Round ball gallery loads ...... anyone try them

[Mr Humble]

Track of the Wolf carries a lot of round balls, try:

http://www.trackofthewolf.com/list/Item.aspx/127/1

.312 or .315 would probably work.

[minmax]

My friend and i loaded black powder in 45 colt, just a little with grits as a filler and a wad then .454 round ball.

[kens]

If you need filler for 45-70 gallery loads, could you use .410 plastic wads as the filler?

[1Shirt]

Believe I have shot round ball combinations our of every rifle and straight walled revolver ctg that I own, from 22 Hornet on the bottom to 45-70 on the bottom. Have shot 1, 2, and 3 ball loads in straight walled cases both rifle and revolver where length allowed. Fun to shoot, and have some practical use and are cheap. However, they are painfully slow and time consuming, so don't mess with them often. Have also shot in cases that allowed same, small weight wad cutters under a round ball just to see if I could do it, and it worked.
1Shirt!

[Mr Humble]

A 410 plastic wad would foul the bore as well as being way undersize. Plastic wads make enough of a mess in a shotgun when you shoot 100s of rounds/week. Sabots in BP MZs are just as bad. While they make some sense in shotguns, in rifles they are useless. I heavy lead bullet will kill anything better than a jacketed bullet in a sabot.
When sabots were "hot" I tried them in MZ rifles and rifled shotguns ..... not the least impressed. They also cost a whole lot more. A Lee Alox greased roundball, over a cork wad in a 45-70 will do as well as any roundball can be expected in a totally wrong twist, and the bore is spotless.

[longbow]

Like GREENCOUNTYPETE, I used to use 0.440" balls for my .44 Marlin. I found I was shaving lead even with flared case mouths though so made a sizer to take them to 0.434". That produce a small "belt" around the equator and they loaded easier.

Over 10 gr.s. of Unique or Win 473 AA they shot pretty well. I don't recall details but I did find that if pushed very hard accuracy fell apart but with light to moderate loads they did quite well. IIRC 10 grs. Unique did fairly well. A little more skookum than a gallery load though so lighter would suit you better.

Longbow

[texassako]

I came about loading some gallery round ball loads in a round about fashion and have had fun ever since. I had a homely, bare metal handled, red painted round ball mold marked 46 Cal tag along in a lot deal. Tried it out the next time the lead pot was hot and they came out .460". A little research yielded 10 gr of Unique for a .45-70 gallery load, and my testing showed they shot pretty good(2-3") at 50 yards. That cheap little mold now lives next to my lead pot, and I cast a few here and there during each casting session to try and keep a good supply without dedicating a session just to them. Those handles get HOT after a while.

[Mr Humble]

The beauty of the Hornady round balls over casting your own from bullet metal, is that they are a dead soft lead and, as with a BP MZ work better than any alloy.

[frnkeore]

This is what I did for a gallery load with my 8.15x46R German Schuetzen rifle. The groove dia is .316 and I had a 1 lb can of 00 buck. I bored the primer out to hold a 209 shotgun primer. I had hoped I wouldn't need any powder but, I had to use 1 gr of B'eye. I started with 2 gr and reduced it until the supersonic crack went away. I rolled the buck in bullet lube before pressing (with my thumb) it into the chamfered case mouth.

Target was set at 25 yd. Shot with the lower rifle

Frank

[John Allen]

I have used a round ball in a 32-20 with 3 grs of Unique powder-made a quiet 15 yard load for pest elimination.

I am going to try this one.

[Mr Humble]

Cheaper than a 22RF (until the Chinese cut off our lead supply)
Buckwheat had the EPA close the last USA lead smelter.

[aspangler]

That should read lead ORE smelter. Recyclers are still running.

[bannor]

I never have understood this squib load stuff. If all you want is .22lr levels of power and noise, why not just use a .22 (or airsoft or pellet pistol)?

[Mr Humble]

Well if you have 10 or so bricks of 22LR rimfire you'ld like to sell me at $25.00 a brick I'll take them.

I have an RWS 460 air gun (among the most powerful) and it's great for whacking gopphers in the pasture BUT cocking it is for manly men and 20 shots in a session is about all I can handle.

