Soft lead for Cap and Ball revolvers but WW works well for patched ball.
Soft lead for Cap and Ball revolvers but WW works well for patched ball.
Soft lead balls will imprint with the pattern of the rifling when started when the fit is correct. When using WW balls, they will mot imprint as easily. If they are too tight to load go to a .005 smaller ball and a .005 thicker patch. I also shoot WW balls in my smooth bores, same thing, shoot smaller ball and thicker patch. I have been shooting WW ball in my rifles and smoothbores for 40 years, targets don't care, game don't care! The Englishman Frederic Selous, 1851-1917 was one of the greatest big game hunters in Africa. He always shot Hardened ball in his guns. They would not expand and penetrate deeper thus making a quicker kill,,,,,,,LK
I've had no issues using WW RB in my .50 or in my .58..... I actually deliberately cast my .58 Minie` out of WW and it keeps the skirt from deforming with a hotter load. I've ran them up to 120gr of Pyro RS without them blowing the skirt.
if it doesn't fit, don't force it. Get a BIGGER HAMMER!
I've done it. Way way back when I had my fling with Holy Black pure lead was hard to find and cost money. COWW's were everywhere and mostly free.
Some work needed to get clean alloy out of it. Sweat equity, but I shot almost all COWW lead in my CVA .45 caplock.
I truly believe we need to get back to basics.
Get right with the Lord.
Get back to the land.
Get back to thinking like our forefathers thought.
May the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make His face to shine upon you and be gracious unto you
and give you His peace. Let all of the earth – all of His creation – worship and praise His name! Make His
praise glorious!
I have always used pure lead for my rifled guns. Easy to find to me. WW's I use for my unmentionable or my smoothbores, n fact I like hard buckshot.
Today I find more pure scrounging than alloyed WW's. Home depot even sells pure in the roofing dept if I ever become that hard up for it.
You want to shoot WW's in patches but many will trade you pure for it.
I have used harder than pure for muzzleloaders when that was all I had. It was fine. Now harder alloys are harder to find than pure. My scrap yard has lots of almost pure lead but almost no harder alloy. I would check for scrap roof lead as that is what I find mostly at the scrap yard. I did find some solder but that is too precious for round balls.
TEK
Words are weapons sharper than knives - INXS
The pen is mightier than the sword - Edward Bulwer-Lytton
The tongue is mightier than the blade - Euripides
Hard lead has always worked for me with a smooth bore and patched.
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 |