do you graphite your balls?

[rancher1913]

this winter I am trying to stock pile some boolits and have been casting a lot of round balls for my holy black shooters. I know graphite helps with shot so don't think it would hurt regular round balls, and was thinking it would help with long term storage of my cast balls. what are the ramifications of graphiting 50 cal muzzelloader balls.

[PapaG]

I see no advantage as they will be encased in a patch when loaded. Might keep them from oxidizing in storage but seems unnecessary to me. Try it and let us know what happens besides your hands turning black.

[shoot-n-lead]

do you graphite your balls?

Not if I can help it...

[Skipper]

do you graphite your balls?




http://thefirearmsforum.s3.amazonaws.com/2016/10/174668_6680f31596ed184b042088b868009118.gif

[JeffinNZ]

Not if I can help it...

This was always going to go south wasn't it?

[725]

Sometimes you just have to smile.........................

[hutch18414]

The first thing I thought of was that story "Why I don't shoot black powder".

[OptimusPanda]

Sometimes you just have to smile.........................
While shaking your head and walking away....and snickering.

[too many things]

wife said no

[mooman76]

What's wrong with good old fasion Talc?

[Walkingwolf]

http://thefirearmsforum.s3.amazonaws.com/2016/10/174668_6680f31596ed184b042088b868009118.gif

+1 Thanks for the image.

[Hickory]

If you are shooting patched round balls it would not be a good idea to put graphite on your balls. The purpose of the patch is to be a barrier between the ball and the rifling and to grip it so as to impart a spin on the ball. Graphite would lessen the grip and the ball may not spin as designed.

[waarp8nt]

I leave mine natural, but make efforts to keep them clean and dry. The patch is typically well lubricated so I'm not sure if slick balls would have a negative effect.

[bubba.50]

I use a little talcum powder in sweaty weather. :twisted:

[Walkingwolf]

The wife prefers them shaved...

[Beagle333]

Powdercoat em..... .50 cal Zombie balls!!!

http://i613.photobucket.com/albums/tt214/shutupandjump/PowderCoating/5-26-14015_zps22c82c73.jpg

[bubba.50]

in a somewhat more serious answer, I see absolutely no benefit to makin' an already messy operation even messier with the addition of black graphite powder that will end up everywhere & on everything.

but on the other hand, don't guess it'd hurt anything either.

[bubba.50]

Powdercoat em..... .50 cal Zombie balls!!!

http://i613.photobucket.com/albums/tt214/shutupandjump/PowderCoating/5-26-14015_zps22c82c73.jpg


is them peanut M&M's?

[Beagle333]

They are actually .50 cal lead balls..... balls of the undead, that will live forever!!!! (or til I shoot them);)

[Col4570]

Never tried it but who can account for mans Peccadillos,idiocyncracy and foibles.I would think that mixing a colloidal solution would be out of the question.

[Whitesmoke]

Why not pour some cheap vegetable or olive oil in your round ball storage container.Basically something to keep the atmosphere from dioxidising the lead.

[rfd]

just-cast ball storage in a baggie, and rolled around with a spritz of wd40 - keeps off the oxidation and on the shine.

powder coating trad ml balls??? OMG!!! that's just plain Heresy!!! [smilie=1: :mrgreen:

[Col4570]

[QUOTE=Whitesmoke;3881960]Why not pour some cheap vegetable or olive oil in your round ball storage container.Basically something to keep the atmosphere from dioxidising the lead.[
A sensible Idea if you cast more than you need,they soon oxidise in storage.

[rancher1913]

thanks, figured you guys would have fun with this but it was also a real question because I noticed that some of the store bought ones looked to have graphite on them.

[ascast]

Whhhaaaaaaattt?

[waksupi]

If you just want to keep them shiny, drop them in a container of soapy water, then let dry without rinsing.

All in all, I'm against graphite on the balls, as it tends to make a terrible mess in my underwear. Black in front, racing stripe in the rear.

[curator]

About once a year I cast around 2000 .490 round balls for our local Boy Scout Camp's muzzle loading rifle program. About five years ago the Camp Director brought a half-filled container of white-oxidized balls back to me for remelting. Apparently one of the lady-scout-mistresses correctly identified the lead oxide as toxic and would not let her snow-flakes shoot them. Fearing she would make a huge fuss at Council office he took them away and substituted some of his store-bought balls that had no oxide (visible). Since then I have taken the precaution of tumbling freshly cast round balls in Lee Liquid Alox thinned about 4 to 1 with mineral spirits. Alox is what the Navy uses to "moth-ball" its ships exposed to salt air. The coating is invisible, not sticky and completely eliminates surface oxidation. Balls I cast and coated 4 years ago are oxide free in my shooting cabinet while the uncoated ones are dusty white.

