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Thread: Round ball problem

  1. #1
    Boolit Master Gtrubicon's Avatar
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    Round ball problem

    I recently purchased a 454 Lachmiller round ball mold from a member here. I don’t think it was ever used. The mold is stamped 454, but after casting with it this morning I measured a few and they were .445. They fall right to the bottom of the cylinder of my 1858 Remington. Since it’s a steel mold, will beagleing it work to get it to .454? The lead cast was from rolled lead flashing. I cleaned my lead pot out before casting. Any advice would be great. Thanks.

  2. #2
    Boolit Grand Master Outpost75's Avatar
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    Try adding just a wee bit of tin, not over 2%, to improve fill-out.
    The ENEMY is listening.
    HE wants to know what YOU know.
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  3. #3
    Boolit Master Gtrubicon's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Outpost75 View Post
    Try adding just a wee bit of tin, not over 2%, to improve fill-out.
    I will give it a go next weekend, my tin source is from 5lb bars of Bell System solder bars. I’ll math it out and see if it helps. After I read your post I went back out to the shop, I locked my caliper .454, I put it up against the mold, I’m pretty sure it’s cut to the right diameter.

  4. #4
    Boolit Grand Master

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    no you are NOT going to go from 445 to 454 never, no way you need a different mould.

  5. #5
    Boolit Master
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    Mold not hot enough? Lachmiller made some nice molds. I have one but not round ball. I would like to know the fix.

  6. #6
    Boolit Grand Master Good Cheer's Avatar
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    From the description it's probably a case of transposed numbers.

  7. #7
    Boolit Master


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    My Lachmiller is a 36cal 2cav, drops .377 balls which fit My Pietta Navy very well. Cuts a perfect lead ring from each seated ball.
    Which handles did you use ?
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  8. #8
    Boolit Master
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    Quote Originally Posted by KCSO View Post
    no you are NOT going to go from 445 to 454 never, no way you need a different mould.
    What he said NO WAY!!

  9. #9
    Boolit Master
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    Quote Originally Posted by 45DUDE View Post
    Mold not hot enough? Lachmiller made some nice molds. I have one but not round ball. I would like to know the fix.
    Buy the correct gun for the mold (OR) sell the mold and get the correct mold for your gun ,those are the only 2 choices /Ed

  10. #10
    Boolit Grand Master


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    You can try casting with your alloy at a lower temperature, but I doubt if you will gain that much.

  11. #11
    Boolit Master
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    Quote Originally Posted by Gtrubicon View Post
    I recently purchased a 454 Lachmiller round ball mold from a member here. I don’t think it was ever used. The mold is stamped 454, but after casting with it this morning I measured a few and they were .445. They fall right to the bottom of the cylinder of my 1858 Remington. Since it’s a steel mold, will beagleing it work to get it to .454? The lead cast was from rolled lead flashing. I cleaned my lead pot out before casting. Any advice would be great. Thanks.
    I bought a .462 (supposedly) Pedersoli mold. When I used it the balls came out weird - measured it, one side(half) was cut correctly (.462)- other side (half) was cut way undersize (.454) I have no idea how they achieved this in the factory but they did - nothing to lose so I made a steel shim that fit between the mold blocks - intended to make it a neat fit to the profile of the cavity but that was too hard so just made a shim that separated the halves of the block - a .008" shim from memory - could not believe how well that worked - I ran several hundred RB with that mold and the only reason I even asked for a replacement was I wanted to go up in size to .464. So long as I didnt get the mold too hot it cast fine with pure lead --- I expected a "feather" around the diameter where the mold halves were separated by the shim but didnt happen - I bet with some tin in the mix it would. All the Experts will tell us this wont work but it dont cost much to try and you never know till ya do (try)

  12. #12
    Boolit Master
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    Quote Originally Posted by Edward View Post
    What he said NO WAY!!
    never say never!!!!

  13. #13
    Boolit Master Maven's Avatar
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    Gtr...., I had exactly the same problem with a Lachmiller mould I purchased. I tried beagling, which increased the diameter, but not nearly enough. I tossed it after concluding it was mis-numbered.

  14. #14
    Boolit Master slim1836's Avatar
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    I agree you will not achieve what you desire out of this mold, however, you might try pressure casting with some tin in the mix and see what results you get. That may be the best diameter you will get without modification to the mold.

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  15. #15
    Boolit Master Gtrubicon's Avatar
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    The mold was plenty hot, I use a hotplate while casting, my pot is controlled through a PID I purchased from Hatch. Transposed numbers were my very first thought. The cast round balls look very good, I’m going to try adding some tin next to the batch next weekend. I will also try shimming it, I have a bunch of old feeler gauges I can use for this. I really don’t want to ruin the mold. I’d rather buy a muzzleloader that fits. The handles used are Lee 6 cavity that I shaved down to fit some Lyman 2c molds, they fit the Lachmiller mold very well. This is my first black powder pistol, I’m having a ball with it. Would anyone have a rifle recommendation that uses .445 round ball?

  16. #16
    Boolit Buddy frogleg's Avatar
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    Some 45cal. Muzzleloaders can use a .445 ball with .010 patches, instead of .440 ball
    A Boy in a Old Man's Body. I Shoulda Been a Cowboy

  17. #17
    Boolit Master
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    Quote Originally Posted by frogleg View Post
    Some 45cal. Muzzleloaders can use a .445 ball with .010 patches, instead of .440 ball
    Agree with this. A patch can be a pain but will fill the gap.

  18. #18
    Boolit Master
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    Quote Originally Posted by jim147 View Post
    Agree with this. A patch can be a pain but will fill the gap.
    er -wasnt he lookin for a .454 ball for a remy capgun?????

  19. #19
    Boolit Master Gtrubicon's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by indian joe View Post
    er -wasnt he lookin for a .454 ball for a remy capgun?????
    I’m interested to know what rifle would wo for a cast rb of .445. I’m very new to Muzzleloading.

  20. #20
    Boolit Master
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    Quote Originally Posted by Edward View Post
    Buy the correct gun for the mold (OR) sell the mold and get the correct mold for your gun ,those are the only 2 choices /Ed
    He said in post 3 the mold measured correct. I think Outpost75 is in the right direction.

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Abbreviations used in Reloading

BP Bronze Point IMR Improved Military Rifle PTD Pointed
BR Bench Rest M Magnum RN Round Nose
BT Boat Tail PL Power-Lokt SP Soft Point
C Compressed Charge PR Primer SPCL Soft Point "Core-Lokt"
HP Hollow Point PSPCL Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" C.O.L. Cartridge Overall Length
PSP Pointed Soft Point Spz Spitzer Point SBT Spitzer Boat Tail
LRN Lead Round Nose LWC Lead Wad Cutter LSWC Lead Semi Wad Cutter
GC Gas Check