Pouch

[Josh Smith]

Hello,

I received my Thompson Center mould today. It casts .490" nominal; I found it was actually casting .492". I like room to play with, so this was good.

Bullets weighed from 176.6 to 180gns, with the majority weight 177.x.

I also last night made a pouch for those bullets. I don't know if it's period correct and don't care on this one.

You see, I had another set of grandparents, and I lost my grandfather on my dad's side and my grandmother on my mom's the same year - and they were the remaining ones. My grandpa was taken care of through the making of the powder horn; I was unsure what to do with Grandma and Grandpa Burkhardt.

Turns out I had a wooden spool which had been Grandma's, and a flannel shirt, too small for me and ripped besides, which had belonged to Grandpa Burkhardt.

They became a bullet pouch last night.

The balls were cast tonight.

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b191/WabashShootist/Guns/Muzzleloading/ballandballsack.jpg
Yes, that's pure lead.

Before I get jumped for not having used pure lead, that is indeed pure. I have a system for treating cast bullets. Hardcast are made a bit differently and have a black coating on them. It feels like plastic, but is not, and looks like a shiny version of what coated the Black Talons. I get no leading from these.

The balls are near match grade now. After treating with the process I use, they are very, very smooth and uniform. The only part which varies a bit is the sprue, and that will just be mashed with the ramrod, anyway.

I can't wait to shoot tomorrow. I have plenty of powder and ball; I don't foresee myself running out of caps, but I'm on my last tin so I'll have to get more.

I will have a way soon, too, to carry everything. Mom has volunteered to sew a denim possibles bag (which is odd; she is not a gun person at all, though not actively anti-gun. Maybe because I shoot at their place sometimes? I don't know. Anyway, it was nice of her and I'm not going to question it. Denim was in use since the 17th Century, anyway ;) )

I'll post groups if those balls shoot worth anything!

I do sometimes make extra batches of boolits to sell to the local gunstores and online; if anyone wants some, let me know after I post targets and I'll make extra next time around.

Josh

[flyingstick]

Nice! How many rb can you fit in that pouch?

[mooman76]

Not using pure lead is probably why your balls are coming out slightly larger. Some still atest you must use pure lead in MLs but allot of us have tried harder lead and found vertually no difference in accuracy may load slightly harder but the outcome is the same. I used to use WWs because hat's all I had and they worked fine. I never could figure why they insisted on soft lead whan the lead never touches the barrel when using a patch.

[D Crockett]

I would very much like to see the hole bullet pouch that looks like what I have been looking for for my possible pouch D Crockett

[Josh Smith]

Hello,

That is made from lead from dental x-rays. Should be pretty close to pure... comes out 177gn +/- 1gn.

Josh

[Josh Smith]

Hi Crockett,

Here is my whole kit. You should be able to see the bullet bag pretty well:

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b191/WabashShootist/Guns/Muzzleloading/kit.jpg

The horn is homemade too. I don't like the ones with the rounded bases, so I made this one. It's shaved then enough to be able to see the powder level.

The bullet bag holds 25 or so; it would likely hold more but 25 is more than I'd use and just gets heavy in the field.

It was inspired by one of these:

http://www.dixiegunworks.com/images/OA0401.JPG
http://www.dixiegunworks.com/product_info.php?cPath=22_100_357&products_id=7941&osCsid=0c6736c40b42f78ce67c4dda1302419a

While the one from Dixie may look better, I tend to think these were most often made from materials at hand - and said materials are period correct. Flannel has been around for a long, long time, and they've been using the wooden spools for quite a while, too.

This one has no need for a stopper as it usually dispenses one at a time, and never more than two. I put the bag part in my pocket, let the spool hang out and over, and the boolits are going noplace.

Josh

[nicholst55]

I like your bullet pouch! I think it's a great sentiment, and a way to remember your grandparents whenever you're doing something you enjoy. Good job, Josh!

[waksupi]

I like the thread spool idea. I generally use the base of antlers, and hollow them out to the correct size for whatever caliber I need, and brain tan buckskin for the pouch itself, since I have a lot of it around.
I used to just have loose balls in the bottom of the bag to chase around. But, if you fell, or laid the bag down, you could have balls going every where. I now have ball bags attached to all of my bags. Makes for faster reloading.
Good project!

[405]

Josh,
I like your possibles, especially the horn! I found that a spouted ball bag is very handy and beats the heck out of fishing around for balls in a regular bag or pocket, etc. I made this one using a section of antler drilled out to pass .54 cal balls along with some soft tanned deer and hardwood plug. It will easily drop all the cals I shoot, from 45 thru 54, one ball at a time.

[mooman76]

I like your horn also. I have been wanting to make one for awhile and do a bit of schrimsaw work to it as well but haven't done it yet.

[7of7]

Josh,
What do you treat those castings with... (Don't want to ask what you treat your balls with because ... it sounds bad..)
I am interested in this. Do you still use patches?