T/C .54 Hawken shot weight variation?

[Bob Krack]

I'm still workin on my T/C .54 Hawken. Just started casting "maxi-ball" .54 cal 400 gr.

The mould is (was) marketed by T/C but I believe it is manufactured by Ohaus.

Pure lead (cable sheathing from a military installation) casts at 409 to 411 grains and tests 11.30 specific gravity. I reckon thats about as close to pure lead as I will be able to find.

My question is, what weight variation should I consider as a reason to reject a projectile? I realize 2 grains is less that 1/2 on 1% on a 400+gr projectile, but I found 5 or 6 out of 100 weighing around 406 or so.

I try to keep my metallic rifle boolits at less than 1/4 of 1% variation for most loadings. No big deal, just easy to remelt less than nearly perfect boolits.

What do I want to do with the BP .54?

Vic

[725]

I bet when it comes time to shoot it you won't be able to tell any difference. Seems like a very resonable weight varience to me. Do a little range time and let us know how it works.

[Geraldo]

I just happen to have a .54 TC Hawken and a .54 Maxi-ball mold that I just picked up in a deal. I haven't cast with it yet, but part of the deal were maxis cast from that mold. I also have a box of unlubed maxi-balls from TC. I checked a sample of both:

Factory TC Maxi-balls: 417gr to just over 421gr
Cast Maxi-balls-supposed to be pure lead, but who really knows: one low of 408gr, the rest 414-421gr.

I don't think a 1:48 TC barrel with standard sights and maxi-balls is a long range proposition, so I don't see any point in being concerned about this, but 725 is right, the only place to find out for sure is on the range.