.680 and .732 Round Ball Molds Available

[jmort]

Just got email from Rick at Sharpshooter and the .680 multi-cavity mold will be available next week and .732 available later this month. I'm getting two of both. Very excited as I like the design of his molds and the sizes are both good.

[6pt-sika]

What kinda money are these things going to be and is he putting a sprue plate on them ?

[jmort]

I believe they are around $35 to $40. IIRC I got a #1 buck and a 000 buck, two molds for around $75.00 delivered. No sprue plate that I am aware of. Really like not having a sprue plate and the simplicity of the design. I am excited.

[quasi]

.680 for me.

[turbo1889]

Been so long I don't have his website in my links anymore, mind posting it?

[GBertolet]

Here's the link. http://buckshotmold.com/

[bikerbeans]

email from yesterday


Hello
We have already cut the first mold. We have been waiting on a tag to make the .732 casting. I work a full time job that requires travel and I have to leave Monday. The tag was not finished today so it will be about two weeks before I can get the first run out. $39.95 shipped to the USA w/ a pair of flush cutters.
Thanks
Rick

[turbo1889]

Here's the link. http://buckshotmold.com/

Now that makes me feel really dumb, should have guessed that one.

[longbow]

I will be interested to see how spherical the balls are from these moulds. The alignment pins and general design don't give me a lot of confidence.

For buckshot it wouldn't matter much if any if mould halves didn't line up exactly but it does for full bore ball. A little misalignment might be okay for smoothbore but not for rifled gun.

I hope I am wrong but please post casting results when you get your mould.

The are certainly a good price and I don't mind no sprue plate either.

Longbow

[GBertolet]

I emailed sharpshooter today, asking if he could make a combo mold, in .680RB and 00 buck, like he does for the 00 buck and the #4 buck.

[jmort]

"I will be interested to see how spherical the balls are from these moulds."

Ajay sent me a .690 Sharpshooter mold cut out of a block marked #4 Buckshot that is 5 cavities and works well. Balls are more than acceptable/spherical and the sprue is negligible when you use end cutters, much more like Lee and for sure not like Lyman nipple. I will email Ajay and ask him his opinion. Hopefully he used it, it looked real clean when I got it. I'll try and post some pictures as soon as I find it. I really like it and the simplicity of the design.

[Faret]

How many cavities?

[jmort]

I believe it is five cavities

[nanuk]

I can't find any info on the large balls on that site

[jmort]

This is new item, and there is a note to call if you need something you don't see.

[6pt-sika]

Okay so the big one should be fine for a 10 gauge and the smaller for a 12 gauge ?

Well provided you shoot them inside a shotcup or wad .

[turbo1889]

Yup, provided you use a thin lead shot type wad in the 10ga. (thick steel shot type wads need smaller 0.705-0.715" size ball depending on how thick of petals and actual bore size of YOUR gun). Those thinner walled lead only wads can be a little harder to find for the 10ga. but they are available.

0.732" big ball also good as naked full bore ball in 12ga., especially Hastings brand name rifled slug barrels for pump guns should be just about the perfect size for those barrels as a full bore ball engraving in the rifling.

[6pt-sika]

Yup, provided you use a thin lead shot type wad in the 10ga. (thick steel shot type wads need smaller 0.705-0.715" size ball depending on how thick of petals and actual bore size of YOUR gun). Those thinner walled lead only wads can be a little harder to find for the 10ga. but they are available.

0.732" big ball also good as naked full bore ball in 12ga., especially Hastings brand name rifled slug barrels for pump guns should be just about the perfect size for those barrels as a full bore ball engraving in the rifling. My plan is the large one in the SP-10 wad for my short ten guns and the smaller one in the SP-12 for my 12 gauge guns .

[jmort]

Just heard from Ajay. He is out looking for a country hide-out. I asked him about the .690 Sharpshooter mold he sent me and about the new .680 and .732 molds and here is his reply:

"I did like that mold and above that the guy Rick if I remember his name is a good guy and provides good service and stands behind his product.
The .680" RB mold will be a hit from him along with the .732" RB a far better size than a .735"."

He also discussed the .690 which casted at .685 at his ASSA forum and he said this:

"Best fit for .685" dia RB in wad!
1. Fed.12S3 purple wad, nice fit!
2. Win.AA White next best fit!
3. Fed.12C-1 a bit tighter fit!
4. Fed.12S-0 a bit too tight fit!
5. Fed.12S-4 brown, too tight, could be dangerous!
6. Win. 12F114 yellow, too loose for accuracy!
7. Hornady Versalite Red, Too tight, could be dangerous!
**Just in case you are wondering where did I get this .685" RB mold,
that mold was a gift from Sharp Shooters and all I payed was for shipping $5.
What a gentleman he is, can't beat that!"

http://slugshooting.accountsupport.com/Forum4/viewtopic.php?f=36&t=16

I would suggest all of us support his Facebook page and his ASSA forum site.

