My first attempt at casting balls!

[GreenSmoke]

I went out tonight and decided to make a little fire and try to cast some balls. I got a little laddle with pour spout I'm using to melt in, and a 2-ball mold in .495 (same size i bought and shot with good success in my rifle), and about 15 lbs of pure lead. I just want to casually make my own balls while im out on a camping trip or something, for fun.

I used a little pocket hatchet thingy i have to cut a small piece off one of my large ingots, and then cut that down into smaller pieces, just pressing the hatchet through the lead with my body weight.

With the laddle in the embers at the edge of the fire and the mold a little bit back from that preheating, it didnt take very long before the little lead cubes i had cut melted when i dropped them in the laddle. After i felt like the lead was hot enough, swishing in the laddle almost like mercury, i held my mold upside down directly over some flames for a short time to help smoke the inside and make sure it was warmed up. Then quickly working to pour the lead into my mold, i had, success? Not really.

My first attempt yielded me a sliver of a ball, before the lead in the laddle had cooled solid, apparently i hadnt heated the pour spout on the laddle enough even though the lead was liquid, i needed to wait longer, lesson learned. Adding a bit more lead than i had before, so the laddle would be much fuller, i waited a bit longer before trying again with the same procedure. A good bit more success this time! But still not "success". The first chamber of the mold sealed over, giving me another sliver of a ball, and the second chamber gave me a whole ball, but creased in half.

Keeping at it i got some progressively better balls over the next couple attempts, nothing really perfect, but the last couple are honestly pretty shootable i think. All in all, i am very pleased with my experience tonight. In very little time i had made a small fire, split some small pieces of wood for it, and learned how to cast my own round ball for my rifle.

I look forward to next time. Im going to cut up a couple pounds of this lead into small chunks ready to be melted so i can toss all of my gear into a pouch, tie it on my rucksack, and be ready to make some roundball out on the trail, after i cook some supper on the fire while i wind down for bed.

I also got a pretty interesting book I'm reading through you guys might be interested in.

 

[LawrenceA]

Well done greensmoke.
Your results are fairly normal.
The first few casts are generally flawed and go back into the pot.
I would suggest you use the ladle to ladle and a different pot to melt the lead. I did use an old stainless cook pot I got from the op shop.
The ladle can sit in the molten lead and reach the same temperature.

Casting is a whole world unto itself and I know of at least one forum dedicated just to it. There is lots of info out there which I feel you have probably read, if you smoked your mold.

Anyway keep at it. There is a certain amount of satisfaction in making and using your own projectiles. Means more shooting for the same dime as well.

 

[Hatchet-Jack]

Nicely done! I'm just getting back into casting my own. Thanks for posting this.

 

[mooman76]

Find a way to preheat your mould a little and you'll get good balls quicker.

 

[brewer12345]

Find a way to preheat your mould a little and you'll get good balls quicker.

Yup, and make sure your lead is good and hot. When I cast round ball with the soft stuff I generally get the lead up to 800F.

 

[MountainSmoke]

Enjoyed your post and pictures. My first casting experience was much like yours. I thought it was going to be so easy and while it's not really difficult there is more to it than you think. Everything has to be just right. I like your idea of casting a few balls on the evening fire while on a hunt. Sure it's easy enough to bring along enough ready made balls for a hunt but I find it very satisfying to mold a few balls while out in the woods and use them to take game with. It's as good as it gets in my opinion. Good luck!

 

[Gun Tramp]

Well done. And for sure, thanks for sharing the photos.

 

[rdlowe]

That was entertaining, thanks. I don’t cast yet but will start up this Fall, so I expect a little bit of “discovery learning” just like this.

 

[hunter thompson]

Yup, and make sure your lead is good and hot. When I cast round ball with the soft stuff I generally get the lead up to 800F.

I like 850

 

[brewer12345]

I like 850

Somewhere in there. I am somewhat reluctant to go too high with aluminum molds because they can warp at high temps. When I have the Lyman iron 4 banger out in .490 I don't worry about it. Then the challenge is not killing my wrist because that sucker is heavy, but it sure dumps out a lot of balls quickly.

 

[George]

......I find it very satisfying to mold a few balls while out in the woods and use them to take game with. It's as good as it gets in my opinion.

I certainly agree with that. That's at the top of my list of enjoyable days in the woods. Practice the old skills, do a little hunting, eat some good food flavored with black powder smoke, what's not to like?
https://www.muzzleloadingforum.com/threads/rock-soup-a-distinct-possibility.83563/Spence

 

[Sun City]

I started casting in 1948! I let Hornady swage all mine now!

 

[Sidney Smith]

I enjoy making balls over a campfire. I made a small ladle out of a piece of 1/8 flat steel that I heated red with a torch then used a ball peen hammer over a block of wood with a circular divet cut in it to make the ladle take shape. I made mine with a pointed end that I can jam into a green split stick to use as a handle. Most of the bag ladles have an open end that you jam a stick into. I think mine is a simpler design.

The key to good balls from the get go is to preheat the mould by letting it sit on a hot coal while your waiting for the lead to melt.

And don t forget to soot up the inside of the mould with candle smoke before you cast. Makes them come out easier.

 

[david.stieghan]

That is my favorite of several hundred gun books I own. I even keep an extra copy at my office at the Infantry School for reference. It’s not much on primitive casting and shooting, but sure explains target shooting, picket balls, etc.
Dave