Round Balls per Pound

[musketman]

Do you know how many round balls you can cast per pound of lead at any given caliber?
I have taken the weights of some popular round ball sizes and figured it out.

There is 7000 grains per pound, divided by the round balls weight (in grains) to get an approximate number.

32 caliber: (.310) 048g---approx 146 balls/pound
36 caliber: (.360) 071g----approx 98 balls/pound
40 caliber: (.395) 092g----approx 76 balls/pound
45 caliber: (.445) 133g----approx 52 balls/pound
50 caliber: (.498) 180g----approx 38 balls/pound
54 caliber: (.535) 220g----approx 32 balls/pound
58 caliber: (.560) 280g----approx 25 balls/pound
62 caliber: (.610) 341g----approx 20 balls/pound
69 caliber: (.678) 468g----approx 15 balls/pound
75 caliber: (.715) 545g----approx 13 balls/pound

NOTE* (some numbers have been rounded up for ease of posting, .715 actual count is 12.8 balls/pound)

These are just a few of the many sizes and balls/pound will vari depending on lead quality and size deviation of round ball molds.

This is just to give you an idea of the amount you could expect to cast/buy per pound of lead.

 

[Claude Mathis]

Speaking of "balls per pound", did you know...

Unlike rifle barrels that are sized according to calibers, shotgun barrels are designated by "gauges," the measurement of the inside diameter of the barrel.

The original method of measuring a barrel's gauge was to fashion lead balls with diameters equal to that of the shotgun barrel's bore size. The total number lead balls of a particular size equal to a pound in weight gives the "gauge."

For example, 12 balls per pound equals a 12 gauge. The 20 gauge shotgun means 20 lead balls equal in size to the gun's barrel diameter constitute one pound. Therefore, the 12 gauge is larger in bore size than the 20 gauge.

The most common shotgun gauges in use today are: the 10, 12, 16, 20, and the 28. The very narrow .410 bore shotgun is not a gauge at all. It is actually a caliber, that is, a bore diameter size measured in inches.

 

[tg]

I believe that the 18th century rifles were at least sometimes measured by ball per lb. rather than decimal cal., the smothbore guns of the time were likewise measured but with an allowance for clearances...A French gun would be considered a gun of 26 cal. (translated to English) would shoot a ball of about .563 and would have a bore size from .577 to .623 I think it was well into the 19th century that all this melded into our current standards of shotgun bore sizes

 

[musketman]

Adding to the list of balls per pound are the following two entries...

The 8 bore: Uses a .820 round ball at 835 grains each... There is only 8.3 balls to the pound...

The 4 bore: Uses a .989 round ball at 1400 grains each... That's a whopping 5 balls per pound of lead...

 

In manuscripts from the 18th & 19th centuries I have often read of rifles being referred to by how many "balls per pound" they take. I always wanted to keep a list like musketman posted close by so I knew about what caliber the mentioned rifles were.

Vic

 

[Chuck Deaton]

Most be bad cold and snowing hard in Ohio.

 

[tg]

There was not much in the way of standardization among early builders,one must start with a given size ball as measured by the LB an example would be a gun that uses 37 balls to the LB would shoot a .500 ball the bore might be .510-.530 depending on builder and whether rifled or not. Most old guns are described by the measurement of the bore and would have shot a smaller ball, where as some modern barrel makers are making their bores largeenough to shoot a "bore size" ball so their .50 cal guns will have a larger than .50 bore size.

 

[musketman]

quote:Originally posted by tg:
There was not much in the way of standardization among early builders,one must start with a given size ball as measured by the LB an example would be a gun that uses 37 balls to the LB would shoot a .500 ball the bore might be .510-.530 depending on builder and whether rifled or not. TG:
Do you have the time frame (or a rough guess) that the standardization of calibers was set, as we know it?

 

[Sonny from Vincennes]

I am a new member to the brotherhood. I saw the posting about caliber, number of balls, and weight. I am attaching two excel worksheets that I used when I taught classes. One is for calculating the number of lead balls using the ball diameter and then the reverse calculation. The other is for calculating the weight of the lead balls using the diameter and then the reverse calculation.

