Looking for a round ball mold
07-26-2009, 07:19 PM
#1
Spike
Thread Starter
Join Date: May 2007
Posts: 27
Looking for a round ball mold
I was looking at round ball molds for my 50cal Omega. I saw a .500 mold for sale and wondered how that would work? I have used .490RB with a pillow ticking patch. Do you use a paper patch or just shoot bare balls?
07-27-2009, 03:38 AM
#2
Fork Horn
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: Georgia
Posts: 261
I don't believe a paper patch would work very well. I would stay with pillow ticking although it will probably be too tight with a .500 RB. Shooting unpatched balls will probably cause your barrel to accumulate lead.
I believe that a .495 RB with pillow ticking would be just right. Lee makes moulds in that size.
I believe that a .495 RB with pillow ticking would be just right. Lee makes moulds in that size.
07-27-2009, 09:03 AM
#3
Typical Buck
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Central Connecticut
Posts: 766
Every gun is different.
There are some folks who swear by using bore size balls and tight patching which could prove to be difficult to load without using a mallet to tap the load in with.
One of the differences between barrels is the depth of the rifling and whether there is enough room in the rifling grooves to hold the excess patching.
If the ball gets swaged into the bore, it won't strip the rifling and will have maximum spin imparted on it.
With the shallower rifling of many inlines, that might not be such a bad thing, but their fast twist rates don't always produce the best accuracy.
It's possible to shoot a bare ball along with an over powder wad to help seal the gas blow by. But understand that it's just an experiment and that it may or may not be very accurate, and that it takes some courage to go forward investing in a mold to try it. I would try to find some .50 balls to try it out with first.
I think that it would work at short range with relatively light powder charges and any decent performance beyond that would be a bonus.
A .50 ball may even require a .005 patch to engage the rifling better. And experimentation would show which would be the better way to load and shoot them. A thin cloth patch would hold lube vs. a paper patch.
I've shot very loose .440 bare balls from a single shot inline .45 pistol and surprisingly they stayed on target at 25 yards. But because they were so loose in the bore, the muzzle had to be held upwards until being fired. The velocity was low [25 grains of 777 fffg] and there was no leading, but since they didn't even engage the rifling it was like firing them from a smoothbore.
Hornady has a "Hard Ball" which is a .485 hard round ball fitted with a special sabot which I think is intended for inlines. I've never heard reports about how accurate they are, but the sabot does significantly change the characteristics vs. simply shooting a round ball.
https://www.hornady.com/shop/?ps_ses...7490eba72ce09c
There are some folks who swear by using bore size balls and tight patching which could prove to be difficult to load without using a mallet to tap the load in with.
One of the differences between barrels is the depth of the rifling and whether there is enough room in the rifling grooves to hold the excess patching.
If the ball gets swaged into the bore, it won't strip the rifling and will have maximum spin imparted on it.
With the shallower rifling of many inlines, that might not be such a bad thing, but their fast twist rates don't always produce the best accuracy.
It's possible to shoot a bare ball along with an over powder wad to help seal the gas blow by. But understand that it's just an experiment and that it may or may not be very accurate, and that it takes some courage to go forward investing in a mold to try it. I would try to find some .50 balls to try it out with first.
I think that it would work at short range with relatively light powder charges and any decent performance beyond that would be a bonus.
A .50 ball may even require a .005 patch to engage the rifling better. And experimentation would show which would be the better way to load and shoot them. A thin cloth patch would hold lube vs. a paper patch.
I've shot very loose .440 bare balls from a single shot inline .45 pistol and surprisingly they stayed on target at 25 yards. But because they were so loose in the bore, the muzzle had to be held upwards until being fired. The velocity was low [25 grains of 777 fffg] and there was no leading, but since they didn't even engage the rifling it was like firing them from a smoothbore.
Hornady has a "Hard Ball" which is a .485 hard round ball fitted with a special sabot which I think is intended for inlines. I've never heard reports about how accurate they are, but the sabot does significantly change the characteristics vs. simply shooting a round ball.
https://www.hornady.com/shop/?ps_ses...7490eba72ce09c
Last edited by arcticap; 07-27-2009 at 01:55 PM.
07-27-2009, 11:18 AM
#4
Dominant Buck
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Wisconsin
Posts: 21,193
since your shooting this out of an Omega... use the .490 ball with a patch. Also lower the powder charge so you don't skip rifling. Really your Omega is made to shoot sabots. Although it can shoot roundball. Just don't be upset if the accuracy is not good.
Buy some .490 ball and try that first before you invest in molds.
Buy some .490 ball and try that first before you invest in molds.
07-27-2009, 01:05 PM
#5
Spike
Thread Starter
Join Date: May 2007
Posts: 27
I have shot 490RB in my Omega with a 40 grain charge of Pyrodex RS. It makes for a sweet target load and is something that my daughter can shoot. I just had to wonder what if when I saw the mold. One of the problems with living in south Texas is that we don't have a muzzleloader season so supplies and mentors in this area are scarce as hen's teeth. Thanks for the info.
Oh by the way I have shot a 490 naked out of the Omega but it was by accident. I forgot to situate the patch and amazingly when you turn loose of a 490RB at the muzzle of a 50cal it falls all the way to the charge. After trying to shake the ball out I checked the depth of the ball and decided it was on the powder. I kept the barrel up just for safety and then shot it out.
Oh by the way I have shot a 490 naked out of the Omega but it was by accident. I forgot to situate the patch and amazingly when you turn loose of a 490RB at the muzzle of a 50cal it falls all the way to the charge. After trying to shake the ball out I checked the depth of the ball and decided it was on the powder. I kept the barrel up just for safety and then shot it out.
07-27-2009, 02:23 PM
#6
Typical Buck
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Central Connecticut
Posts: 766
That's how it happened with me too because the pistol had a muzzle break which made it really difficult to seat the patch & ball.
07-27-2009, 07:29 PM
#7
Dominant Buck
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Wisconsin
Posts: 21,193
I shoot a roundball with 50 grains out of my Knight LK-II. Its a scoped inline and with that light charge, it is very accurate. Its not that a inline will not shoot a roundball. They just are not designed for it. But in your case, I would get a LEE .490 mold. They are cheap, throw a good ball, and easy to use. Get a double mold. They go faster.
