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Thread: .31 Buck shot

  1. #1
    Boolit Bub NZSarge's Avatar
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    .31 Buck shot

    Hi, I have a lee double cavity mold, .31.

    This casts somewhere between #0 and #1. It fits 9 into a 1oz or 8 into a 7/8 Winchester wad comfortably.

    I bought the double mold because I wanted to use smaller quantities for range/fun use and these don't have the sprue cut off issues.

    They drop fine and without sprue material but they do have a flat spot once the sprue handle is used.

    Is this normal or do I need the lead hotter or colder to reduce this flat spot. Not large but its there.
    Thanks Sarge

  2. #2
    Boolit Master


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    Mine does the same thing. I wonder if the small size of the ball has something to do with it?

    The monster Squirrels I've shot with my loads didn't complain about the flat spot so I guess it's not much to be concerned about

    FWIW, I'm casting mine from wheelweights & water dropping the balls.

    Rick
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    lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well-armed lamb contesting
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  3. #3
    Boolit Man
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    Sarge,

    I wouldn't sweat the flat spot, but hang on someone here may have clue on how reduce its size.

  4. #4
    Boolit Master

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    I have run across posts where fellows are tumbling the castings with and without other "stuff" and reporting the shot looks and feels rounder.
    More "This is what happened when I,,,,," and less "What would happen if I,,,,"

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  5. #5
    DEADBEAT UNIQUEDOT's Avatar
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    The flat spot is normal and as Rick questioned it indeed has to do with the small diameter of the balls. The smaller the ball the more noticeable the flat will be. I used to cast them from .311, .315, and .319 molds and my experience with them tells me that the sprue flat does not affect accuracy to a noticeable degree.

    As mentioned some people tumble them to make them rounder, but if you have ever cut open older factory buckshot (newer factory stuff is swaged shot) it had flat spots all around and still performed well enough.

  6. #6
    Boolit Master


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    Quote Originally Posted by Hamish View Post
    I have run across posts where fellows are tumbling the castings with and without other "stuff" and reporting the shot looks and feels rounder.
    I tumbled some with BBs and if it made the flat spots smaller i didn't see it.

    Rick
    Democracy is two wolves and a
    lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well-armed lamb contesting
    the vote. - Benjamin Franklin

  7. #7
    Boolit Bub NZSarge's Avatar
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    Thank you folks, mine too are wheel weights and water dropped/ I guess the flat spots wont bother me much, just I know they are there..)

  8. #8
    Boolit Bub wilded's Avatar
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    I have been shooting some #0 buck as ball in my .32 TC cherokee and often see flat spots on the balls but it does not seem to effect the accuracy of the rifle as it still shoots minute of squirrel head at twenty yards. As far as out of a shot gun it would take a large flat to send a flyer out of the pattern. JMHO
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  9. #9
    Boolit Grand Master
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    An acquaintance of mine years ago enjoyed shooting cap & ball revolvers and muzzle-loaders with roundballs. His solution to the flat spots was to place the cast RBs between 2 glass panes--40 to 50 at a time--and roll the balls in a circular motion for a few minutes between the panes. I watched him do this a couple times, and it did largely "remove" the flats and sprue marks.
    I don't paint bullets. I like Black Rifle Coffee. Sacred cows are always fair game. California is to the United States what Syria is to Russia and North Korea is to China/South Korea/Japan--a Hermit Kingdom detached from the real world and led by delusional maniacs, an economic and social basket case sustained by "foreign" aid so as to not lose military bases.