[Multigunner]

Does it cost extra in Bangkok?

[Omnivore]

I have taken the precaution of tumbling freshly cast round balls in Lee Liquid Alox thinned about 4 to 1 with mineral spirits.

That's actually kind of a neat idea, snow-flakes, or snow-flake marms, notwithstanding. I've been placing fresh-cast lead in zip lock bags, but I have some very old ones (switched sizes, and so haven't used up the old size) that are very oxidized. I suspect that some of the commercial, swaged round balls are similarly coated. I've had Speer balls for a long time and they don't seem to oxidize much if at all, whereas some Hornady balls have been white oxide-covered since I got 'em. In any case, a dilute Alox coating would be easy, cheap, and can't hurt a thing.

[Walkingwolf]

If your balls have oxidized you are not using them enough.:kidding:

[Outpost75]

If you just want to keep them shiny, drop them in a container of soapy water, then let dry without rinsing. All in all, I'm against graphite on the balls, as it tends to make a terrible mess in my underwear. Black in front, racing stripe in the rear.

I am reminded of the famous Johnny Carson skit about the new ball washer on the golf course in Vegas. If Joey Heatherton or Anne Margaret offered to graphite my balls my reaction would the the same as Johnny's...

[carbine]

I cast up 120 to 240 pounds of boolits and balls each year and store them in cookie tins. They stay shiny for a couple of years. Been doing it this way almost 40 years

[mozeppa]

how about using liquid alox on yer balls?

[RogerDat]

how about using liquid alox on yer balls? When I had a balls getting dusty from disuse folks suggested that a bit of time with the vibrator and media would get rid of the dust and afterwards a tumble with liquid alox would prevent future dustiness for a long time to come. Working so far....

[Omnivore]

OK, let's get it out of our systems;
We have balls (for our guns), we often shoot wads, and we always shoot our loads (some have hair triggers, and thus pre-mature “discharge”, which can be “dangerous”), otherwise we might smear lube over our balls, the guns have nipples, we use "nipple twisters" to screw them, and so on. Yuk yuk, funny funny, hah hah. What have I missed? Oh, we might as well mention our cocks and our pricks (flintlock shooters all use those, and you should know that the term “prick” as used for a part of the anatomy started out as a euphemism because a prick is what you use to puncture a powder bag prior to priming a cannon, or to clear out the flash hole in a flintlock barrel, which we might have forgotten a few generations back). Can we be done with it now, or do these age-old terms have to result in a perpetual snicker-fest among black powder shooters?

You know it’s not exactly inviting to some people, to have to filter though all that when they're looking for useful information. I know a young woman who is very interested in learning to shoot, and to hunt, but some of the men she’s been forced to hang out with in order to learn these things have been less than inspiring because of stuff like this. She soldiers on, but it isn't pleasant. At one point she was near the point of vomiting. I thought she was ill, but she later said it was something one of those guys said (one of my "friends"). She never did repeat it.

Also look up the term "Markley's Law". It states, more or less, that any discussion of guns in mixed company eventually degrades into penis references, usually in the form of "Uh-huh; those gun owners must be, uh, 'compensating for something' (if you know what I mean - nod nod, wink wink)" meaning that the only reason a man owns a gun is to compensate for some kind of sexual dysfunction or inadequacy, and this sort of talk doesn't help.

Yes, I know; “lighten up” and all, but it had to be said. Carry on.

[RogerDat]

When I had a balls getting dusty from disuse folks suggested that a bit of time with the vibrator and media would get rid of the dust and afterwards a tumble with liquid alox would prevent future dustiness for a long time to come. Working so far....

Actually that is exactly what I did. Vibrator with crushed walnut media, to clean the dust off. Followed by tumble lube in liquid alox. I know very few women who would become ill at any double entendre interpretation of that post. The information was passing on suggestions made when I first discovered the problem that worked for me so far.

[Texantothecore]

I've heard that Ben Gay works well.

