Round ball in lever eh?

[Driller640]

I have been thinking about using round ball in my .375 win/ 45-70.
I think it would work if you kept the speed down(1200-1400) and cast with WW
What ya think eh?:castmine:

[Lloyd Smale]

ive shot round ball in the 4570 using just 3 grains of bullseye and it like shooting a 22. Lots of fun. shoot them at swinging steal targets and you pick up big pancake chucks of flattened lead. I always just cast them out of pure no lube nessisary

[Four Fingers of Death]

Sounds like Funnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn! (with a capital F no less:D )

[DLCTEX]

I haven't loaded round balls in lever actions, but I have loaded them for 45 acp. I seat the ball so that a roll crimp hits about center on the ball and have no problems feeding them from the mag. Without crimping the ball tended to get pushed into the case. Dale:Fire:

[woody1]

I have been thinking about using round ball in my .375 win/ 45-70.
I think it would work if you kept the speed down(1200-1400) and cast with WW
What ya think eh?:castmine:

It works for me. I shoot a .378 RB in my Marlin 375 Winchester using blown out 30-30 brass and 3.1 grains of Bullseye. Makes a dandy backyard plinking and close up small game load. It's quiet, velocity is around 900 fps, and it shoots to point of aim at about 20 yd. when I'm sighted in for hunting. Regards, Woody

[Driller640]

All great ideas will try them all eh.

[stocker]

Driller: I use round ball in my 348 and 35 Whelens. I used 5744 powder as I had lots on hand. 8 to 10 grains gave me excellent accuracy at 25 yards. Minute of grouse head. Very quiet. I tumble lube the balls, load them in unsized previously fired cases with a good mouth flare. The ball size must be large enough to be a sizing fit in the case mouths. Crimp to just remove the flare. Smear some NRA lube over the edge of the case mouth and keep them clean after that.

On the 348 I modified an aperture target eyepiece (3/4" diameter) and drilled a second higher aperture to get zeroed with out changing sight settings. Took a bit of calculation to determine where to drill but came out spot on. The bottom of the eyepiece was ground away to provide bolt clearance.

There is a critical point in velocity limits as the balls will strip in the rifling if pushed too hard.

Forgot to mention, I use large pistol primer for these loads.

[hs45/70]

I 've had good success with Unique powder in my 45/70 for round ball loads..

10.0 Gr Unique..1 x 150 gr Rnd ball..1235..1274..1247 fps..3 shots/100yds/ 2.0 inch
...this load shoots under one inch at 50 yds

14.8 gr Unique was a very accurate 1 rnd ball load too .

2 ball load

14.8 gr. Unique.. 2 x 150 gr round ball (300 gr. total)...1472..1489..1498 fps
3 shots..6 holes ...1.50 inch at 50 yds.

[Old Ironsights]

That's still a deer-killer load... right there in Flintlock ballistics.