  10. #10
    Boolit Mold
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    I shoot .312 round balls with 10gr of 700x in a .303 british. I place them so that the flat spot is on the tip of the cartridge. works good

  11. #11
    DEADBEAT UNIQUEDOT's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by 9.3X62AL View Post
    An acquaintance of mine years ago enjoyed shooting cap & ball revolvers and muzzle-loaders with roundballs. His solution to the flat spots was to place the cast RBs between 2 glass panes--40 to 50 at a time--and roll the balls in a circular motion for a few minutes between the panes. I watched him do this a couple times, and it did largely "remove" the flats and sprue marks.
    That would work fairly well with blackpowder balls because they are cast from pure lead, but most folks cast their buck out of harder alloy. The guy was wasting his time anyway because a properly fitted ball in a c&b revolver is not round after loading anyways since it's shaved when loading. Even if you chamfer all the cylinders to prevent shaving it's then swaged into the chambers. They remain fairly round in muzzleloaders til the powder is lit behind them. They are always loaded sprue up in c&b revolvers and muzzleloaders.

  12. #12
    Boolit Bub NZSarge's Avatar
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    Another guy suggested keeping them in a cake tin in the boot of the car for a week...couple of hundred miles of tumbling would work...)

  13. #13
    Boolit Master

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    I have the same mold and load 9 or 10 of the .311 RB in a WAA12 wad. Accuracy at 15 and 25 yds is still tight enough to keep in the chest area. I need to bring my tempeture up however next time I cast pure lead.

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  14. #14
    Boolit Master

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    .31 buckshot ........

    I bought one of the Sharpshooter molds to cast 0-buckshot.

    I'm using straight air cooled wheel-weights. Once I cast a couple pounds, I just throw them into my case tumbler with uncooked rice. I got this idea from a friend who donated the tumbler. I was surprised when I opened the lid to find rice.

    Before loading, I'll leave a couple pounds in the sun for an hour or so, then roll them around a few minutes in a light coat of Johnson's Paste Wax. Dump them on a sheet of wax paper and let dry. These boogers are so slick, they're hard to pick up. I, like others, load 3 stacks of 3 for 9 pellets in a Federal 12S3 wad, 16ga card, over a charge of 35.8gr of Blue Dot. I normally use once fired military high brass buckshot empties. These work well out to 40-50 yasrds with good grouping.

    I think I want to try the same load/set-up but superglue the 3 pieces of buckshot together before I stack them inside the shot cup. [I can see all of you now, scratching your heads! Lol!]. Don't ask why, its just an idea.

    Just food for thought,

    HV

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  15. #15
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    Greetings, how about using drops of wax from a burning candle tilted to form a cluster for longer range, rather than super glue!
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  16. #16
    Boolit Bub NZSarge's Avatar
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    Now that is an awesome idea Ajay

  17. #17
    Boolit Master John in WI's Avatar
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    I use a Sharpshooter mold, and as someone said the flat spots are proportionally "worse" for smaller balls. I make a lot of .22 (F) shot.

    I bought the molds after having a sack of commercial buckshot in my hands, and noticing how out of round that junk was. I can't imagine the casting defect is going to make that much of a difference. I can't imagine how beat up the shot gets when you pull the trigger, or hits the choke at 1000FPS. Mine is water dropped too--but that's still metal on metal contact at high speed.

  18. #18
    Boolit Master

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    re: 31 buckshot ..............

    [
    I think I want to try the same load/set-up but superglue the 3 pieces of buckshot together before I stack them inside the shot cup]
    Folks, my idea behind the supergluing 3 pieces of 0-buckshot stacked in 3 x 3 was to use as a HD/Close Proximity load. I plan to try this and see what happens out to 25 yards, then 50 yards. I am looking for a good medium heavy load to use on vermin [2 legged OR 4 legged] and thought that putting 3 "groups" of 3 in a close grouping would dispatch either with one shot. In any case, I'm going to try it and see what happens.

    Just food for thought.................. Lol!

    HV
    Life's biggest tragedy is we get old too soon, and wise too late.

  19. #19
    Boolit Bub NZSarge's Avatar
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    Happy now/ Some Photos added

    Lightly tumbled with home made tumbler and battery drill and lightly lubed.



    Last edited by NZSarge; 06-29-2012 at 03:18 AM. Reason: Pic added

  20. #20
    Boolit Master nanuk's Avatar
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    I can't see superglue holding up at the intial launch

    it is brittle and easy to break

    you can prove it with a car's rearview mirror..... doesn't take much to take them off
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