My .60 cal Tri-Ball Load Results

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Originally Posted by luke777

Will be casting some more soon myself. Have some Linotype and pure lead and dusted off the PID controller and melting pot so I am good to go. Still trying to decide whether or not to water drop them.... What hardness do you get with your shot again? Was it around 18 Brinell?

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I have never cast round balls myself as I am not really set up for it. I had a seasoned blackpowder guy make them for me at 1 part Linotype : 1 part pure lead. I verified that he dropped the round balls into water. I chose this alloy as I calculated it to have 6% Antimony (which is what the best commercial magnum shot made by Remington contains), as well as 2% Tin which should also increase the hardness. Most commercial buckshot from PR and BPI is notoriously soft and only contains 2%-3% Antimony, so I figured my choice had to be an improvement.

I did a quick Cast Boolits search and found the following excerpt:

“...Infact, your mix above, 50% Linotype/50% Pure Lead, is the "Recipe" for Hardball Alloy which is what most commercial reloaders have used for 30 years! It is actually around 15-16 BHN though.

It was designed back then as a replacement for Lyman #2 Alloy. It achieves the same hardness using less than 1/2 the Tin and at the time it was very economical since Linotype was being phased out of the printing industry and it was easy to find at bargain prices.”


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Well, live and learn! I have not used spherical shot buffer so no experience here. I would not have guessed it would deform hard lead though. Your balls look like they have been roughed up (that may sound rude but really isn't!). Some muzzleloader shooters intentionally rough up their RB's on the premise that they fly better due to disrupted air flow reducing drag.

Your results are encouraging so I just may have to order some components for Tri-Ball loads!

Longbow

Wow i am truly impressed.

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Originally Posted by longbow

Well, live and learn! I have not used spherical shot buffer so no experience here. I would not have guessed it would deform hard lead though. Your balls look like they have been roughed up (that may sound rude but really isn't!). Some muzzleloader shooters intentionally rough up their RB's on the premise that they fly better due to disrupted air flow reducing drag.

Your results are encouraging so I just may have to order some components for Tri-Ball loads!

Longbow

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Roughing up the round ball has no affect. The ball is going so fast that there is no laminar flow over the surface of the ball, which is the only time the dimples would help. I asked the question many years ago in a fluid dynamics class. Once the projectile is above the required velocity ( which it would be when fired from any rifle or handgun) there is no need for the dimples.

Alright I had wondered about the surface on the balls . At first I was thinking they had fallen from the mold that way , then I was thinking perhaps they were water quenched and it caused that but any rifle bullets I ever water quenched never looked like that .

How thick are the petals of the wads your using ? I wouldn't mind getting a round ball mold for my 12's but I wanna use the same CB wads I use in the 12 for bird shot , buck shot and slugs . So I would assume I need a round ball bigger then .605 as the petals on your wads "appear to be" thicker then CB wads .

Attachment 238156.

Impressive.

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Originally Posted by 6pt-sika

Alright I had wondered about the surface on the balls . At first I was thinking they had fallen from the mold that way , then I was thinking perhaps they were water quenched and it caused that but any rifle bullets I ever water quenched never looked like that .

How thick are the petals of the wads your using ? I wouldn't mind getting a round ball mold for my 12's but I wanna use the same CB wads I use in the 12 for bird shot , buck shot and slugs . So I would assume I need a round ball bigger then .605 as the petals on your wads "appear to be" thicker then CB wads .

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6 pt, I have been experimenting with round balls in a 12 gauge and I found that a .690 round ball fits perfectly in a shot wad cup. I cast mine from wheel weights and they weigh 470 grains. I haven't shot any yet,,,Ed

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Originally Posted by 6pt-sika

Alright I had wondered about the surface on the balls . At first I was thinking they had fallen from the mold that way , then I was thinking perhaps they were water quenched and it caused that but any rifle bullets I ever water quenched never looked like that .

How thick are the petals of the wads your using ? I wouldn't mind getting a round ball mold for my 12's but I wanna use the same CB wads I use in the 12 for bird shot , buck shot and slugs . So I would assume I need a round ball bigger then .605 as the petals on your wads "appear to be" thicker then CB wads .

