THOMPSON SWAGED BALLS
 

i was at gun shop and he got in SWAGED rballs.

i use hornady .490 rballs.

is there a difference,swaged vrs unswaged?

RE: THOMPSON SWAGED BALLS
 

sure.. the swagged don't have the flat spot or spurthat you find in a casted ball.

RE: THOMPSON SWAGED BALLS
 

Thanks for the reply Cayugad I didn't know either and was looking forward to the answer.

Bob

RE: THOMPSON SWAGED BALLS
 

swagging required high pressure molds and the lead does not have to be melted. They can produce a more uniform bullet by swagging then by casting and it is much safer.

RE: THOMPSON SWAGED BALLS
 

any difference in performance cayugad? or anyone that has expirience?? ive seen both too...

almost makes me think the cast balls may be softer?? i dont know...


i have to take pics of a .490 hornady RB i recovered...pretty nasty...but then again it smashed ALOT of bone....i'll try to remember to post pics this weekend when im home....kinda wondering if its normal performance or what....though i know i smashed some big bone...

just wanna make sure im using the RIGHT roundballs....since thats the only thing my rifle shoots accurately....

RE: THOMPSON SWAGED BALLS
 

I used to shoot swaged balls, 20 years ago...As far a performance, I prefer my own cast balls simply because I think they are softer and shoot more accurately...Now this is hard to prove, but I used to shoot alot of competition with my flintlocks and this was discussed among shooters...If you aren't worried about shooting one inch groups at 50 yards, don't worry about it...

As far as killing deer, I've killed them with both .45 and .54 in swaged balls and .54 cast at home...No difference as far as I can tell in penetration, wound channels, etc...

RE: THOMPSON SWAGED BALLS
 

ok, i see.

my hornady box never said SWAGED on it but new thompson box says swaged on it.i thought there was difference between 2.

RE: THOMPSON SWAGED BALLS
 

that hawkins will shoot the 370 gr MAXI-BALL great with 80 grs of 2f.

also 295 powerbelt will shoot good too.

great you use rb, nothing wrong with that for deer.

i did for a few years then used 370 maxi,then got addicted with the 295 powerbelt but my real favorite is rb ,not for killing but it feels much more fun getting deer with patch/rb.

i may go back to it ,i do get in mood swings.

70 grs of geox 2f works good or 90 grs of 3f some use in hawkins.

i dont like RECOIL, so 90 gr thing is out of picture for me on 3f.

if i used 3f , most likely it would be around 60/70 gr area for me.

RE: THOMPSON SWAGED BALLS
 

nchawkeye is correct. I have shot them both. I cast my own and always keep a couple boxes for each caliber of swagged balls in the cabinet. They both shoot well. But with the swagged you don't have to pay attention to the spur. I keep factory ones for when I get lazy and have not casted for a while, but still want to shoot.

Both will get the job done. Actually a long time back I tested Hornady, Speer, and home casted ball out of the same rifle at the same distance, with the same powder charge. You would not want to live on the difference between teh three. Actually the home cast did shoot the largest group, but we are talking a very small difference. Also I think the pure lead home cast expand better in game animals. But I can not prove it as they usually 99% of the time shoot through, no matter what kind I shoot.

RE: THOMPSON SWAGED BALLS
 

Do I have ot load the flat spot on the ball down the barrel firet? Stoopid ? i'm sure. I never shot any balls our of my flinter.

RE: THOMPSON SWAGED BALLS
 

I've always put the flat up, some put it down, some roll their balls between steel sheetsand smooth out the flats, all work...

Shooting with open sights, it won't matter, unless you are Superman and have 8x vision...:D

Even if the balls aren't perfectly round, it doesn't matter, once you pull the trigger a ball squats so it will not be round anyway...

RE: THOMPSON SWAGED BALLS
 

thanx for the info guys!!

i'll have to remember to take pics of the recovered ball this weekend...and where i found it...probably uncommon...it smashed the shoulder and busted it into pieces...i was impressed...

sproul, i tried the 350gr maxi hunters i think....i'll have to check, i have 2 boxes of TC maxi's cant remember if they were both hunters or not...

also tried the 295gr power belts, and 2 different buffalo ballets...

the good ole round ball is the only thing that would shoot...could group anything else nearly as well....but, i would love to get away from the round ball for hunting...i hit the spine or was close enough to shock the spine on all 3 roundball kills so far...sure they all had 2 1/2 inch holes and with a lung shot they would have died within 100yds...but, i worry that there wont be much of a trail to follow...sometimes its hard to find the holes...i know they kill deer...ive proved it and love shooting the roundball, and the accuracy is GREAT....but for deer hunting out of the 50cal, id like a bullet.....

RE: THOMPSON SWAGED BALLS
 

When I load cast ball, I load them flats up. I was told it really does not matter, but we all get in habits and old habits are hard to break.

RE: THOMPSON SWAGED BALLS
 

Maxiballs always shot best in my T/C hammer guns, Maxihunters were not very good at all.

RE: THOMPSON SWAGED BALLS
 

[quote]ORIGINAL: mauser06


sproul, i tried the 350gr maxi hunters i think....i'll have to check, i have 2 boxes of TC maxi's cant remember if they were both hunters or not...

/quote]

shoot up any MAXI-HUNTERS you have and buy a box of MAXI-BALLS 370.

this bullet was original one tested for your hawkins.

it will cut holes at 50 yds easy.its best for 1-48 twist .
80 grs is what i use of 2f.with bore button.

some use 90 grs.

powerbelt 295 will shoot great too with 80/90 grs of 2f.

we have 6 hawkins .50 cals like yours.

all wont shoot the maxi-hunters, all shoot the maxi-balls 370 fine.

all shoot the pb 295 great too.

so, if yours does not, i would clean it real good with brush, if that does not work, ask CAYUGUG ,he may have answer.

alsoour hawkins were tested long ago and found that the 28 inch barrel was best length.
they started with 36 inch barrel.

best load velocity /energy thing was with 70 grs of 2f with a .018 patch and .490 rb.

anything above that was shown to benot improvement .

just some info.

RE: THOMPSON SWAGED BALLS
 

you are correct