T/C Maxi ball

[hornady]

The last few years I have been shooting the Lee REAL bullet in my T/C 50 cal Renegade, and it shoots well enough, about 40 years ago I had a T/C Hawkins 50 Cal and I had the T/C Maxi ball mold, as I remember it, this was a real good bullet for that rifle.
I am thinking about going back to this type bullet, I was thinking the Lyman 504617 or maybe seeing if I could pick up a T/C Maxi-ball mold on the auction sight or here, any thoughts on which might be a good match for this rifle or is there a better choice, I use this rifle for whitetail Deer , most shots are in the 40 to 60 yard range.
Thanks

[10 ga]

Check out BRP in the vendor/sponsor forum. He has a TC clone. I have one and it works good in my Lyman Whitetail Hunter and in my Firehawk. see link. 10
http://www.brp.castpics.net/R2.html

Dittos to Maven on the overpowder card. Especially if you use BP subs or BH209. I just sharpened a piece of 5/8 copper pipe and use that.

[Maven]

hornady, Clean, excellent condition .50cal. Maxi-Ball molds appear frequently on EBay and can be had for a reasonable bid. I purchased a T/C .50cal Maxi-Ball mold and a Lyman clone of it that way. Of the two, I prefer the T/C mold even though it's aluminum because it casts very well and is properly dimensioned. Although the Lyman also casts well, the nose dimension is a bit smaller than that of the T/C and that difference is reflected in the actual weight of the castings (~364 grs. v. ~370 grs., respectively). I also borrowed a friend's Lyman Maxi-Ball mold, but found it cast too large and too heavy (~379 grs.). In spite of that, it was quite accurate. In short, Lyman [Maxi-Ball] mold dimensions vary quite a bit, while the T/C's seem not to. Btw, a 1/2" cardboard (shirt cardboard, tablet backing) cut with an arch punch (1/2" of course) placed under the Maxi-Ball (atop the powder charge) helps wring the last bit of accuracy from it.

[Ohio Rusty]

I have that exact T/C mould in .50 caliber. I really like the hollow based buffalo bullet also. If you want to try the T/C Maxi Ball, let me know. I'd be happy to send you the mould so you can cast up a bunch to try them before you decide to buy a mould. My mould is the steel mould that T/C put out in 1971 and have the handles on it.
Ohio Rusty ><>

[George Tucker]

Like Mayan says, the T C Maxi top driving band is several thousands larger to engrave on the rifling,on the lyman molds i have seen, the top band is undersized, thus the bullet is undersized, on the TC Maxi the top band is all that engauges the rifling, so if a maxi has a underer size top band, it does not work right, been there, done that, called TC and they said most mold makers dont make the top band large enough.

[hornady]

Thanks for all the information and the offer of the mold, I will keep an eye out here and on e-bay for the T/C mold. I hate to even go over to e-bay, but you do what you need to.
I was unaware T/C had made an aluminum mold. Back when I first bought the T/C Hawkins, I bought the T/C round ball mold, and a few years latter Pa, eased up Muzzle loading rules and the Maxi was legal for Deer, and I got that mold as well.
Over the years and moves, some how I no longer have either, If I look hard enough I should be able to find a T/C mold. Thanks again

[MT Gianni]

The TC mold I have is the appearance of blued steel but soft as AL.

[Larry Gibson]

I have the .50 cal TC mould also and it is an excellent bullet for my TC Black Mountain Magnum. I cast it of 1-16 alloy and drive it at 1570 fps with excellent accuracy.

Target in photo is 5 shots out of speed loaders at 100 yards from clean barrel with no cleaning between shots. Load is 90 gr(V) FFg Tripple 7.

Larry Gibson

[Jayhem]

I have a Remington Model 700 inline .50 cal. It has a 1:24" twist.

I spend a lot of time working up a load for it and the T/C Maxi-ball in 370 grains from my Lyman mould using pure lead with 1-2% tin added is the best with 90 grains Pyrodex RS.

I have a 4X weaver scope on the inline and it consitently shoots 1.5-2.0" 5-shot groups at 100 yards. I tried 3 different sabot combinations and none shot close to as well as the T/C Maxiball.