[waarp8nt]

OK, let's get it out of our systems;
We have balls (for our guns), we often shoot wads, and we always shoot our loads (some have hair triggers, and thus pre-mature “discharge”, which can be “dangerous”), otherwise we might smear lube over our balls, the guns have nipples, we use "nipple twisters" to screw them, and so on. Yuk yuk, funny funny, hah hah. What have I missed? Oh, we might as well mention our cocks and our pricks (flintlock shooters all use those, and you should know that the term “prick” as used for a part of the anatomy started out as a euphemism because a prick is what you use to puncture a powder bag prior to priming a cannon, or to clear out the flash hole in a flintlock barrel, which we might have forgotten a few generations back). Can we be done with it now, or do these age-old terms have to result in a perpetual snicker-fest among black powder shooters.

I believe you forgot to mention anything about Ramrods....I once got my ramrod stuck in a side hammer action of a box lock. It took a nutcracker (no aggressive teeth like pliers), a strip of leather wrapped around the shaft and two hands to pull it out. Once removed, I noticed the tip came off and was stuck in the barrel. I put a little extra powder under the nipple in the touch hole and was able to get the the obstruction (cleaning patch and ramrod end) to discharge. There was a substantial penalty for acting in such a manner as the ramrod was never the same. Reminds me I need to get that looked at sometime...a new tip may be in order.

[Hickory]

I've heard that Ben Gay works well.
Fake news.

[mozeppa]

Fake news.

how do you know?:mrgreen:

[Hellgate]

I found that graphiting the 36 cal balls has prevented oxidation of those cast about 1 1/2 years ago. Also, putting the 44s in baggies has stopped exposure to the air and they stay shiny.
BTW I shoot as a Frontiersman (cap&ball) in Cowboy Action matches. "It is the only category where you can shoot your wad and play with your balls while tweaking the nipples on a pair of 44s." Canada Bill:mrgreen:

[swheeler]

A worm trying to break out always got his balls graphited. I think that was graphite in pipe dope? I've heard you can't do that anymore.

[GoexBlackhorn]

I heard of graphite for the bore. But never for the roundball.
I must live on the wrong side of the tracks.:-?

[SSGOldfart]

This was always going to go south wasn't it?
Yep it was

[rancher1913]

despite the "fun" some had it does have some good info on long term storage of cast lead roundballs.

[rfd]

it's really a no-brainer to keep lead from oxidizng, just coat immediately after casting with something easy to deal with later on, like some form of light oil from plant or dino. and no, not graphite.

[aephilli822]

if the oxide is toxic, is it a good idea to "add" it to your walnut media? couldn't that possibly make it into "airborne dust"?

[Hellgate]

Ziploc plastic bags work for me. The cast bullets/balls that are bagged stay shiny. I would not recommend a vegetable based oil for them as the can become gummy and gather dust. A light machine oil or maybe plain old mineral oil should do.

[fiberoptik]

Nah, just a wee bit of medicated talc is all they require.


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[Josh Smith]

I snip the sprues after casting and put the balls in a rock tumbler with a bit of graphite for a couple hours.

They do seem to shoot better and they don't form oxide.

My initial intent was to eliminate the remainder of the sprue and perhaps cold forge any air pockets down to minimum.

Josh

[quilbilly]

If you are shooting patched round balls it would not be a good idea to put graphite on your balls. The purpose of the patch is to be a barrier between the ball and the rifling and to grip it so as to impart a spin on the ball. Graphite would lessen the grip and the ball may not spin as designed. I have found the same to be true of saboted lubed pistol bullets in muzzleloaders.

[RogerDat]

if the oxide is toxic, is it a good idea to "add" it to your walnut media? couldn't that possibly make it into "airborne dust"? I should have mentioned, I dampen my walnut media with a dash of mineral spirits and some polish, usually nu-shine. Run that for a few minutes to mix. Then add brass. I also use a 1/4 piece of dryer sheet cut into quarters as an absorbent.

You are right dust from polishing media is a prime culprit for lead in the bloodstream. Primers leave a lead residue. I wash brass first in citric acid and water which helps remove that but I still want to control dust since I polish in the basement.

In this case I dumped in a bag of old used up media so I would not spoil "good" media with that lead oxide dust. That used up media was headed for the trash. I really should have included that information. I also don't think there is any point to having the balls more than barely covered. Too heavy to cycle through the media as brass does.

I now return you to your regularly scheduled locker room banter, in hopes that we can get that one guy to try Ben Gay on his balls.

[6bg6ga]

I prefer my balls to be dry.

[LabGuy]

Last week, i was shooting balls I cast in 1985, stored in a coffee can with plastic lid, in a SW Florida garage. No oxidation just a little more grey and less shiny.