Please select ENABLE EDITING at the top of the page to change the GREEN cells. The GREEN cells are for input only and the YELLOW cells are for output. If the GREEN cells turns RED, you have put in a negative number. Input a positive number and the color will change to GREEN. The numbers in right column in RED, are test numbers. You can use them to test the calculations for errors.

I have written NRA Dope Bag about the change from number of balls for measuring the bore to the decimal number for caliber. It is going to be interesting to see what the experts have to say. When I get an answer, I will post it (about 6 weeks).

 

[Brokennock]

There is already a chart for this under the heading in the general muzzleloading section.....

8 posts above this topic resurrected from 2004,

 

[Sonny from Vincennes]

I am new to this site. What should I do with my post?

 

[Stykbow]

I am new to this site. What should I do with my post?

Not a thing. Thanks for jumping in and trying to offer some info. Welcome to the group.

 

[TDM]

I am new to this site. What should I do with my post?

It’s not a problem, welcome to the forum.

 

[Sonny from Vincennes]

You guys are very nice. In a world of major problems, it is good to see nice and hope for the future.

 

[Brokennock]

I am new to this site. What should I do with my post?

Leave it.
Maybe someone can take it turn it into a more usable format for a forum. Some kind of jpeg picture or something. Maybe that can then be made a sticky at the top of the section.

 

[Sonny from Vincennes]

What type of picture are you wanting?

 

[Brokennock]

What type of picture are you wanting?

Just a nice simple chart.
Or even a list broken down into pieces (which is what I think the one in the "helpful ____ & ____," post was.
Ball size Weight pure lead.
.___ _____ grains ____ oz
.___ _____ grains ____ oz

Unfortunately I can't remember where the old one started or how big it ultimately went. It may have gone all the way up to a 4 bore. Which I guess would be 1/4 pound each? Not sure the diameter

 

[Sonny from Vincennes]

I used your ideas and come up with a worksheet for the number of balls for the bore diameter. You can see the references I used at the bottom of the sheet. I was an instructor for fifty years and kept track of the questions over the years. I had this information partially made up. I can add the min & max of the bore and the ballistic coefficient for the g1 drag function if you want. Let me know what you think.

 

[Sidney Smith]

Do you know how many round balls you can cast per pound of lead at any given caliber?
I have taken the weights of some popular round ball sizes and figured it out.

There is 7000 grains per pound, divided by the round balls weight (in grains) to get an approximate number.

32 caliber: (.310) 048g---approx 146 balls/pound
36 caliber: (.360) 071g----approx 98 balls/pound
40 caliber: (.395) 092g----approx 76 balls/pound
45 caliber: (.445) 133g----approx 52 balls/pound
50 caliber: (.498) 180g----approx 38 balls/pound
54 caliber: (.535) 220g----approx 32 balls/pound
58 caliber: (.560) 280g----approx 25 balls/pound
62 caliber: (.610) 341g----approx 20 balls/pound
69 caliber: (.678) 468g----approx 15 balls/pound
75 caliber: (.715) 545g----approx 13 balls/pound

NOTE* (some numbers have been rounded up for ease of posting, .715 actual count is 12.8 balls/pound)

These are just a few of the many sizes and balls/pound will vari depending on lead quality and size deviation of round ball molds.

This is just to give you an idea of the amount you could expect to cast/buy per pound of lead.

The figures for the .32 seem accurate. I melted down an old 5 ounce fishing sinker my father in law gave me a couple years ago, and if memory serves, I was able to cast about 45 balls with it plus a tiny bit left over. So three times 45 is around 135 ish.

 

[Sonny from Vincennes]

I am attaching a worksheet to figure that out. The sheet is setup for PURE LEAD. If you are using other types lead, the number will be different. The density of the lead must know accurately for the calculation. The input cells are GREEN and the output cells are YELLOW. Only inter the caliber number in the GREEN cells. To start select ENABLE EDITING or you will not able to change anything. Next, inter your caliber in the GREEN cell and see the result in the YELLOW cell. I have a sample input loads in the right column in RED. The results are also shown in RED at the YELLOW cell. If you have problems, please let me know. This sheet will calculate from on ball to 100 balls, but remember this PURE lead.