Maxi Ball Question

[Cayoot]

I'm new to casting and shooting anything other than round balls in my muzzle loaders.

However, I was just given a mould for my .50 Cal. I found a drawing of the boolit on the Lyman site. This (seems to me) to be a maxi-ball.

I don't really know how to lube/patch this thing. I'm kinda thinking that it doesn't require a patch....but I'm also thinking that Liquid Alox might not work as a lube.

It has 2 massive looking grooves...do I fill both of these with lube? If so what kind?

Anybody have a charge suggestion for this boolit?

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Looks like a real deer buster...if I could only figure out how to use it!

Thanks

[TCLouis]

was originally a lube like TC 1000 or same sorta lube from CVA . . . . medium hard.
I don't see either on the market any more so maybe TC wonder lube with additional Bees wax melted in (swag the ratio).

I stole this lube formula from someone here on the site for my Maxis:
5:4 beeswax to olive oil. It is what I am using now.

NO Patch needed with Maxi, it is tight enough fit that it should take a slight effort to engrave rifling and seat the boolit.

After the first shot I always seat boolit or ball with damp patch on the jag and take several swipes of the bore after seating projectile. Watch suction as you remove patch from the barrel, sometimes it will suck it right back down the barrel, then it is patch screw to recover it.

Go forth and make smoke!!

[monadnock#5]

Thompson Center makes just the items you need. The first is a T shaped tube that screws onto the second thing you need which is a tube of their muzzle loading boolit grease. You push the boolits through the top of the T. When the second boolit is inserted the first is in line with the grease tube. You squeeze the lube into the grooves and put the next boolit in the tube. Upon putting the forth boolit into the tube the first one will fall into your hand. No muss no fuss and no mess.
Ken

[MT Gianni]

Crisco gives fair to good accuracy if you want to see how they group. Gianni.

[Cayoot]

Thanks Guys! That really helps!
Let me ask this:
Do I fill both sections with lube? That's alot of lube!!!!!

Crisco???? You mean just smear crisco into the boolit groves?

[shooter575]

Crisco will work Ok.Lots of people use it for Minnes.I think it is too soft for warm weather though.You could cut it 50/50 or so with beeswax.It will go rancid after a few months.I have had good luck with 50/50 bees wax and olive oil,peanut or canola oil.Does not go bad. You can just smeer it on.Or panlube the maxies.Try one grouve then both.See what it likes.

[Cayoot]

Would I use my normal W.W. alloy for casting these? I always cast my RBs out of pure lead, but there was a patch to prevent them from leading up the bore. What about these maxi-balls? Alloy or pure lead?

Thanks,

Bary

[shooter575]

Gonna be tough to get them down the bore if hard cast if they are engageing the rifling.Also remember hard lead will cast a larger dia. than pure PB.But this all depends on what dia your barrel is.With no patch to take up slack boolet to barrel dia is everthing.They are like women.All diffrent and want to be treated diffrent.

[Maven]

Cayoot, Use the same kind of Pb for Maxi's as you do with RB's. As for lube, yes you fill both grooves with it: Crisco is fine, but the proprietary lubes*, e.g., Ox-Yoke, T/C are designed to deal with the powder fouling whereas Crisco isn't. Trust me, you don't want to use Alox or smokeless lubes on the Maxi's (Don't ask me how I know this!). Also, as mentioned earlier, after you seat the Maxi, but before you cap the rifle, swab the bbl. with a dry patch since extra lube + fouling doesn't help accuracy one bit: Do this each time you reload. Watch the bases of the Maxi's as well since they must be perfect to be accurate. (Cast them at 800 deg. F.) You may want to experiment with a "wad" cut from writing tablet or shirt cardboard too: Place it over the powder charge and seat the Maxi on top of it. A 7/16" arch punch works for .45cal., btw. The wad seems to squeeze the last bit of accuracy out of my Maxi's (.45cal.).

*Some have speculated that these lubes are mostly Crisco anyway, only more expensive. I should add that since you use heavier powder charges with Maxi's, you'll get more fouling (even with Pyrodex), which is why a good lube is important. A damp patch (your favorite solvent) after 3-5 shots, followed by a dry one, helps control this.

[versifier]

T/C no longer makes those great units that screw onto the lube tubes. Fox Ridge (T/C Custom Shop) still had a few in .45 & .54 last summer, not sure if there are any left.

[Cayoot]

Thanks so much you guys!!!!

Now I'm really pumped to try this Maxi....I cast up a pile of the maxi's but it was from the alloy that I had in my bottom pour furnace....WW + some tin. So I'll toss these into the recycle can and fire up my plumber furnace and a fill a cast iron pot with some dental lead to make my new Maxis.

Maven, thanks much for the tip on swabbing after I load...I never would have thought of that.

I'm looking forward to this!:drinks:

Bary

[Guido4198]

You didn't say what type of bbl. you have on your rifle. The twist rate will affect the performance of the maxi-types. Being longer than a roundball, they generally shoot better out of a faster twist bbl. If you have a slow..( 1 in 60 or so) twist bbl. you'll not get the best precision from maxi's. If your twist is faster....( say 1 in 48 or less...) then the maxi will out perform a roundball. As to loads....in a 50 cal. start with 70 gns. ffg or fffg and work up 'til you get the best groups for the amount of punishment you're willing/able to take. When I have hunted (Whitetail) with maxi's, my load was 80gns. fffg. Never had one stop in a deer, so I can't comment on what the recovered bullet looked like, inches of penetration, etc. They just go all the way through. Keeping in mind, I hunt in the S.E. US and a long shot is 100 yds. Usually the shot is 40 yds. or so. I know guys that stoke'em up with 100, 110 gns. of powder...I'm personally convinced they are kidding themselves, but that's their privilege. It's been my EXPERIENCE...( as opposed to an opinion formed from reading gun magazines...) that their deer aren't any deader than mine have been. To be honest...over the years I've been shooting my 50 Hawken..purchased in the mid-70's...I've switched out the factory bbl. for a 32" Green Mountain "drop-in" with a very slow twist for roundballs which I enjoy more, especially for match shooting. My hunting load with that bbl. and a roundball is 80-90 gns. ffg or fffg. Once again...never lost a deer. Hope this helps...
Cheers,
Don

[omgb]

If you really get pumped over maxies, drop me a PM and I'll gladly sell you a SAECO 4 holer for $125 shipped.

[Larry Gibson]

Cayoot

The Maxi Ball is a very good bullet. It doesn't use a patch and you fill the grooves up with lube. I use the 5:4 beeswax & olive oil lube (I won't report you for the theft TCLouis!) lube as it works very well up through the magnum type loads I use (1500+ fps out of a TC Blk Mtn Magnum). Crisco and TC1000 work very well up through the 100 or so fps of non magnum MLs. I just rub the grooves full with lube while watching the tube, easy to do and a paper towel or two controls the mess. I also cast them out of a 1-16 tin lead alloy for the magnum velocity I push them to. Plain lead works very well for the non magnum loads.

Larry Gibson