.50 cal. Maxi Ball help

[Chuck E]

Hello, all. Brand new to this site. I'm a little confused and in need of advice. I recently bought a Lee mould, for TC Maxi Balls,in .50 cal. I regularly cast my own bullets but, this has me confused. The bullets that I cast with the Lee mould, are coming out as .510. The factory Maxi Balls I have, are around .505. The .510 Maxi balls won't load in either my, Encore, or my New Englander barrels, without Great effort. I've never had an issue with the factory loads. I'm just trying to save myself some money, by making my own. Any ideas why these are .005 bigger than factory ? And, what can I do about this ? Any help would be greatly greatly appreciated. Thanks

[Delkal]

AFAIK lee does not make the hourglass shaped TC maxi balls. They make the REAL bullet which is totally different. REAL bullets have an oversized top band that need a sharp wack to seat and should only be cast from soft pure lead. Did you use some kind of alloy?

[LAGS]

You can always size those slugs to a diameter that works best for your gun.
The size of your castings can also be from the type of material you are using.
Pure lead cast different than most alloys.
The casting diameter can also be effected by the temperature of the molten lead or the heat of your die

[Chuck E]

You can always size those slugs to a diameter that works best for your gun.
The size of your castings can also be from the type of material you are using.
Pure lead cast different than most alloys.
The casting diameter can also be effected by the temperature of the molten lead or the heat of your die
Too hot, might be the culprit. I'll try another batch. Thanks again

[Chuck E]

Actually, Lee DOES make a 6 cavity TC maxi ball mould, and I have one. I bought it from Track Of The Wolf. I also have a Lee REAL bullet mould but, they aren't as accurate in my rifles, as the maxi balls are.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

They should be about .510
They should go in with some difficulty, because you need to cut grooves in the Lead, which should be pure lead and not a centerfire bullet alloy.

[Chuck E]

They should be about .510
They should go in with some difficulty, because you need to cut grooves in the Lead, which should be pure lead and not a centerfire bullet alloy.

These are .510. The factory maxi balls are .505. I can't get the .510 maxi balls to go into my barrel. Never had a problem with the .505 maxi balls. I'm obviously doing something wrong. I read that, my mould might be too cold. I'm going to have to keep trying, I guess.

[Chuck E]

They should be about .510
They should go in with some difficulty, because you need to cut grooves in the Lead, which should be pure lead and not a centerfire bullet alloy.

Also, I'm using pure lead.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

what is the groove diameter of your barrel?

[Chuck E]

Not sure. I'll have to check. All I know is, I've never had a problem with ANY factory loads, in .50 cal., in either of my rifles.

[NSB]

For a fact, TC Encore barrels are .505 Maximum diameter. There are NO SAAMI specs for .50cal ML barrels. I’ve owned many over the last fifty years and they’re all over the map. The Encore is as tight as they get. If you have an Encore, and aren’t required to use pure lead bullets, use something else. I can shoot five shots 1.0-1.5” with my Encore using Barnes 250g and 290g bullets with the supplied sabot and T7 or BH209 and they drop deer like they were hit with Thor’s hammer.