Ball Molds

Hi again. I was just wondering if any of you "Traditionalists" (that's me too!) carry a ball mold in your rifle bag.
That would include a ladle and a bar of lead as well.
I have heard of carrying those extras in a haversack or snapsack but some do carry it in their rifle bag or shot bag.
I have done both, as well as not carry one at all!
What is the members thoughts ??

Planning on being out & afoot for a month or 2? If so, maybe all that stuff would be better left in camp. A rifle bag includes much of what is of imminent need to make the rifle go.

Seems to me that with a little advance planning you could have an equivalent weight in a bag of roundballs, instead of all that cast iron & brass.

My thought is: Why?
Extra 'stuff' is heavy. Just carry the balls and you won't have to carry a: pot, ladle, mould or lead bars you can't shoot when you need them.

This might be something one would do if he actually lived in the woods or someone wishing to emulate one who did. Lead weighs much more than powder and a bag mold and ladle would enable one to reclaim lead from shot game for reuse. Extra powder could be carried in light weight powder bags. I've been amused by accounts of trekkers who melt lead into little disks or something similar at home so that it will fit into their bag ladle for easy melting on the trail. If our forebears ever went to the trouble to melt lead at home it was to run ball! I doubt if one would carry bar lead into the woods unless it was for trade or unless there just wasn't time to run all the lead into ball before it was time to go. Keith Burges has a lot of info on this at his Woodsrunners Diary.

Nope, I would leave my casting possibles in my camp while I'm in the field and carry only enough for those day's of hunting I'd make away from camp.
Then I'd use my horses and/or pack mules to move the heavy gear with my camp if I need too.

I don't do it, doubt the old boys did. I keep my shot pouch as bare as I can manage. I do like to run balls over a fire, so I occasionally throw a bag mold, small ladle and some small pieces of lead in my haversack/wallet and do it on a special occasion. I recently went squirrel hunting and took no bullets, had to build a fire and run ball before I could shoot my lunch. It's a fun way to spend some time, practice your skills and add a little spice to the hunt.

I'm really glad I never got over playing games. :grin:

Spence

i carry mine in my shooting bag,doesnt take up much room and doesnt weigh enough to really notice. i like having it, just in case.

I carry mine in my packs, not in the shot pouch. The lead is in bars, the form it would have been purchased in at the time.

Rod

For the same amount of weight, why not just carry balls that have already been cast. That why the same of amount of weight has been converted to something that can be used right now. Leave the mould, etc. back in camp.

Kootenai

For me a shooting bag is for shooting supplies, and everything else stays out of the way. The more you put in a bag, the more it's in the way of actually making a repeat shots with a gun. My most functional bag is only 6"x7" and it isn't half full on hunts.

I do like to run balls over a fire,

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Bingo. That is the only response to my comments that counts. :hatsoff:
This is a do it yer way game.
Every one of us has limits on what and how we do things to be hc/pc. Carrying casting equipment into the wood, or even to a drive and dump ronny, is beyond what I wish to do.

I have read a journal where the hunters retrieved their ball from the deer, and that night recast them in their ladles using bag molds. Wish I had saved the reference so I could give you folks a quote.

I carry my ladle and bag mold as there are times when I make ball for fun at an event, and I don't like having to re-configure my bag for a day hunt, vs. several days, vs. a living history event. I prefer to simply grab the bag, horn, and rifle, and go. The best is when folks ask for somebody to do a casting demonstration, and give me a few musket balls to convert to rifle size as I'm the only guy with a mold.

Not much beats free ammo.

LD

Not much beats free ammo.

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....jug...grilled steaks.... :rotf:

Rifleman1776 said:

Not much beats free ammo.

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....jug...grilled steaks.... :rotf:

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and free ammo!!!!!! :thumbsup:

In the mountinman sketch book hanson shows an old bag with a mold hung on the strap.I dont spect he cluttered his bag with lead stock.The written accounts of guys that got stuck out away from camp and had to treck a long way to help,and were caught with near empty horns or just a few ball shows they often carried just enough for expected shooting that day or week.I would think I would charge my horn and fill my ball bag after every bought of shooting,on the other hand it gets easy to put it off until tomorrow.

I didn't say nothing beats free ammo.

LD :haha:

Like your mold where did you get it? //sort of been looking for one. Thanks Pappy

Track of the Wolf has them. You have to add your own insulation to the handles.
http://www.trackofthewolf.com/Search.aspx?search=ball mold

got mine here from Larry Callahan. http://www.bagmolds.com/
trust me,the ones from TOW are junk.

At our club Annual, the night before the shoot we all sat around the fire and ran balls and we had to shoot those in the match the next day, some folks (most) were shooting some poor looking balls. All the lead I carry is going to be already cast into balls from my 20 lb.bottom pour pot and 4 cavity molds. Deadeye