50 cal cast Bullet size ?

[woodsman777]

Hi guys
I just recently got my first 50 cal Hawkins style rifle (like the ones cabelas sells) Itallian , Invstarms brand
It shoots .490 patched round ball . I'm wanting to cast conical bullets for this gun.
looking for mold suggestions and what diameter am I looking for .490 .501 .512 ?
I bought a lee 50 cal muzzleloader bullet mold there popping out at .512-.515 seems large for the bore
any and all input is welcome not new to casting but new to the whole front stuffer thing
Thanks in advance

[idahoron]

You are talking about he lee REAL. They are designed to be over size, and I am surprised that they don't measure .517
Use an over powder wad and you should have good luck with them. Ron

[Jeffrey]

The LEE boolit is refered to as a "REAL" as in Rifling Engraves At Loading. Use dead soft lead for muzzleloader boolits - pure or nearly so, never wheel weights etc. The boolit slides into the barrel up to the last driving band. To get past that point and into the barrel, your short starter is your friend. BTW, don't use a patch with a conical. I've seen it done.

[missionary5155]

Good morning
I would get out my best inside measurer (dial caliper) and carefully measure the groove diameter on that barrel. Best would be to drive a lightly oiled pure lead slug into the bore but not too deep so you can reteave it easily. That would be the absolute best size especially if you had a false muzzle to load with. But you do not.
Is the muzzle beveled to facilitate a Boolit ? If so then measure that slug and I would drop .001-.002 thousands. On ignition a soft lead boolit will bump up that little bit easily sealing the bore. What would be great is if that muzzle had been reamed a short distance so you could thumb press a boolit into that "no lands" area straight and even before having to wack it into the rifling.

I stopped shooting those things long ago in store bought rifles. Just not as accurate as I want. Decided a RB was much easier and a fatter RB would do all I ever needed. Smack a critter with a caliber .570 RB and down they go. If that is not enough I can go up to caliber .78 (yep I have a true .80 smoothie) and those are plain devastating. Sorry you did not ask for this RB discussion.

Now I think I will go sample some fresh chacolate chip cookies..then some apple pie. Then go read some Bible. Wonderful day ahead.
Mike in Peru

[woodsman777]

Thanks for all the reply's. So I measured the bore and came up with .490" on top of the lands and .515 at the bottom of the grooves
guess Ill try and load & shoot one (right after I get my bullet puller)

[missionary5155]

Good morning Woodsman
I just noticed.. WELCOME to our little place ! You been alurking a long time. Happy to have ya jabbing keys !
Now what is that critter in your avatar ? My 60 plus eyeballs just are having a tough time up close trying to figure that one out.. Thanks !!
Mike in Peru

[woodsman777]

Howdy Mike
The critter that you asked about in the avatar is actually 2 critters.
the picture was taken off the internet and it titled " Dead Deer Walking"
Its from somebody's trail cam. I've heard its from Montana, Wyoming, Colorado and a half dozen other sources.
In the picture this cougar just a few feet behind a deer that apparently does not know the cougar is there

As a side note we have friends of ours that are missionaries in Peru

[woodsman777]

Well I made it out to the range yesterday to test fire those 515 dia 330gr bullets that I cast up.
They shoot great, very accurate. I'm thinking this will be a great Deer/Elk bullet .
The only real draw back is when shooting from the bench my cheek was taking a pretty good beating at my weld spot
when I shot from a standing position with the same cheek weld spot it didn't beat me up
For longer shots probally shoot from sticks, Thanks again for the input