refiring lead round balls

[hrt4me]

Have you ever recovered a lead round ball in good enough condition to stuff down the front of your muzzleloader (rifle, pistol, revolver) and fire again without having to melt and recast in a mold?

 

[Phil Coffins]

No.

 

[Otter]

Nope.

 

[Erwan]

No more and no less than what the other speakers have answered : normally you can't do that, the bullets will always be deformed and unfit for shooting...

 

[ohio ramrod]

I have not, but I had a friend who tried. He got the ball jambed in the muzzle crown and had a hard time getting it out.

 

[ericb]

Not to mention whatever Dirt and Grit might be embedded in it after slammimg into backstop...

 

[SDSmlf]

Why?

 

[deermanok]

It would probably get stuck and then you'd have to pull the breech plug. I don't want to talk about that!

 

[Erwan]

Without telling you this can make blow the barrel or get a nice bubble somewhere in this one when shooting...

 

[Phil Coffins]

A few examples of recovered ball.
IMG_0759 by Oliver Sudden, on Flickr

 

[Woody Morgan]

Have you ever recovered a lead round ball in good enough condition to stuff down the front of your muzzleloader (rifle, pistol, revolver) and fire again without having to melt and recast in a mold?

If you have, you need to use more powder.

wm

 

[Elkhorse]

I have but the way I do it is to re-melt it and then cast brand new balls and shoot them.

 

[bud in pa]

What about the stories of people who would chew their balls round after firing? Probably not performed by older shooters.

 

[stevenjay1]

Guess if I was desperate and that was all I had…..

 

[Sidney Smith]

Not a smart thing to do. It's easier and safer to just remelt them and make new ammo from them.

I've recovered many a fired ball at the range. They're always deformed and full of dirt. So in the pot they go to come out shiny and new.

 

[Whitworth]

I have found ones good enough to reuse, Minie balls too from shooting on my range with snow on the ground. Snow melts and perfect bullets can be picked up off the ground. Everything from .22 to .58 has been found in pristine condition.

 

[Sidney Smith]

I have found ones good enough to reuse, Minie balls too from shooting on my range with snow on the ground. Snow melts and perfect bullets can be picked up off the ground. Everything from .22 to .58 has been found in pristine condition.

But the question begs, would you reshoot them?

 

[oldwood]

Do a recast , gets rid of the dirt too.

 

[tom_in_vt]

I haven’t seen one that wasn’t deformed. Plus, I wouldn’t want to send dirt/grit back down the barrel.

 

[B P Maniac Shooter]

I pick them up at the zoo bottoms and if they are round, I shoot them again.
Done that dozens of times with no problem.