Issue with casting minie ball

[Columbus]

Best way to measure a bore in a minie ball gun is with plug gauges. Just checking at the muzzle might give a false reading

I think plug gauges would end up costing more than the gun. I dropped the temperature a little and did another casting session yesterday, took a little more time with the mold as well and got slightly better results. Sized bullets still have grooves. This is a pretty nice gun but I can't shoot it in competition (N-SSA) so an exacting fit isn't critical. If I can get it down the bore it should work and if not I can always shoot round ball out of it. I'm going to look for another mold, maybe better results with something other than this Lee one.

 

[dave951]

I think plug gauges would end up costing more than the gun. I dropped the temperature a little and did another casting session yesterday, took a little more time with the mold as well and got slightly better results. Sized bullets still have grooves. This is a pretty nice gun but I can't shoot it in competition (N-SSA) so an exacting fit isn't critical. If I can get it down the bore it should work and if not I can always shoot round ball out of it. I'm going to look for another mold, maybe better results with something other than this Lee one.

Plug gauges are about $5 each on Amazon. You don't need an entire set, just 574, 76, 78, and 80. Where'd you get a gun for $20?

 

[Columbus]

Plug gauges are about $5 each on Amazon. You don't need an entire set, just 574, 76, 78, and 80. Where'd you get a gun for $20?

Don't know anything about them, saw a full set for just under $3k and never looked farther.

 

[Buckskinquin]

Recently picked up an Armi-Jager Zouave from another member, nice gun but it won't take a standard .58 minie. I'd ordered a Lee Traditional minie mold from DGW and find it's not dropping .575 500gr. They're .577-.578 and none are lighter than 520gr. I needed to size to .574 for this gun and running these bullets through the sizer pretty much destroys the grease grooves. I've never shot minies; how important is grease in those grooves? Can I fill the base or just wipe on as much as I can to what's left of the grooves? I complained to Lee, got a prompt response that said .578 from their .575 mold was within their tolerances.

I have an old Lyman 575213 minie ball mold. Measured the grooves, cloest to front of minie 2 first rings measure .532, ring 3 5.45, skirt .575. Look on ebay, antique molds.

 

[OldSmoky1967]

Apparently they aren't grease grooves anyway, designed for better aerodynamics, the grease is an added benefit. So you can still lube it, you may find sizing that much will make the dkirt thin and uneven, that requires trimming.

Sell me your .578 mold?

 

[stikshooter]

Recently picked up an Armi-Jager Zouave from another member, nice gun but it won't take a standard .58 minie. I'd ordered a Lee Traditional minie mold from DGW and find it's not dropping .575 500gr. They're .577-.578 and none are lighter than 520gr. I needed to size to .574 for this gun and running these bullets through the sizer pretty much destroys the grease grooves. I've never shot minies; how important is grease in those grooves? Can I fill the base or just wipe on as much as I can to what's left of the grooves? I complained to Lee, got a prompt response that said .578 from their .575 mold was within their tolerances.

If you are using pure lead you should not be sizing at all .They will engrave upon loading ,use a short starter and make sure your using(PURE) once started they go easy ! You might find a Lee mold (CHEAP) and more to your liking ,sell what you have and by a lunch with the difference the Lee tends to drop a little smaller/Ed

 

[Columbus]

If you are using pure lead you should not be sizing at all .They will engrave upon loading ,use a short starter and make sure your using(PURE) once started they go easy ! You might find a Lee mold (CHEAP) and more to your liking ,sell what you have and by a lunch with the difference the Lee tends to drop a little smaller/Ed

You must be talking about Lee's R.E.A.L. bullet. There's no way a .577/578 traditional minie is going down my Zouave bbl unless I use a hammer, and that's on a clean bbl.