Accuracy & uniformity- Round balls cast-vs-swaged?

[ShooterAZ]

For some reason I'm struggling to get the same accuracy with my own cast RB's as I do with the swaged .457 Hornaday RB's. This is in my ROA. Is it because of the sprue nub? Better uniformity with swaged? My RB cast mike at .457 and shave a ring of lead just like the swaged ones. Just trying to figure out why this is... I cast with pure lead with a TINY bit of tin added.

[JeffG]

Just curious, when you load your own, do you always orient the sprue up with the mold seam oriented the same every time? I have a very tight fit on my loads so by the time i get it popped into the muzzle, I can't really see the sprue nub anymore.

[Fly]

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm?Still watching?

Fly

[mooman76]

Could be several things or several things that can help improve. If you are new to casting, better comes with practice as you become more consistent. More heat might help or are you leaving a good size puddle for the sprue? That helps too. What is your lead source? If the alloy isn't the same all the time that will change things. Are you ladle pouring or bottom? More info on your cast methods would help.

[cbashooter]

In my caplocks my RB's are as accurate as Hornadys.In a cap and ball i couldnt shoot well enough to tell.I have experimented with sprue location (up,down,or anyway the ball lands on the patch) and cant tell a difference in accuraccy though by habit i load them up.I am just shooting sporting grade rifles not chunk guns.if i shoot 1" at 50 yards its good enough.

[ShooterAZ]

I'm not new to casting, but this is my first C&B revolver, and new to casting for it.. And no...I haven't been loading sprue up...guess I had better try doing that and see what happens. The difference in accuracy is not huge...but it is there.

[carbine]

The most prevalent cause is boolit weight uniformity. The Swaged usually weigh within 1/10 of a grain of each other. What is the variance in your cast RB's?

[HARRYMPOPE]

The most prevalent cause is boolit weight uniformity. The Swaged usually weigh within 1/10 of a grain of each other. What is the variance in your cast RB's?

I have drilled holes in round balls to vary weight by many grains and accuracy wasn't changed. This was in a rifle shooting at 50 yards and groups were 5 shot 1.5" for both drilled and undrilled. The holes varied in depth and some of them I drilled a couple times.I did this two times and since then have stopped weighing RB's

[NSB]

You need to measure the dia of the cast vs. swaged. A different patch material will make a difference. The sprue orientation is good advice also. It has to be the same each time and nub up is the way to go.

[Plastikosmd]

Sprue balls, 100 yards, .626 caliber, aperture/ iron sights, 5 shots, 0.75". I don't expect swaged would do me any better

[DIRT Farmer]

That don't look like the average offhand rifle. Mind telling the ball size you use in the 62,

[Plastikosmd]

well that is true! The 62 in the set of 4 that I have


but back on the subject. I have always used cast balls in my target guns. I load sprue up. I have not tried it any other way, so not sure if it matters

[Omnivore]

Why the tin? I don't believe the swaged balls have tin added to them. Some here have reported good results with alloys, but the general practice is to use plain lead. Start there and see what happens. I mean; one variable at a time. You changed two things at once-- the production method and the composition.

[DIRT Farmer]

Those round ball bench guns define round ball results. I was tolking to one of the old shooters a long time ago while he was practicing. He was using a bathroom size Dixie cup to transfur powder from the charg dropper to the barrel. The joke was that the old man was to cheap to buy a powder mesure, his answer was he bought his mesures in a box of 100.

[IridiumRed]

well that is true! The 62 in the set of 4 that I have


but back on the subject. I have always used cast balls in my target guns. I load sprue up. I have not tried it any other way, so not sure if it matters

Nice gun and good shooting. Do you have a false muzzle on that? I always thought false muzzles were quite interesting

[Plastikosmd]

Yep!
The spring cord is to remind me that it is still there, and keep it on the bench.

Tin? I use it in the nose of my 2 part slugs, balls, I don't ATM

[Lead Fred]

Been using number 1 lead, and a old Lee RB mold for decades now.
Can hit the 1 inch swinging bar @ 100 yards
So I have to think them balls are doing ok.
Yup, point the spew cut out the barrel
and dont use too much powder, the number one problem with new ML shooters

[JeffG]

I'm not new to casting, but this is my first C&B revolver, and new to casting for it.. And no...I haven't been loading sprue up...guess I had better try doing that and see what happens. The difference in accuracy is not huge...but it is there.

I forgot to mention I also lay the patching the same way. If using ticking, I run the stripes same direction, same side of fabric up, sprue up, mold seam oriented same or inline with sight. That should remove a lot of variables.

[Southron]

A tiny amount of TIN in your lead pot will make your bullets or balls fill out the mould much better. I ahve a 40 pound lead pot and I will throw in about a 3 foot long piece of 50/50 Lead/Tin Solder Wire.

I always have a lot less rejects using a little TIN in the pot.

[GabbyM]

Tin mostly just reduces the temperature you need to cast at. Pure lead needs lots of heat.
I've cast way to many pure lead Minnie's and hollow based Minnie's to think my round balls need tin.
Many rifles will shoot RB better with a little tin for toughness. Hunting ammo can be tuned for expansion characteristics.