Muzzle loader round ball lead?

[Willyp]

I have some lead,that with the Lee tester,test out to BHN-5. This stuff won't seem to fill the mould out well. The balls have little wrinkles in them. How much tin could i add before this would get to hard[to push down the barrel] for a patched ball black powder?

[aspangler]

1/2 oz per pound will let you do what you want and still be plenty soft for expansion.

[R.M.]

Turn up the heat. Pure needs to be hotter than alloys.

[jsizemore]

Make sure your mold is oil/lube free and up to temperature.

[shredder]

+1 on the above. Pure lead needs hotter casting temperatures than any of our common boolit alloys and it sounds like your mold is possibly cold or contaminated to produce wrinkles.

Solutions: Turn up the heat for starters. Also be sure to preheat the mould if you are not already doing so. Many folks recommend a hot plate or laying the mould on the lead furnace while it heats up. Try scrubbing the mould cavities in hot water with some dawn dish soap and a toothbrush, then rinse in hot water. Now go lay that clean mould on top of your lead pot and turn it on.

[waksupi]

Save the tin, turn up the heat.

[Zymurgy50]

+++ on turning up the heat, do not be surprised to see 700-750 with pure lead.

[shadowcaster]

I have some lead,that with the Lee tester,test out to BHN-5. This stuff won't seem to fill the mould out well. The balls have little wrinkles in them. How much tin could i add before this would get to hard[to push down the barrel] for a patched ball black powder?

At 5-bhn currently, I wouldn't be concerned about getting your lead too hard. Turn up the heat and add what is needed for proper fill out.

Shad

[Down South]

Clean and preheat the mould. Turn up the heat on the melt.

[Baron von Trollwhack]

A RB does not have to be either pure lead or free from blemishes to effectively kill game. It is the shooter's accuracy with whatever ball is used that will make the kill.

BvT

[dikman]

What they said - make sure the mold is clean, hot and the lead is hot enough. I've cast more than a "few" round balls and the occasional wrinkle appears but it doesn't matter much (unless you're a target shooter where everything has to be perfect - I'm not).

[Toymaker]

NO TIN!!!! Crank up the heat and get that mold nicely preheated. I like to cast my RB at around 750 ° F.
I do target shoot, everything from local to national level, so everything "has to be perfect". (dikman- you made me laugh). I even weigh the RB's and group them by 0.5 grain.
I shoot a keg of FFFg and half a keg of FFg a year. That's a lot of RB down range.

[bob208]

as others have said trun up the heat. also try holding the mold at different distances from the spout. i have some that like to be close and others that like a 1/2 inch run at the mold.

[dikman]

Toymaker, I only shoot targets (no hunting), and I can understand, when one is good enough, that such precision is necessary. I, however, have a long way to go until such attention to detail will make any difference :lol:.

[Old Scribe]

Yeppers-turn up the heat.

[Bent Ramrod]

Hold your mould and ladle horizontally, and pour into the sprue hole from the side with the ladle, as if you were filling the mould from a tablespoon. Although this technique is a sure-fire wrinkle producer when casting cylindro-conical boolits, it has produced wrinkle-free castings for me in every round ball mould I've tried from 0.257" to 0.620" diameter.