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I don’t think you’re going to have good results with a standard target wad. The wads, TUPRW123s from PR, were chosen because 3 balls fit in them perfectly and they are the toughest wads with thickest petals on the market that I am aware of. I measured the thickness at the end of the petals between .038” and .044” with my calipers so I just call it .040” . (Don’t be fooled, other brands advertise thicker but that measurement is not taken at the end of the petal.) If you are familiar with the SAM 1 wad you know how tough they are. I trimmed a SAM 1 down to proper length and tried it first and one of the petals was ripped completely off. I believe some of DS original recipes used the MM wad but they were not tough enough and they ended up with the orange TUPRW123 wad as well in their last recipe if I am not mistaken. Save yourself some time and skip all the others.

Here’s a pic of my round balls before and after being shot at a steel pattern paint board at 32 yards. I am not sure of the steel thickness but it was substantial and the 3 dents in the steel were significant.
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...e64cd39309.jpg
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...45172d7b63.jpg


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Originally Posted by Drakehammer

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...e64cd39309.jpg

I don’t think you’re going to have good results with a standard target wad. The wads, TUPRW123s from PR, were chosen because 3 balls fit in them perfectly and they are the toughest wads with thickest petals on the market that I am aware of. I measured the thickness at the end of the petals between .038” and .044” with my calipers so I just call it .040” . (Don’t be fooled, other brands advertise thicker but that measurement is not taken at the end of the petal.) If you are familiar with the SAM 1 wad you know how tough they are. I trimmed a SAM 1 down to proper length and tried it first and one of the petals was ripped completely off. I believe some of DS original recipes used the MM wad but they were not tough enough and they ended up with the orange TUPRW123 wad as well in their last recipe if I am not mistaken. Save yourself some time and skip all the others.

Here’s a pic of my round balls before and after being shot at a steel pattern paint board at 40 yards. I am not sure of the steel thickness but the 3 dents in the steel were significant. https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...45172d7b63.jpg


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I’ll mostly load in 2 3/4” hulls and possibly 3” . I suspect one ball will most likely be it in the 2 3/4” and maybe two in a 3” . My parameters will be at 25 yards two shots right barrel and two shots left barrel or in the A-5 3” three at 25 yards .

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Originally Posted by Longknife

6 pt, I have been experimenting with round balls in a 12 gauge and I found that a .690 round ball fits perfectly in a shot wad cup. I cast mine from wheel weights and they weigh 470 grains. I haven't shot any yet,,,Ed

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Thanks , I was studying “Track of the Wolf’s” webpage last night trying to decide on roundball molds one for the 12 and a second for the 10 . Of course this would be more intresting if I can get two round balls in each load , but with these old guns there’s only so much payload I wanna push out primarily because of pressure issues in Damascus and steel twist barrels . 1 1/8 ounce is 493 grains and 1 1/4 is 547 grains while 1 1/2 is 656 grains . I wanna keep my 12 gauge payload between 490-550 and keep the 10 gauge between 550-650 . So it appears double ball loads aren’t gonna fit into my parameters except possibly in the A-5 think I might be willing to go with two of the .605-.610” balls in a load of course in a 3” load . Might be more pleasant to try these in the Benelli Montefeltro 3” as well . It doesn’t hurt to have options ;)

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Originally Posted by 6pt-sika

Thanks , 1 1/8 ounce is 493 grains and 1 1/4 is 547 grains while 1 1/2 is 656 grains . I wanna keep my 12 gauge payload between 490-550 and keep the 10 gauge between 550-650 . So it appears double ball loads aren’t gonna fit into my parameters except possibly in the A-5 think I might be willing to go with two of the .605-.610” balls in a load of course in a 3” load . Might be more pleasant to try these in the Benelli Montefeltro 3” as well . It doesn’t hurt to have options ;)

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My .602 hard balls run 311gr-315gr each. Switch to a TUPRW12 wad and the fit may be right for a two ball load just under an ounce and a half in a 2 3/4” hull. I have some of those wads on hand but won’t be able to check that fit until late next week sometime.



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Originally Posted by Drakehammer

My .602 hard balls run 311gr-315gr each. Switch to a TUPRW12 wad and the fit may be right for a two ball load just under an ounce and a half in a 2 3/4” hull. I have some of those wads on hand but won’t be able to check that fit until late next week sometime.