You're missing the point of shooting gallery loads……. that they are fun and 3 45 caliber balls coming out of my 458 No.1 at 44 Colt BP velocity will really spoil the day of anything with 30 yards.

Ever shoot BB cap 22s ? Great for keep the damn English sparrows off the bird feeder.

[Mr Peabody]

I can say honestly; watch out for the glancing of the shot. They will bounce back at you.

[Malamute]

I never have understood this squib load stuff. If all you want is .22lr levels of power and noise, why not just use a .22 (or airsoft or pellet pistol)?

Several reasons, one of which, they are fun!

For my uses, small game, snakes, or grouse hunting in the mountains, I want a real rifle in hand, and the ability to shoot very light loads. I single load the round ball loads and keep the magazine loaded with full power loads. There's large animals with sharp edges around here.

I load the .311 or .315 Hornady round balls in 30-30 with 3 grs Unique. About as much noise as a standard vel 22, and doesn't tear up small game. It will take the head off a rattlesnake also. I also use .350 round balls with 4 grs Unique or Red Dot in the 348. Makes a very nice grouse load while wandering around in grizzly country. I lube them with liquid alox, and use a tuft of Dacron pillow stuffing to keep the powder near the primer. I've had erratic ignition when not using the Dacron. same for 45-70 round ball loads and 6 1/2 grs Unique. I may shoot nearly straight up, and nearly straight down. One 45-70 load without Dacron bounced the ball off a largish rattlesnakes head at 3 feet distance. am planning on trying other powders for this, I understand 231 makes a good ultra-light load powder that isn't position sensitive.

I also have a 77 gr 311252 mold I want to try for ultra-light loads. Haven't had the casting stuff out in a while though.

I do a 120 gr cast w/ 6 1/2 grs Unique in the 30-30, its about 32-20 powder level, but that's another story. Very nice small game load, but quite a bit more noise than the extra-light round ball loads.

[Mr Humble]

Sounds like you an Col. Whelen went to the same school on the usefulness of "gallery/small game loads".

As for the "bounceback" theory. I have heard of it but only when shooting into a vertical very hard surface. I use a 3/8" steel plate at a 45 degree angle (down need I say ?) to divert any cast loads into the deep wooden box, full of sand below it. Box has bottom of heavy screening so it can be shaken our (wear a mask !) and all the boolits or balls recovered to be used again. Works just like on those TV shows were a bunch of wimpy guys and ugly women are digging up some ancient site to recover mouse bones.

[longbow]

I never have understood this squib load stuff. If all you want is .22lr levels of power and noise, why not just use a .22 (or airsoft or pellet pistol)?

As already stated... they are fun and good for and small game! But even more:

- they do not recoil as much as full loads so are good for women and kids... and in some cases, you (or me) when you just don't want full house loads
- they are another aspect of reloading
- by your logic why would we have anything but one boolit weight and powder charge in each cartridge?
- they are cheap to shoot
- they don't use up your lead supply so fast
- probably most importantly they provide more trigger time using your favourite rifle rather than plinking with a different rifle/caliber
- and because we can

Lots of reasons I can think of anyway and I probably missed lots too.

Longbow

[BAGTIC]

Never had an RB bounce back at me. Have had a .22 LR and a 32 S&W bounce back and hit me.

A .360 RB loded in a 38/357 pistol case makes a very effective small game/varmint load even at subsonic velocities.

RB loads should have a shorter danger space range.

[Malamute]

- they are cheap to shoot
- they don't use up your lead supply so fast
- probably most importantly they provide more trigger time using your favourite rifle rather than plinking with a different rifle/caliber

All good reasons. I can shoot ultra-light loads all I want in my yard and not bother the neighbors. If I shot a lot of full power stuff, it would start to get to people.

With wheel weights getting harder to get, I'm all about nurturing my supply as long as I can. So far, all my bullet material has been free. They now want money for it. I'll happily piddle along with round balls and very light bullets for close range and fun shooting, and help my metal supply last as long as is practical. A pound of powder lasts a very long time at 6 grs or less also. Primers end up being the most expensive part, less than the current cost of bulk grade 22's (figuring $20-ish per 500 rds)