shooting homemade bullets?

metaldonnieg · 12-26-2006, 02:59 PM

I got into a conversation with a guy who's an amateur gunsmith today while buying powder who says he hand makes his own maxi balls and offered me about 20 if I would come get to his house to pick them up. I got the guy's phone number but I wanted to ask here first as I trust you guys more.

I personally am not so sure it's a great idea.

But on the other hand he swears he shoots them and they work just as good as anything that was on the shelf.

He did offer me a bottle of Pyrodex RS for 8 bucks so I might at least go see him about that and maybe then ask him to shoot one of those homemade bullets and if it works ok make him let me shoot one out of his rifle.

cayugad · 12-26-2006, 04:01 PM

Many of us cast our own projectiles. I cast several actually. It is a lot more common then you might think. As for the maxiball, they are probably out of a Lyman mold and will weigh 370 grains. Fill the ribs with bore butter and shoot them with about 80 grains of Pyrodex RS and the accuracy might surprise you. Also the down range thump is excellent.

liquidorange · 12-26-2006, 04:07 PM

Quote:

ORIGINAL: cayugad

Many of us cast our own projectiles. I cast several actually. It is a lot more common then you might think. As for the maxiball, they are probably out of a Lyman mold and will weigh 370 grains. Fill the ribs with bore butter and shoot them with about 80 grains of Pyrodex RS and the accuracy might surprise you. Also the down range thump is excellent.

YEA WHAT HE SAID!

metaldonnieg · 12-26-2006, 05:15 PM

Well, might as well give him a shot. If nothing else I can just drill a hole top to bottom and have some carolina rig weights for all you bass fisherman

rks1949 · 12-26-2006, 05:42 PM

Most people don't realize the potental of lead bullets. They,when made right are every bit as accurate as anything you can shoot. The knock down power,and penetration is excellent.

cayugad · 12-26-2006, 05:51 PM

rks1949 that is some real expansion you got with that conical. What weight is that and what mold makes that? That's a nice looking conical.

TUK101 · 12-26-2006, 05:52 PM

Growing up, my grandad always made his own bullets, which often doubled as lead weights for fishing. The bullets work great. We usually used either wheel weights or sheets of lead from off from the roofs (my dad and grandad are both hot tar roofers). A couple of times a year we would be cooking lead on the fireplace and pouring into one of his old molds. Simple, and effective. Funny, I am new to muzzleloading, but now that I am getting interested in it again, a lot of things come back to me from my childhood.

cayugad · 12-26-2006, 06:14 PM

With wheel weights, I avoid them for muzzleloaders. They work fine for fishing sinkers, but are too hard IMO for muzzleloading projectiles. When I cast, I was a pure a lead as possible.

lemoyne · 12-26-2006, 06:45 PM

If he knows what he is doing they will be more consistant than the commercial ones.Get a lead furnace and the lyman book on making bullets and a few molds but becarful not to breath the fumes and make sure there is never any moisture in a mold before you pour. I make round balls [440,445,535,457],maxie balls, real bullets, ballets and bullets for 38 and 44 cal. pistols. Lee

cayugad · 12-26-2006, 06:50 PM

This is one of my favorite home cast bullets. It is a .457 diameter and it will run around 422 grains. I load them in a orange knight sabot (MMP) and with 100 grains of Goex under them, you would not want to be the critter on the receiving end of this. They have some excellent down range thump to them and are accurate out of a number of my rifles.