Just curious, but how many cast their own ball/bullets? I've always cast my own ball which keeps me on a constant quest for lead. A year ago I had a virtual lifetime supply of soft lead and WWs. But no more due to our move. I don't particularly like casting but when I do it, I usually cast up hundreds and hundreds, or thousands, of ball. Use to cast pistol/revolver bullets hence the hoard of (old, good ones) WW. Started back in the 1960s for my caplock and never stopped. But I also always reloaded most everything for my smokeless rifles and handguns. Probably 98% plus of game I've taken was taken with reloads and home cast ball.
Powder is always a problem, Aaaargh.... srndr however.
I have cast round balls, and conicals. I am well stocked with them all except 45 caliber round balls. When I started a few years ago, I got too involved with this sport and wanted to try everything I could, I have more molds than I will ever need, but................... Instead of buying precast conicals, I bought the molds and cast them myself. Now I do not even shoot, Damned COPD and Slackitis.
As for getting lead, The best place to get lead is at a Salvage yard. In my area the local salvage (junk) yard always has lead. Just have to check for the pure soft lead, such as lead pipes and lead sheathing. I must have a few hundred pounds just waiting to be melted and cast into 45 round balls. First I need to rekindle my love of shooting and then get a .440 rb mold.
If only it ever stops raining here in Eastern Pennsylvania, may shoot. Damn rainy season.
thmbsup I cast for dang near everything,,,380 and 457 rb for my cap and ball sixguns, 440 and 490 rb for my rifles And 38 ,45 for my colts and 45-70 for my Sharps,,,,,, ALL loaded with the mighty Goex.,,lol...
I cast all my round balls, buckshot, REALs, and Maxi-balls. I also cast .45 swc for my Ruger Old Army.
I have cast some 12 ga. slugs but was not happy with the accuracy or voids that I got. The lead cooled too much for something that size and produced a lot of unacceptable slugs with voids.
I buy 500 .535s for my rifle for $28 it's not worth my time to cast at that price.
I cast my own roundballs from .32cal up to 12ga. Lead has been harder to come by. A local salvage yard used to be my main source but has dried up. Lately I have been getting lead from club members that are either to busy or tired of casting their own. I trade them my cast rb's. I also have gotten some lead from a woman that does stained glass windows.
I do admit that I am starting to find it tedious and not finding it as enjoyable as I used to. I also have a few molds for conicals but I have not found a need for them yet.
Since I don't hunt any more and 98% of my shooting is competitive, chunk & table, I cast, mic and weigh each ball. It's amazing the differences that show up in weight and size using the same mold. The effort does pay off at the end of the day.
Mark
I never bothered with weighing/sorting ball or bullet; I'd rather shoot. I did carry out some tests with various handgun bullets and round ball. I never detected any difference between unsorted/un-weighed bullet/ball groups and sorted groups. I always did a quick visual check for obvious flaws but that was all. I never competed in any formal BP matches but at one time I did handgun and rifle smokeless matches. I can't say I particularly enjoy casting. It's just always been the cheapest way for me to shoot. As for modern guns I always reloaded virtually EVERYTHING I fired.
I'll be honest and say I do both... It is getting hard to find good soft lead here so I will buy form al local shop then recover and melt the recovered rounds into ingots for recasting when I get time.. Currently have 3-5 lbs waiting to go into the melting pot.
I really want to get a smelter setup to make brass but that is another topic...
I have molds for all but the new .615" smoothbore barrel. I bought a bag of .610 ball for it to see how they shoot before I buy a mold. If the .610 don't work out I'll try .605 or .60, if I can find them. Once I have figured out what works best I'll get a mold of that size.
~WH~
I'm with Dogshirt on this one. For me, as little as I shoot, it makes no sense to go through the hassle of casting when I have people giving me round balls and I have a few thousand that I got on hot sales a few years ago. Why then have I got a stock of about a thousand pounds of lead? CANNON BALLS baby!
Every six months or so I get together with a buddy who built his own cannon and we cast up a couple dozen cannon balls. And again, as little as we are able to shoot, those can last a year or more. Just cannot find pre-cast cannon balls in the size and configuration I need.
I am currently casting REALs but buying balls. Still searching for a load that my rifle prefers. I have cast many centerfire pistol bullets over the years, but have also purchased a lot. Just depends on how much time I have had available. Economics has little to do with my preference to cast. Casting is an enjoyable activity when time allows. Weighing and sorting also soothes those OCD engineering tendencies one might have.