[bikerbeans]

FWIW, I have new style Lee .69 RB mold, has align pins and bushing, that throws ACWW lead at .686". I don't know if another mold from lee would throw the same.

BB

[longbow]

Yeah, I am seeing quite a few post that say the new style Lee moulds are quite nice. I just don't need anything right now or I would order one.

So far I have found that 0.690" balls a just a hair too big to fit in any of my shotcups. I had one I figured might work but nope! Petals sheared as always. Some people have good luck with them though. As I just mentioned in anther thread, I live in a reloading component desert so have to order in which makes it hard unless you know exactly what you want. I can't go to the local sporting goods store with my micrometer and check petal thickness.

What I have not tried, but plan to, is cloth patching 0.690" balls into hulls over hard card wad columns and/or shotcups with petals removed.

I always figured the cloth patch would not make it past the crimp or through the forcing cone but others have posted success with this and claim the patches look like they do from muzzleloaders.

It would be nice if it worked because it is easy, allows use of a convenient size/weight of ball and it will pass through most chokes (though patched it might not be a good idea to try a full choke ~ my guns are cylinder bore or I/C).

I will load and try some next time. My 0.690" ball mould is my oldest mould. I bought it used in the 1970's but have hardly used it because I couldn't get decent results. Cloth patching might solve that.

Also, FYI BPI has a shotcup they claim is suitable for 0.690" RBs. I have not tried that one. If you want a part number I will look it up.

Longbow

[Hogtamer]

jmortimer,
I don't do facebook but did look at that other site. I've been in funeral homes that had more activity. We seem to have the market cornered for discussion and information purposes here @ cast boolits. Longbow, do yourself a favor and get you the Lee 7/8 key drive mold. I'm not making those results up @ 100 yds! shot 3 @ 50 yds last week and the holes were touching. I'm out of slugs to load at the moment but will be back at the long range challenge soon. Gotta confess: Santa brought me an older (but like new condition) Browning abolt .270 for Christmas. Sad story but i had all my guns stolen some years back and this is the first high powered rifle i've had replaced. after all sighted in a quarter would cover three holes from that sweet shooter. Got that outta my system though and back to the BIG lead!

[longbow]

You know what Hogtamer... I am going to order one. Lee moulds are about the best buy there is. I have the 1 oz. Drive Key slug mould and it casts very well after a bit of minor burr removal but so far I really haven't had impressive groups from it. Not horrible but not impressive.

I really should try it out at 100 yards though. I haven't so far because it hasn't done as well as my round ball groups at 50 yards. That doesn't mean it won't hold up and do better than my round balls at 100 yards though.

Anyway, I am sure I can dig up another $25.00 or so and buy the 7/8 oz. mould too. A guy just can't have too many slug moulds!

Thanks for the reminder.

Longbow

[Buckshot Bill]

anyone recommend a good thin petal 10 ga wad to put the .732's in? SP-10 petals are too thick for my guns with projectile that diameter.

[longbow]

I guess it would be a change in direction but if you can't find shotcups thin enough petals, you might try the 0.715" balls. That one is also a standard mould from Lyman. Hah! I have one and cast balls I haven't shot. My I/C choke is 0.710" and the balls cast at 0.716". I figured a hard ball at full throttle meeting a choke might not do the choke much good.

Another option is to make (or have made a sizer to knock a few though off the 0.732" ball. Someone was doing that successfully for using 0.690" ball 12 ga. shotcups.

That does seem thick for petals though when I work it back from full bore 10 ga. so maybe there are some options out there.

That really wasn't much help was it?

Longbow

[Buckshot Bill]

I was thinking a push through sizer too.

[longbow]

A push through sizer is easy to make if you have a lathe. Maybe not so easy if you don't.

Also, if you are only knocking 0.005" or so off the ball it may be hard to line the "belt" up as you put them in the wads. If you are knocking 0.010" or more off the "belt" will be reasonably large and you will have a somewhat oval ball (is that a contradiction... probably not but an oval sphere would be).

Not much help again.

Longbow

[Buckshot Bill]

im lathe-less unfortunately. kinda off topic but I had been kicking around the idea of a push through sizer for some cylindrical projectiles i'm working on and am having a hard time getting a mold to throw the exact size I need

[longbow]

I wish Lee would do a multi cavity 0.680"RB mould like their 6 cavity moulds. Mind you if this Sharpshooter mould turns out nice balls, nothing wrong with that either. In fact, I tend to agree that its simplicity is attractive as is the price.

I will stay tuned for casting and shooting results. And thanks to jmortimer we have another mould option as well.

Longbow

[Faret]

Any updates?