unstableryan
05-01-2009, 01:13 AM
I had to get a flat fixed today so I asked about the buckets of wheel weights. I gave the guy 20 bucks for a bucket I could barely lift.. maybe 3 gallons of them.
A few weeks ago, in my quest for small game rounds from my 45-70, I bought a round ball mold. Today I actually tried it.
With a camping stove, an ugly little steel pot, an old spoon for getting the clips out and a kinked/bent soup ladle for ladling... I made 130 beautiful shiny .457 round balls with about 10 or 15 that weren't pretty. They either got the pot again or the sling shot in the back yard after everything was cool. They go through sheet metal at 30 yards. I like it. Way better than the 3/8 steel balls...
I learned a lesson, when the cleaning spoon gets too hot and you cool it in water, do not stir the molten metal. I was lucky. It made the bad popping molten lead spraying sound and I only have a little burn on my arm. I learned a good lesson, even though I knew it was bad...
I am interested in quiet 1 ball loads and some hotter (1000 fps) 3 ball loads. I have a can of unique I have been using for my super soft 340gr cast hp's. I've tried 8-16 gr with them and settled on 10.5 for maybe 1100fps. I think it's about the same as a .44 mag in actual hitting power.. could be wrong but I plan on using them for whitetail this year as I seem to shoot them up close. At that speed they mushroom out pretty good being 30-1 and really soft.
But I digress... I have read to push the 1 ball loads down to just above the powder level so everything ignites well and a few other things about round ball loads..
If anyone has some words of wisdom, I'm all ears. This is new to me. In real life, I am a technician, and I listen to most other tech's talk... because I might learn something. Although, some cannot be helped :)
Thank you and I know you guys have more years of experience than I will ever have.
Ryan
A few weeks ago, in my quest for small game rounds from my 45-70, I bought a round ball mold. Today I actually tried it.
With a camping stove, an ugly little steel pot, an old spoon for getting the clips out and a kinked/bent soup ladle for ladling... I made 130 beautiful shiny .457 round balls with about 10 or 15 that weren't pretty. They either got the pot again or the sling shot in the back yard after everything was cool. They go through sheet metal at 30 yards. I like it. Way better than the 3/8 steel balls...
I learned a lesson, when the cleaning spoon gets too hot and you cool it in water, do not stir the molten metal. I was lucky. It made the bad popping molten lead spraying sound and I only have a little burn on my arm. I learned a good lesson, even though I knew it was bad...
I am interested in quiet 1 ball loads and some hotter (1000 fps) 3 ball loads. I have a can of unique I have been using for my super soft 340gr cast hp's. I've tried 8-16 gr with them and settled on 10.5 for maybe 1100fps. I think it's about the same as a .44 mag in actual hitting power.. could be wrong but I plan on using them for whitetail this year as I seem to shoot them up close. At that speed they mushroom out pretty good being 30-1 and really soft.
But I digress... I have read to push the 1 ball loads down to just above the powder level so everything ignites well and a few other things about round ball loads..
If anyone has some words of wisdom, I'm all ears. This is new to me. In real life, I am a technician, and I listen to most other tech's talk... because I might learn something. Although, some cannot be helped :)
Thank you and I know you guys have more years of experience than I will ever have.
Ryan