Tumbling round balls, buckshot, and slugs

[Blood Trail]

I got a cheap rock tumbler from Harbor Freight to tumble buckshot, round ball and slugs. The reason behind this was to remove the sprue marks and casting lines. I put about 1-2 pounds and a tiny squirt of dry graphite in the container and let it tumble on itself for a couple of hours. I am pleased with the results:

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20180516/2efe9f5dc2a359e7905cffba83c8a0b3.jpg

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20180516/2743f6ad75c09d8883799c92f1a12729.jpg

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20180516/0d41d102c0317c6fba703d82ed4e0e42.jpg


I currently have Lyman 525, Lee key drives, and a couple other Russian slugs rolling now. I’ll post pics once done.

What do y’all think?


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[gpidaho]

BT: Those look good. Having never sprung for a Lyman RB mould before, I was surprised at the size of the sprue bump on my new .735 RB and wondered if one should attempt to remove it. So far the few I've loaded I put the sprue forward in the hull and held it in that position with one of those heavy clear overshot disks and roll crimped. Gp

[Blood Trail]

BT: Those look good. Having never sprung for a Lyman RB mould before, I was surprised at the size of the sprue bump on my new .735 RB and wondered if one should attempt to remove it. So far the few I've loaded I put the sprue forward in the hull and held it in that position with one of those heavy clear overshot disks and roll crimped. Gp

How they shoot? I heard it’s more accurate that way


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[gpidaho]

BT: They came out the end. LOL. All my shots were low and a little left. I've got to figure out some sort of sighting system that's better than the front bead and top of the hammer or up-grade to a shotgun with a sight rail attached. Gp

[copdills]

looks great

[Hogtamer]

Gotta get one of those for buckshot!

[bikerbeans]

Very nice!

BB

[missionary5155]

Good morning
Anytime the projectile can be improved cannot hurt. We use a knife and trim the Sprue off to near flat / round.
Mike in Peru

[Dryball]

I've used the "rotator' thingie method...by putting them between 2 plates and going in a circular motion. Does your method change the diameter at all?

[RMc]

From my 2016 post:

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/newreply.php?do=postreply&t=316657



This presumes the word Tumbler means a rotary rock tumbler:

Dry tumbling results in an evenly rough surface on hard cast buckshot pellets. Tumbling with water results in a smooth polished surface. Smooth polished is what you want.

In either case, great care must be used to deal with lead dust or lead residue in water.

Lee round ball molds, (not buckshot molds). virtually eliminate sprue projections or flats without further processing.

https://www.trackofthewolf.com/Categories/PartDetail.aspx/1202/1/LEE-310-6C

Postscript update:

I suspect graphite tumbling may mask a significant amount of lead dust.

My preference then is to dust water tumbled buckshot pellets with mica post-tumbling, rather than introduce a source of lead dust to my loading room.

Regardless of method, a smooth finish is the outcome desired.

[Blood Trail]

I've used the "rotator' thingie method...by putting them between 2 plates and going in a circular motion. Does your method change the diameter at all?

Not at all.


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[jeremy360]

Seems to really clean them up. Looks good, thanks for sharing. Will be curious how the Lyman 525 works out for you. I just got the mold a while back and haven't had time to pour any. Side note, saw you were the same BT off TBH. Neat to see you are working on this...best of luck.

-Jeremy

[Blood Trail]

Seems to really clean them up. Looks good, thanks for sharing. Will be curious how the Lyman 525 works out for you. I just got the mold a while back and haven't had time to pour any. Side note, saw you were the same BT off TBH. Neat to see you are working on this...best of luck.

-Jeremy

I will post the lyman slugs when I get home. That’s for the reminder.

And yes, that’s me on TBH. Haven’t been posting on there lately as archery has taken somewhat of a backseat to slug/buck casting.


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[Blood Trail]

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20180518/b59cf540a0214784ab12113945cd00d3.jpg

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20180518/a69aa271b96716835d3ee4cbf9f2d912.jpg


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[jeremy360]

Those turned out real nice. Looks good.

[bikerbeans]

BT,

Mighty fine!

BB

[W.R.Buchanan]

I like it! the round balls look really nice, and I bet they shoot better too.

Randy

[Blood Trail]

Thanks guys. I’ll post a thread on what works for me!


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[bikerbeans]

BT,

You ever try putting buckshot in a vibratory case cleaner?

BB

[Blood Trail]

BT,

You ever try putting buckshot in a vibratory case cleaner?

BB

I did once. Not sure if I did it right, though. All it did was roughin up the surface.

Maybe I didn’t leave in long enough??


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[Boomer81]

The lyman 525 are used as a sabot style. Wouldnt making them smoother by tumbling with graphite defeat the purpose? Since now the wad wont be able to grab it as well to impart the spin from the riffling?

[Blood Trail]

The lyman 525 are used as a sabot style. Wouldnt making them smoother by tumbling with graphite defeat the purpose? Since now the wad wont be able to grab it as well to impart the spin from the riffling?

Nah, it didn’t have any affect on them. It didn’t change the diameter, it just got rid of the casting lines.


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[bikerbeans]

Buckshot and .69" roundballs after a couple hours in a vibratory case cleaner. No graphite or media used. The shiny shot and slugs are untumbled and cast from the same alloy as the gray ones.

BB221152

[RMc]

Buckshot and .69" roundballs after a couple hours in a vibratory case cleaner. No graphite or media used. The shiny shot and slugs are untumbled and cast from the same alloy as the gray ones.

BB221152

I use a Lortone large rock tumbler when tumbling hard cast lead buckshot, (.30" to 60"), with plain water. A few hours results in exceptionally smooth, dark polished pellets. The "rubber" barrel and water medium does reduced the volume - somewhat.

https://lortone.com/collections/tumblers/products/model-qt12?info

[barnabus]

I use a Lortone large rock tumbler when tumbling hard cast lead buckshot, (.30" to 60"), with plain water. A few hours results in exceptionally smooth, dark polished pellets. The "rubber" barrel and water medium does reduced the volume - somewhat.

https://lortone.com/collections/tumblers/products/model-qt12?info

how much water do u add

[GaryM]

I tumbled a handful of 000 buck, it came out looking very nice. Good enough I might PC some of them just for the hell of it. Just under an hour in the tumbler with nothing but the shot in there.

[Jim22]

I (we) have a Harbor Freight rotary tumbler. Bought it for the XYL when she wanted one but she doesn't use it. This encourages me to try casting round balls. Right now I don't have a need for round balls, though. I have a muzzleloader but it is a Rugef 77-50 and they are not rifled for round balls. I wouldn't mind trying some buckshot.

Jim

[Budzilla 19]

Double drum Harbor Freight tumbler, put3 pounds of 00 buckshot in each drum, run them till they are as shiny as you want! Works for me!