A Round Ball Casting Session

Semisane · 11-07-2011, 04:50 PM

I spent a little time this afternoon casting about 300 .575 balls for my .58 Hawken.

When I finished with the big balls I broke out a new Lee .311 mold that I bought a few months back to make balls for the .32 Pedersoli flintlock, and threw about 150 of the little balls.

This is a double cavity mold. It says 45 grains on the box. So just for the fun of it I pulled 25 balls from the pile and weighed them on my little AWS electronic scale. Fourteen of them weighed 45.2 grains. Nine weighed 45.4 grains. And two weighed 45.5 grains.

I was really impressed with the consistency of the balls thrown from the Lee mold. Clearly, one cavity throws 45.2 grain balls every time and the other cavity throws 45.4 grain balls just about all of the time.

So I spent a few hours of my time and a little natural gas for the burner and ended up with about $70 worth of high quality soft lead balls.

cayugad · 11-07-2011, 05:31 PM

Actually if the weather is nice, casting is a lot of fun. And its amazing how fast they start to pile up.

SuperKirby · 11-08-2011, 05:53 AM

I have a mold on the way for my .357 mag. and depending on how that goes I also have a .45 TC Hawken waiting for me. I've never cast any bullets/balls before but if the 357 goes well then I will hopefully get a round ball mold for the .45 and try that out as well. I think I would rather enjoy casting my own.

Palehorse · 11-08-2011, 08:31 AM

I just sold all my lead to a fellow out in Missouri. Don't let the USPS fool you, 70 lbs is the limit for domestic flat rate. I had to split my shipment.

I enjoyed casting when I had a good pot, but using a ladle was tedious.

Still have two molds left. Better get those on Gunbroker.