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You get those wads from “Precision Reloading” correct ? I may just order a bag each for the 2 3/4” and 3” . And while I’m at it a bag for the 10 gauge I’m sure I can come up with something for it as well , just have to trim those wads a skoosh for 2 7/8” 10 gauge hulls .

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Originally Posted by 6pt-sika

You get those wads from “Precision Reloading” correct ? I may just order a bag each for the 2 3/4” and 3” . And while I’m at it a bag for the 10 gauge I’m sure I can come up with something for it as well , just have to trim those wads a skoosh for 2 7/8” 10 gauge hulls .

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Yep.


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The 2 3/4” . https://www.precisionreloading.com/c...#!l=TUPR&i=W12 The 3” . https://www.precisionreloading.com/c...!l=TUPR&i=W123 The 10 gauge . https://www.precisionreloading.com/c...!l=TUPR&i=W105

We ordered from Midway for the shop today so I included a Lee two cavity .600” roundball mold and a Lee single cavity .690” roundball mold .

When the mail arrived at the shop today the pair of Lee molds appeared . So after lunch I fired up the pot and cast 50 of the .600” and 25 of the .690” . Need to order the wads .

Since I have no other "government projects" pressing today I have the pot heating up to cast some more of both size roundballs .

Also went to the Precision Reloading webpage an ordered a bag each of the two wads mentioned above as well as the 10 gauge version of the same thing and felt cushion wads in 20 and 28 gauge sizes . Couldn't order all that without getting some rifle bullets so two boxes of Hornady 30 cal 165 SST's found their way in the cart as well .

"Hopefully" I'll be able to try the wads and balls by the end of the week or sometime next week . I have a Parker EH 10 gauge 34" gun coming from Canada in the next week to ten days . Things choked pretty tight 40 points of constriction in the right barrel and 42 points in the left barrel . I wanna see how the 10 gauge wad with the 69 cal ball feels pushing it thru the chokes , if it isn't tight as the hinges of you get the idea I might give it a go !

I am getting interested in this myself. I've been chasing smoothbore slug accuracy for a long time... or I should say longer than 50 yard slug accuracy, with mediocre success. Some of the Tri-Ball results are pretty impressive to say the least. I'm thinking a little copycatting of the successes is in order.

I better get an order in for some 3" hulls and some of the "Tri-Ball" wads.

I posted in another thread results from my 2 ball loads... which weren't terrible at all but the wads were in poor shape. When I look back at Tri-Ball posts it makes me wonder why I didn't look at those Precision Reloading wads you guys are using either shorter length or cut down for 2 balls. That likely would have helped as James said not to use any wad but those he listed.

I wouldn't have tried a Tri-Ball with the CSD wads.

Anyway, 3 0.600" RB's whistling down range has a certain appeal! After all it is a shotgun!

I will be rereading this and other relevant threads to steel the good stuff!

Longbow

You will not be disappointed once you get the tri ball recipe correct. Absolutely incredible pieces of equipment. I reckon you could shoot a dinosaur with one of those things and flatten it like electricity. At the moment I have a different challenge. I received my 18 cavity Lee 000 Buckshot mould (.360)and for the life of me I cannot get good fill-out. I have a very accurate temperature controller and I am working with a known alloy (50/50 pure Lead and Linotype) . Heating up the mold, fluxing, the mould is extremely clean as all my molds are.... . I'm not sure what to do next. I got the temp of the pot up to 660deg f. Maybe I can go even higher yet..

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Originally Posted by luke777

You will not be disappointed once you get the tri ball recipe correct. Absolutely incredible pieces of equipment. I reckon you could shoot a dinosaur with one of those things and flatten it like electricity. At the moment I have a different challenge. I received my 18 cavity Lee 000 Buckshot mould (.360)and for the life of me I cannot get good fill-out. I have a very accurate temperature controller and I am working with a known alloy (50/50 pure Lead and Linotype) . Heating up the mold, fluxing, the mould is extremely clean as all my molds are.... . I'm not sure what to do next. I got the temp of the pot up to 660deg f. Maybe I can go even higher yet..

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I'd try for 725-750 and run the mold HOT. Once that mold is scorching you should get good fill on every pour.