Cast first boolit ever this afternoon!!

[Blake R]

I have read the very interesting info here for a while. I cast a tc maxi bullet this afternoon. (.50 cal/370 grain). From a home made set up. This is truly an awesome hobby. Thanks to everyone that posts such great quality info. And I really mean that. It seems like there are a lot of doers here and I like that. I think I may order another mould tonight.

I am located in west central arkansas. If anyone on here is located nearby let me know. I like to meet and shoot with new people. Only safety oriented ones though.

PS if anyone would like to trade for that tc maxi mould let me know. I learned right After I cast those boolits that my gun does not spin them fast enough. They looked pretty but shot a "pattern." I will be looking for a round ball mould next.

[zomby woof]

welcome to the insanity. Congrats!!!

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

Hey, great first post !

that's too bad about your gun not liking the Maxi.
is it a 1 in 66" twist ?
cause that should do fine in a 1 in 48" twist (typical of most of the traditional style Thompsons)
Oh... I am assuming which rifle you have...so what rifle do you have...do you know the twist rate ?
Jon

[waksupi]

It is apparent you are a highly intelligent individual, and have found the true path to muzzle loader happiness with a round ball.

Welcome aboard!

[HangFireW8]

PS if anyone would like to trade for that tc maxi mould let me know. I learned right After I cast those boolits that my gun does not spin them fast enough. They looked pretty but shot a "pattern." I will be looking for a round ball mould next.

Welcome aboard!

Sometime getting the velocity up a bit will stabilise a boolit with a marginal spin rate, but don't exceed your rifle's maximum.

What is the twist rate and barrel length on your M/L?

-HF

[lbaize3]

Yep! You're a member of the crew now... Ain't it fun...

[stubert]

What rifle are you launching them out of? Rate of twist? Powder charge? Oh Yea, Welcome!

[45pro]

Congrats man, hopefully I will be casting my first bullet within a few weeks! Can't wait to shoot even more than ever!

[kweidner]

Brace yourself and your wallet. Gets addictive quick. I only have one handgun left that hasn't been "castified". took seven of them to range yesterday shot roughly 300 rounds figured i have 18 dollars invested in what i shot yesterday. I just payed for my new NOE and then some had that been factory ammo. doesn't take long to recoup investment if you shoot enough. Still debating if I want to cast for the .380. I am sure i will eventually. my biggest issue with it is finding all my brass. Tiny stuff! congrats and welcome.

[ghh3rd]

Welcome aboard -- you can't go wrong with this site. I'm glad I didn't read that you set your hand and arm on fire making your first boolit. Don't ask me why I mentioned that

[canyon-ghost]

Welcome to you and 45pro, good to have new people. Yes, pouring your own is great. The guys started me to reloading and casting almost immediately after I started shooting silhouettes.

[Blake R]

it is a 1 in 48 I believe. I only used 50 grains. I could try again with 70. They are a bugger to load. They would be difficult in the field without a mallet. Thanks for all the welcoming cheers.

B

[Bullet Caster]

Welcome to CastBoolits, you and 45pro. As was said, welcome to the addiction. I'm like Waksupi, glad you saw the light and now want to go PRB. I'm relative new here and have gained a wealth of information from the posts here. I was intending on shooting one conical out of my Pedersoli .50 flintlock just to see what it did, but after talking with Waksupi I decided against it. I guess now I'm a PRB purist. My flinter has a 1/66 twist rate and really handles the PRB well. Since my flinter is relative new, I'm sticking to a .490 PRB with a .10 patch. When my shot group opens up, if it ever does, I'll probably switch to a .15 patch. The hardest thing to get used to was the buckhorn sight, but now that I've mastered that I usually get pretty good accuracy. BC

[tjbunion]

I wonder if you are using pure lead for your bullets. I have shot T.C maxis and Maxi hunter bullets in my Renegade and had no problems loading them. They are made to slip into the bore up to the top band. The top band is slightly oversize and needs to be short started into the bore, after which they seat easily if the bore is not fouled. If your rifle is not a T/C it may have a smaller bore size and cause difficulty loading. If your alloy is too hard it will also cause great difficulty loading because it resists starting in the bore, and also alloys can cast slightly larger than pure lead.

Hope this helps,
Tim

[HangFireW8]

it is a 1 in 48 I believe. I only used 50 grains. I could try again with 70. They are a bugger to load. They would be difficult in the field without a mallet. Thanks for all the welcoming cheers.

B

Yes, 50 is pretty marginal. With my T/C I found 60 to be too slow but 80 grains would stabilize.

If it's really that hard to load, though, you may keep looking, but if you have some left over you can at least try a stiffer load.

-HF

[jabilli]

*Thumbsup*

Some big boys! It might be bunk but when I worked at Sutters Fort over a summer I'd talk a lot about the Charleville, someone told me that the English would brag about having bigger (musket)balls than the French. :-p

[bingo]

Blake,

I am not familliar with the tc maxi. I have 2 50 cal. smoke poles, both 1 in 48 and both shoot very well. The boolit is a Lee R.E.A.L. I use 80-90 grains of FFF. The mold works fine and is very resonable in price. One note, they are a little hard to start but once in the depth ot the bullet starter they go down fine with the ramrod. I have also found you can get more shots before cleaning is necessary.

Hope this helps.

Bingo

[WD2A7X3]

Congrats, I'm days away from my first. I finally had the spare cash to order the pot, molds and lead. Just waiting on the lead then it's casting time