Lyman 525 slug mold for .69 smoothie

[stubshaft]

I have recently acquired another project gun. It is a 1816 Musket that someone had "modified". Being a .69 smoothie I was looking around for projectiles and came across the NC Nessler Ball by Eras Gone. Which is a close relative of the Wilkinson style "Minie" It supposedly casts at .680" with a weight of 547 grs. Being fan of the unusual and obscure I ordered one. While futzing (technical term) around I also spied the Lyman 12 ga. Pellet style slug. It also supposedly comes in at around .681".

Eventually (after I repair the botched stock "work"), I am going to send the barrel to Bobby Hoyt for a reline and will probably ask him to make it .683" or so. Bullet sizing is easily handled by a die from George Gomph at Old Fox Traders.

Has anyone tried either of these in their 69 smoothie? If so what were your results?

[varsity07840]

Several guys on the N-SSA forum have ordered them but have not yet posted results. I'm wondering how much the Nessler will bump up from .680, assuming that's what it drops from the mould at.

[Good Cheer]

Haven't tried 'em but I'm all ears.
On a repro 1816, got a spare rear band with a plastic card epoxied to it, to whittle down into an experimental rear sight.

[stubshaft]

The Wilkinson from Moose Molds is very close to the Nessler Ball in design. NSSA guys say that to get best accuracy size 1-2 thou. under bore diameter. I was also thinking that if I am going 1 - 2 thou under bore I might try plain wheel weight lead.

[greywuuf]

Very curious to hear back on this ....have you had a chance to fire any of these choices ?

Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk

[stubshaft]

Havent had a chance to shoot them yet. I did cast some of them up and both the Eras Gone mold and the lyman measure .682". I sent my barrel to Bobby Hoyt to have it relined to .684"

[stubshaft]

Haven't tried 'em but I'm all ears.
On a repro 1816, got a spare rear band with a plastic card epoxied to it, to whittle down into an experimental rear sight.

For target work I have a piece of angle aluminum that has two holes in it. On the shorter leg I have a1/4" hole to put the tang screw through and the longer leg has a 1/16" hole to look through. I use trial and error to get me in the neighborhood and do not really care if the sight centers the group. Group size is all I care about.

[varsity07840]

Havent had a chance to shoot them yet. I did cast some of them up and both the Eras Gone mold and the lyman measure .682". I sent my barrel to Bobby Hoyt to have it relined to .684"

Bobby did my 1816. It's .687. I'm wondering if the Nessler will bump up enough to "grip" the bore. I'm also curious about where you put lube on the bullet. On the Wilkerson, there's a lube band in the base. You're not supposed to put any in the waist. The Nessler doesn't have a lube groove.

[stubshaft]

The Lyman WILL bump up to fill the bore due to its hollow base. I'm thinking that the Nessler may not bump up as much and that was the reason to have Bobby reline it (the original bore was looking pretty ratty and measured .695). I was also thinkin that I could dip the base in lube just like the Wilkerson and with the tighter tolerances maybe even smear lube in that big groove.

The object of the exercise is: A) Not have to use roundballs (I got tired of rolling them between files). B) See how accurate the Nessler is. C) Because of the tighter tolerances I may be able to use WW lead like I do to cast roundballs and not worry about the boolit bumping up.