Bullet moulds

[waksupi]

Many years ago in my (relative) youth I decided to salvage lead from several batteries. It was a mess! I did drain the acid first so that sort of minimized the chances burning my face off. Plus, I apparently was lucky. Then there was the fact that the end product didn't shoot very well. I suppose if you have industrial level safeguards the danger is not so great.

My local recycler will give me $5 for a battery (if not needed for core charge). The $5 will buy me 6 lbs of lead so........ Funny thing, I once checked with him if he had any lead i could buy. He says "sure come take a look". He walked me behind the shop and introduced me to a piece of lead that was about 3' X 3' and over 6" thick. I would have bought it but getting it home was more than I wanted to attempt.

Don't mess with batteries. Lots of dangerous stuff to deal with, for very little return.

 

[Rob M.]

Round ball for my NW guns are expensive and not readily found , in any store , so I cast my own. I have collected so much free or darn cheap lead over the decades I should be good till the dirt nap . Its not difficult to do , running ball , and is traditional as well so ....why not .

 

[bpd303]

about 3' X 3' and over 6" thick. I would have bought it but getting it home was more than I wanted to attempt.

I don't blame ya, a piece of lead that big would weigh about 3,185 pounds. I would see if he would let me cut off about 100-200 pounds with an axe.

 

[longcruise]

He wouldn't let me reduce it. Not sure why. Had I got it home, the ax would have been my approach.

 

[Marplot]

I am thinking about casting because I like to shoot "originals." My Swiss Jaeger rifle was made 18th century. High end gunsmiths built a rifle and it came with a mold that was made for the specific caliber of the barrel of this gun. This .70 caliber came with a .680 mold.

My Danish Jaeger rifle, 19th C, is also .70 caliber, but the mold that came with it is .656. I may can find some shop that makes what I want, but more fun to me is to make my own. Or get with a friend who has all the stuff to cast, bring my molds and have a great afternoon!

Though I would be very unlikely to do this, but I saw a movie, "The Buffalo Hunter," They would shoot a buf, dig the RB out of it and melt it down over their campfire at night and re-cast their bullets for the next day.

 

[Bucks Co]

Hard to quantify but I feel my 40cal Bedford (Douglas Premium Barrel) shoots 'better' with balls cast from a .395 Green Mountain Mould compared to Commercial swaged .395 ones.

 

[Sooty Scot]

Running ball is as much a part of the muzzleloading ritual as sharpening your own flints. Either you do it - and enjoy it- or you transpose a cartridge mentality; buy everything pre-made and low effort..in my opinionated view.

 

[Psycho Mike]

I got into casting my own when I had a Brown Bess...those 635 grain, .735 cal balls were almost impossible to get otherwise. I liked the "zen" of casting my own and had no issues finding cheap lead.

That Bess was a monster though....only one indoor range that was really close (the outdoor ones were a fair amount further away, so I did the indoor one on occasion). They used a common trap for both the rifle and pistol bays and those rb's could ring the trap like a huge gong...cleared out the pistol bay a few times with the massive amount of noise I could generate

 

[B P Maniac Shooter]

I've poured over 10,000 round balls of various sizes to shoot in past few years.
That wouldn't have happened if I had to buy them by the box.
If you only shoot a few 100 a year, buying them by the box is fine.

Pouring is the only way to go if you shoot a lot.

 

[Kevin]

It's pretty easy to run through more than a pound of powder and a hundred or so roundballs in an afternoon of plinking. I can only justify that much shooting a couple of times a week if I mold my own balls. Besides, I kind of like casting them anyway. Part of the fun.

 

[Marplot]

Running ball is as much a part of the muzzleloading ritual as sharpening your own flints. Either you do it - and enjoy it- or you transpose a cartridge mentality; buy everything pre-made and low effort..in my opinionated view.

I am with you. Muzzle Loaders are a much more organic ritual. I feel much closer, more a part with black powder in a more Zen like experience than to my metallic cartridge guns.

 

[bpd303]

I've cast so many balls/minies/boolets that I probably could do it in my sleep. To me it's about the same as hitting hot steel on the anvil in my blacksmith shop very peaceful and calming. Along with having so many odd calibers that boolits are like hens teeth impossible to find. Last count I have 45 molds in different sizes.