Sometimes I cast but I usually buy the swaged kind.
I have bought commercial cast balls when the price was right or it was all I could get.
My little .31 revolver rarely gets used but it uses buckshot and so does my .32 rifle on those rare occasions when it gets shot, but
they use different sizes of buckshot.
Hopefully this will show up. This is what I cast for cannon balls. Haven't seen anything like this on a shelf at any store.
(https://i.postimg.cc/mt3fPxsJ/DSCN0091.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/mt3fPxsJ)
Quote from: hotfxr on July 05, 2019
Hopefully this will show up. This is what I cast for cannon balls. Haven't seen anything like this on a shelf at any store.
(https://i.postimg.cc/mt3fPxsJ/DSCN0091.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/mt3fPxsJ)
It looks neat. How does it fly? Does it tend to tumble?
Is that cast from lead? If not, what?
Quote from: Patocazador on July 05, 2019
Quote from: hotfxr on July 05, 2019
Hopefully this will show up. This is what I cast for cannon balls. Haven't seen anything like this on a shelf at any store.
(https://i.postimg.cc/mt3fPxsJ/DSCN0091.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/mt3fPxsJ)
It looks neat. How does it fly? Does it tend to tumble?
Is that cast from lead? If not, what?
We have only shot 5 of these so far. two at 100 yards with two ounces of powder left round holes in the plywood we shot at. Never found the projectiles. One shot with 1/2 ounce of powder into a very close 2X4 shattered the wood and ricocheted off a tree 10 yards behind it and kind of smooshed the projectile. The last two were with 3 ounces of powder shooting at a cliff about a mile away and we never figured out what happened. Too far away to see it hit, even with our cheap spotting scope. Even with just 1/2 ounce of powder there was no tracking it, just too fast.
Next time we are aiming it at Hanshi's car, probably packed with tannerite. Then we can see how accurate it is. (Hanshi never liked that car anyway)
The one in the picture is 12 ounces of lead. The ones we shot were 14 ounces of lead and about 1/4" taller. For the next batch I am going for 16 ounces and they should be another 1/4" taller. We are now in our nasty fire season so I won't be shooting projectiles again until fall when it starts raining again.
noway Oh, the car! I think you'll have better results if you cast them out of iron like the originals. Penetration is better, weight is a little less (more velocity) and they're reusable. Not sure how to cast them but I'm pretty sure they didn't machine each one; but what do I know? I suppose they could have been individually filed round from cubes by folks being paid by the hour; I'd kinda like THAT job. But doesn't mom drive it from time to time? skrt
The sides are knurled using parts of the mold in a lathe. We don't do that any more, takes forever and didn't seem to make a difference.
I didn't mean the old Caddy that mom drives. I meant the Pinto you used when you told my girlfriend that you were me from the future and you came back in time just to date her again and you took her up to the lake to watch the submarine races. That car. hdslp
Quote from: hotfxr on July 05, 2019
Hopefully this will show up. This is what I cast for cannon balls. Haven't seen anything like this on a shelf at any store.
(https://i.postimg.cc/mt3fPxsJ/DSCN0091.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/mt3fPxsJ)
This resembles the old Buffalo bullets "ball-et".
That is the problem when you build something like Bruce... you have to piece together odds and ends to make it work.
Now my cannon on the other hand came with a mold and all the pieces and parts to operate it from the get go.... :)
Bruce is just fine and I could go ahead and cast round balls as I have the mold for the new size. The problem is with my ability to work a three piece mold while holding onto a ladle of molten lead. As per usual, operator error on my part. pnic
Quote from: hotfxr on July 06, 2019
The sides are knurled using parts of the mold in a lathe. We don't do that any more, takes forever and didn't seem to make a difference.
I didn't mean the old Caddy that mom drives. I meant the Pinto you used when you told my girlfriend that you were me from the future and you came back in time just to date her again and you took her up to the lake to watch the submarine races. That car. hdslp
Okay, lets just set the record straight here. First of all the only thing that held that old Pinto together was the Bondo that covered it. Furthermore, your "girlfriend" had already dumped you, not to mention her saying she thought I looked just like you only not as scruffy. And the submarine races were HER idea! How was I to know there were no such things as "submarine races"? cuch