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Question about roundball dia

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Rev_William

50 Cal.
Joined
Aug 29, 2011
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I'm looking to get a mould and found a .310 recommended for my crockett rifle for 40 bucks a local shop has a lee in a .311 and the dealer said the .01 difference wouldn't be a problem. I am a little skeptical so looking for advice the lee mould is 20 bucks.
 
I have two .32 cal rifles and one pistol and I shoot .311 in all of them. My mold is a double cavity Lee .311. Works great. I have tried .310, can't tell the difference.
 
After a while in the ml madness, most of us acquire a library of molds we don't use. The .001" difference might not affect anything and/or you could (possibly) adjust with different patching. For only $20.00 it is worth trying. If you don't like it, just toss the mold into your box of stuff for trading and blanket prizes.
 
Well I wasn't to worried about liking it or the performance. Just didn't want to blow up or damage the barrel.
 
Rev_William said:
Well I wasn't to worried about liking it or the performance. Just didn't want to blow up or damage the barrel.

Legitimate, but unnecessary concern. On the one hand, you can't be criticized for caution when using things that go boom.
Other hand, truly blowing up a muzzle loading barrel when properly loaded with pure lead and genuine black powder just doesn't happen.
I have a couple rifles that are nominally .45 cal. Douglas barrels. Most would reccomend no larger than a .445 ball. For target work I often use .457 balls. Hard to load but I do get increased accuracy.
Go fer it. Just let us know how it works out for you.
 
I use a .311 Lee mold for both of my 32's. One is a CVA squirrel rife and the other is a Pedersoli blue ridge. Dilly
 
Rev_William said:
I'm looking to get a mould and found a .310 recommended for my crockett rifle for 40 bucks a local shop has a lee in a .311 and the dealer said the .01 difference wouldn't be a problem. I am a little skeptical so looking for advice the lee mould is 20 bucks.

I think you meant .001 (one thousandth) not .01 (ten thousandths). That being said that one thousandth of an inch will not make much of a difference either in pressure or accuracy. You can get that kind of fluctuation in patch thickness. I would use the .311 mold without any worries what so ever. Remember, .001 (one thousandth) of an inch is only about 1/3 the thickness of a piece of paper. The ball diameter is still .009 (.0045 per side) under the bore diameter and will be taken up by at least a ten to fifteen thousandths thick per side patch. The balls you cast will also fluctuate a thousandth or more in true roundness. Depending on pureness of the lead, temperature etc. In short, the .311 mold will cast balls that will shoot just fine in your crockett rifle.

HH 60
 
Thanks guys for all the info. I decided to get both lol now just have to find a decent lead supplier and I'm off to the races. :thumbsup:
 
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