Seating roundball

[crankycalico]

I tried playing with roundball and not so great. oh I have a few rounds loaded up, but even after running them through the collet crimper multiple times, they pop out very easily.

SO then I decided I should try using my lee bullet seater, is there a way to make that thing actually work on a round ball?

Or is it a "use an insert like a fmj on top of the round ball to get it seated" sort of proposition?

[Czech_too]

A few months ago I loaded up a box (50) of .327 with a load of two .311 RB, actual diameter .313
Now I can't recall exactly how I did it! I keep saying that the gray matter is going the way of the hairline.
When I first did this a few years ago, I would gently tap the RB into the case using a short length of brass rod.
A slow and rather tedious routine. This time around I thought that with all the 'stuff' I have here there's got to be something that would make it easier and consistent.


If you have some on hand, try using a slightly larger diameter RB. That's all that I can suggest at this time.

[GregLaROCHE]

What are you loading for .45-70? If you have a .45 cal ball, it could be too small for a .45-70 case.
Do you powder coat? That could increase the diameter of the balls.

[Czech_too]

Now I remember. I had taken an orphan die body, in this case a .38 sizing die, and using a 3/8" bolt, it fit & I had it on hand, lopped off the head of the bolt, screwed on an acorn nut. Filed down the other end of the bolt, a drill press comes in handy here, to what I felt was an appropriate diameter, put the bolt thru the die and then another nut to secure everything in place. The die can be screwed into the press to the needed height to seat the RB. Looks like the picture is to large to upload...

[mazo kid]

A couple of years ago I loaded some "cat sneeze" ammo for my .223 using round ball. In my case, it was #4 buck shot run through a Lee .224" push-through sizer. This made a short "belt" on the ball and seated and crimped well.
http://smg.photobucket.com/user/mazo...0d2fe.jpg.html

[reddog81]

With a round ball your neck tension is very important. Crimp can just mess it up if not done correctly. When crimping lead the brass will spring back and the lead will not, leaving a loose bullet. The more you crimp the worse it gets.

Realistically any seating die should be able to work it's just a matter of adjusting it perfectly.

Knowing what caliber and what size round balls you're using would be required for any detailed answer

[725]

Crimpig too much will never give good neck tension with lead. I'd just FL size the case, flare the mouth and insert. Maybe use a larger ball. Case to Case will make a difference, too. One brand will have a thicker wall than another, hence when FL sized the interior of one will be smaller than the other and give better neck tension. I can't even load jacketed bullets into Star brass for my .38-55 but WW brass is perfect.

[longbow]

Like mazo kid I used an oversize ball in the .44 mag. ~ 0.440" RB sized to 0.434" to put a "belt" on it then simply seated to the top of the "belt" in the brass. No problems.

They shot not badly but I've since gone to an Accurate 165 gr. TC mould I had Tom scale down from a .45 design he had. Works great! Nothing wrong with round ball except pretty limited velocity in loads I tried. The 165 gr. TC can be loaded light to pretty zippy with good results.

Round ball is good for light plinking loads or "gallery" loads, or for small game at close range. If you got 'em, why not use 'em?

Longbow

[Czech_too]

Another thought that comes to mind,
measure the case mouth diameter of a fired case and that of a resized case done with and without the expander ball on the stem.
Use the smallest of the three.

[crankycalico]

using hornady round ball .310 item #6000

its not fun, almost had a few that crimp in, but after a few minutes I could pull them with finger nails. But they stayed in while walking around in my pocket and being chambered.

[FredBuddy]

I use NOE neck expander plugs in my 30-30.

using .315 round balls Hornaday #6003,
they are a push fit into the first step, and if
in deep enough, a slight roll crimp locks
them in.

However, tight chambers may not like them,
so be prepared to use smaller expander plugs and
the smaller RB. YMMV.

[pacomdiver]

last batch i made, after seating the ball, i gave it a drop of gel superglue on each side to keep them in

[country gent]

A spare seating stem can be used to make a true round ball seater with a little work and basic hand tools. The seating stem needs to be cleaned and roughed up on the working area. By hand with a little coarse sandpaper. A round ball is given 2-3 coats of wax ( this is a release agent so epoxy doesn't stick to it). Wrap outside of stem with masking tape to dia of round ball and even with front edge of stem. 5-6 wraps of tape on this just past the center of the round ball in the stem. This centers and helps align the round ball. Mix epoxy according to instructions and drip enough in to slightly overflow cup when ball is inserted in. Install round ball and lightly clamp in place. let cure. When cured remove outer tape and under wrap. with pliers pop ball out. With a fine file clean up outer surface to match stem and face to just below the round balls center by .010-.020.

This stem will allow for round balls to be seated on center or up to .020 below center. If a crimp is desired below center and on the radius is a good way.

[Tom W.]

I ran some .440 rb through the Lee sizer and like mentioned above, used the sized portion as the place where the case mouth crimped . It shoot well, but I never tried it again after those six rounds. Dunno why....

[Michael J. Spangler]

Use oversized round balls for proper tension.
I screw my lee seating die in all the way and have no issues seating round balls in any of the cartridges I’ve tried them in.
Should work fine

[WRideout]

If you have round balls around the right diameter, a coating (or two) of Lee Liquid Alox may make them sticky enough to stay put. I made up some RB loads for my Nagant pistol using nominal 30 cal RBs lubed with LLA, a 22 case full of Red Dot, and regular SP primers. The cases are heavily taper crimped on the ends, so that helps also.
Wayne

[Charlie Horse]

I recently loaded some RB 44 mag loads. Reprime the unsized case, add a small scoop of Unique, and seat the ball down as far as it will go. It did this at 50 feet out of my 10" 44 Contender.
A .3CC scoop of Unique hit 3" below POA at 50 feet. The .431" balls were coated with LLA. This is a useable small game load.

[Tom W.]

Now I gotta go find a rb that I can load in my 30/30 a.i. for fire forming. It's a single shot, so crimping shouldn't be an issue. Maybe a .310 would do, with LLA.......