Just a Thought

[brad925]

Is there any reason why you could'nt shoot round balls made of Zinc. Seeing i'm getting more and more of these in my WW bucket i was wondering if i could cast them into round balls and shoot them in a ML. I know they are lighter than lead but i am sure small game ain't gonna notice the difference.

[Dean D.]

I don't see any reason you couldn't shoot them. Since the patch would protect the bore it shouldn't cause any harm. As you say, being lighter them might not carry as far as lead but should work fine for small game.

If I am wrong I look forward to hearing why this won't work also!

[NickSS]

I am not sure at what temperature the non-lead WW melt at but it is way more than what lead melts at. When I have lead up to around 600 degrees these weights are still completely solid.. i have not tried to melt them but I am not sure my electric lead melter would do the job.

[Baron von Trollwhack]

Just be sure to carefully clean all your tooling that contacts the zinc so as not to contaminate your lead and lead alloy casting. It will be a lot of trouble, but if your lead pot and items get zinc mush disease you will not be happy.

BvT

[mooman76]

Give it a try and let us know.

[brad925]

Melting temp of Zinc is 787.1 deg F.

[Beerd]

This might be a silly question, but will a mould that casts a .490" lead ball throw one the same size when it's made of zinc?
Them buggers are going to be hard, a change in patch thickness may be needed.
I imagine that zinc balls would work just fine in a smooth bore.
..

[firefly1957]

They will tear patches more than lead but with some work you might find a load that works.

[Baron von Trollwhack]

They will also be lighter and ballistically less desirable. Some just use WW for RB as it is very slightly larger as cast and much less flattened than lead on impact. They seek big game deeper penetration as against the mushrooming without fragmentation.

BvT

[philthephlier]

Round balls to be patched need to be as close to dead soft as you can get or the cloth will not grab the ball properly to impart the rifling twist necessary for accuracy, especially at hunting velocities. Big bore calibers in the .50 and up range and even .45 at maximum, (2000 fps) need a patch that will hold up all the way down the bore with the weave firmly crushed into the soft lead. If the ball is too hard you will not get the accuracy the rifle is capable of giving you.

[waksupi]

Round balls to be patched need to be as close to dead soft as you can get or the cloth will not grab the ball properly to impart the rifling twist necessary for accuracy, especially at hunting velocities. Big bore calibers in the .50 and up range and even .45 at maximum, (2000 fps) need a patch that will hold up all the way down the bore with the weave firmly crushed into the soft lead. If the ball is too hard you will not get the accuracy the rifle is capable of giving you.

Nope, lots of us shoot wheel weight round balls, manage to come out on top at the competitions, and fill the freezer. That patch will hold on to them just fine. They are not gripping the ball, they are protecting the bore, acting as a gas check, and wiping fouling. The ball is not going to go spinning freely inside of the patch, regardless of how loose they may be loaded.
I doubt anyone who has been around me would say I'm not shooting some pretty stout loads in my .62, and it is an exceptional shooter. Anyone who says that you must shoot dead soft lead in round balls, have never tried it, or else didn't know what they were doing.

[StrawHat]

Read some of the old literature where the hunters cast leads balls and alloyed them to make them harder. Fellows like Baker and his brethern. Apparently it has been done for a few years.

[philthephlier]

It would be interesting to poll the winners of the major rifle events at Friendship, Indiana for the past few years and get their take on the subject. No disrespect to anyone.

[mooman76]

This issue has been brought up more than a few times here. One guy swore up and down he was right yet he had never actually tried shooting a harder lead ball. Some actually report better accuracy. I used harder lead because that's all I could fine and I won a few competitions using them too. Allot of people have just never tried them.

[waksupi]

This issue has been brought up more than a few times here. One guy swore up and down he was right yet he had never actually tried shooting a harder lead ball. Some actually report better accuracy. I used harder lead because that's all I could fine and I won a few competitions using them too. Allot of people have just never tried them.


I trust empirical testing rather than old wives tales.

[Omnivore]

When reality disagrees with my theories, it's always reality that's got it wrong. :grin: