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Roundball casting balls slightly oversized
- Thread starter jtkerk
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Phil Coffins
69 Cal.
Pure lead casts the smallest ball, if your lead is an alloy the ball will be larger from the same mold.
New mold? How did you measure the diameter? And as @Phil Coffins suggested, where did you get your lead, and/or, how did you test it?
Daryl Crawford
50 Cal.
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jtkerk
40 Cal
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I melted from lead pipe and roofing . Measured different spots all around balls with a caliper. Was just wondering if lead a little too hot not shrinking or maybe not pure enough? I fluxed a bunch of times and is very soft denting easy with thumbnail
Caliber?? , manufacturer of mold ?? , using pure lead??........I've only been casting for 70+ yrs. , and all with two manufacturers of molds , Lyman , and Lee. All my Lee molds , cast balls of the diameter stamped on the outside of the blocks , with in a thousandths or so , and most are perfect size. I have used Lyman molds as well , and have found a couple , that cast up to 4 thousandths larger. There should be a large list of comments on the forum concerning just the question you ask. Read-um and weep.
SmokepoleSam
45 Cal.
Did you trim the joints off the pipes, the joints are not pure lead.
64Springer
75 Cal.
Never seen a mold that casts .003 or more oversized.
Several thousandths sounds like a mold problem.
Not a lead problem.
Several thousandths sounds like a mold problem.
Not a lead problem.
I have molds from Lee, RCBS, Lyman, Pedersoli, and whoever made molds for T/C. I also own older USA made Starrett dial calipers and both inside and outside micrometers.
The addition of tin and antimony will change the ball/bullet diameter from advertised.
Most molds are off by .001" or so right from the factory.
I have a Lee two cavity .490" ball mold. With 99.9% pure lead from RotoMetals, it cast balls that are consistently .493" in diameter.
It happens. Adjust patch thickness and move on.
The addition of tin and antimony will change the ball/bullet diameter from advertised.
Most molds are off by .001" or so right from the factory.
I have a Lee two cavity .490" ball mold. With 99.9% pure lead from RotoMetals, it cast balls that are consistently .493" in diameter.
It happens. Adjust patch thickness and move on.
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as those that know have said, most likely alloy.
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Or....
Mold not closing completely?, sometimes the alignment pins can move and keep the mold from closing all the way.
Tiny bits of lead on the faces of the mold, make sure the faces are absolutely clean.
Mold not closing completely?, sometimes the alignment pins can move and keep the mold from closing all the way.
Tiny bits of lead on the faces of the mold, make sure the faces are absolutely clean.
Lee mould?
It could be the mould has expanded..
It could be the mould has expanded..
Over the years I have now ended up with over 70 molds. The worst offenders for dropping off size balls are the Lyman molds. It is not really a problem, as mentioned above just adjust patch size and move on.
I would make another note here extending what was mentioned before. I started life as an apprentice plumber, one of the first things I was taught about running lead pipe was making joints for attaching to other pipe or to brass ferrules. That was called lead wiping. By using a lead allow, usually 50/50 lead/tin mix the temperature for its plastic stage was lower than pure lead.
I will not try to explain the whole process here but just a brief highlight. the lead was mounded around the joint and a inch or so past each side of the joint.
It was then wiped around with a felt pad to create a very strong junction.
The reason I am mentioning this is because hopefully in the future there will be a lot of lead ripped out of the ground and replaced by modern substitutes.
That will come on the market and be available for us to use, I hope.
Just remember that all the joints should be cut out and can be used for suppository bullets but the lead pipe itself will be good to use for our round balls.
Another note be careful if you get lead pipe that you not sure of the origin. Electrical lead sheathing I have been given tests by my BHN tester gave about a reading of 7to 8 BHN a little too hard for my use for round balls.
Barry
I would make another note here extending what was mentioned before. I started life as an apprentice plumber, one of the first things I was taught about running lead pipe was making joints for attaching to other pipe or to brass ferrules. That was called lead wiping. By using a lead allow, usually 50/50 lead/tin mix the temperature for its plastic stage was lower than pure lead.
I will not try to explain the whole process here but just a brief highlight. the lead was mounded around the joint and a inch or so past each side of the joint.
It was then wiped around with a felt pad to create a very strong junction.
The reason I am mentioning this is because hopefully in the future there will be a lot of lead ripped out of the ground and replaced by modern substitutes.
That will come on the market and be available for us to use, I hope.
Just remember that all the joints should be cut out and can be used for suppository bullets but the lead pipe itself will be good to use for our round balls.
Another note be careful if you get lead pipe that you not sure of the origin. Electrical lead sheathing I have been given tests by my BHN tester gave about a reading of 7to 8 BHN a little too hard for my use for round balls.
Barry
I ran this batch the other day from a Lee double mould…
I normally use two mounds when pouring, letting one cool while using the other..
But this time I used only the one and there was 4 grn difference in some of the balls.
These are .530 balls and should weigh .224 grns according too Hornady..
Mine were between .232 - .236…. So I split them into 2 separate groups.234.5 and less, .234.6 up too .236.
The rest went back into the pot..
I did shoot some of the light balls that loaded a shot like normal…
The next shooting session I’ll shoot the heavier balls and see if there’s any difference…
I expect they will be a little harder too load, but there performance should be typically the same..
I’m almost certain when the mould gets too hot and expands, that is what causes the heavier, larger ball.
I have noticed in the past that sometimes while shooting on woods walks that some
( not weighed) balls load harder than others, so that’s why I’ve started weighing them and will only shoot the .234 and less while in the field.
The heavier ones I’ll shoot at the house, not at a event..
Unless, I prove my theory wrong…
I normally use two mounds when pouring, letting one cool while using the other..
But this time I used only the one and there was 4 grn difference in some of the balls.
These are .530 balls and should weigh .224 grns according too Hornady..
Mine were between .232 - .236…. So I split them into 2 separate groups.234.5 and less, .234.6 up too .236.
The rest went back into the pot..
I did shoot some of the light balls that loaded a shot like normal…
The next shooting session I’ll shoot the heavier balls and see if there’s any difference…
I expect they will be a little harder too load, but there performance should be typically the same..
I’m almost certain when the mould gets too hot and expands, that is what causes the heavier, larger ball.
I have noticed in the past that sometimes while shooting on woods walks that some
( not weighed) balls load harder than others, so that’s why I’ve started weighing them and will only shoot the .234 and less while in the field.
The heavier ones I’ll shoot at the house, not at a event..
Unless, I prove my theory wrong…
Melt your lead at 600 degrees first and DO NOT FLUX until you skim it.
Now about expansion of a mold--It is not the same as a hole in a solid block that increases in dia. Expansion is uneven to give an out of round condition. Remember you have two pieces of metal.
Pure lead needs more heat to cast well so I use 800 degrees for good flow. Small amounts of tin will harden lead very little but will cast at a lower temp.
My complaint with cherry cut molds was always they were too small because when a cherry gets dull, they regrind it. A new cherry will make a larger mold and ball.
Now about expansion of a mold--It is not the same as a hole in a solid block that increases in dia. Expansion is uneven to give an out of round condition. Remember you have two pieces of metal.
Pure lead needs more heat to cast well so I use 800 degrees for good flow. Small amounts of tin will harden lead very little but will cast at a lower temp.
My complaint with cherry cut molds was always they were too small because when a cherry gets dull, they regrind it. A new cherry will make a larger mold and ball.
I ran a bunch of largish balls the other day (the particular size escapes me tight now) and was surprised at how much larger than usual they came out. This was a new batch of lead broken out of 70+ year old cast iron plumbing waste piping. I had 24 pounds of it, most has been cast up but still have a nice slug in the pot. I am going to dump it out and mark it so I will know it is apparently an alloy. The other-size balls do not bother me as they are just right for bare-ball shooting. I just remembered the size, they were dropping .578 from a Lee .575 mold. To be honest though, I don’t remember using this mold before so it could just be the mold.
