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New Roundball Mold, Casting Session

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New Roundball Mold, Casting Session

Old 10-08-2019, 08:50 PM
  #1  
Fork Horn
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Default New Roundball Mold, Casting Session

I decided to pick up a New Lyman .495 Roundball Mold since that is the Size Ball i am Shooting so well in this New Green Mountain .50 Cal, I had 2 Brand new Boxes of .495 Speer, and Hornady Swaged Balls, I melted them Down so I could Re pour Higher Quality Balls, Their Quality control just isn’t up to my Standards, Both brands of Swaged Balls Varied as much as 2 and 3 Grains of eachother, That is Unacceptable to me.

This one


Once i got the Mold up and Running good it Casted REALLY Nice Consistent Balls, They all weighed within 1/2 Grain. 184-184.5


This was just a Small, Quick Trial Run. I wasn’t at all excited about the Sprues, they were gonna have to Go!!



I dare ya to find a Sprue on 1 of these Now After some sweet talk, and a little persuasion, They Finished up REALLY Nice FAR FAR better than ANYTHING i can Buy, be it Cast, or Swaged.



Last edited by Idaholewis; 10-08-2019 at 08:55 PM.
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Old 10-09-2019, 03:03 AM
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Lew, as usual, you cast great looking bullets! Curious do you cast filling both holes and do you find they both cast the same? I don't know if I'll ever get into casting for round balls but how did you eliminate the sprue's on them?
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Old 10-09-2019, 06:43 AM
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Originally Posted by edmehlig
Lew, as usual, you cast great looking bullets! Curious do you cast filling both holes and do you find they both cast the same? I don't know if I'll ever get into casting for round balls but how did you eliminate the sprue's on them?
Yes, inquiring minds want to know. My Lee molds cast nice bullets and hardly any sprue. The Lymans leave a bit more.
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Old 10-10-2019, 03:00 AM
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2 ways that I know, and have done to get rid of the Sprue, Roll them Between 2 Steel Plates, or a Vibratory Tumbler with No Media in it (Brass Tumbler) I prefer my Tumbler, I like to ad some powdered Graphite to the Tumbler Bowl as well, This Turns the Balls a Shiny Black, and also gets them Really Slick. It only takes an Hour in my Tumbler and they are Done
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Old 10-10-2019, 12:22 PM
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I've always put them in a wooden box in the back of my SUV for a day or two, and it will flatten out the sprue from rolling around from driving. I like the tumbler idea though, I'll have to give it a try.
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Old 10-10-2019, 06:55 PM
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Originally Posted by Wasatch
I've always put them in a wooden box in the back of my SUV for a day or two, and it will flatten out the sprue from rolling around from driving. I like the tumbler idea though, I'll have to give it a try.
I read about Putting them in a Container and Driving I’ll stick with the Vibratory Tumbler with a little Powdered Graphite, I can put a Couple hundred in at a Time, Come back in 1 Hour and they are all PERFECTLY Smooth

Check this Guy’s idea out I don’t understand his thinking on Texturing the Ball Though? Nothing about that part looks good to me. If i were to try this, I would use a Smooth Plate. I can see how this would work good, Just Slow handling 1 at a Time.
http://www.forth-armoury.com/instruc...ll-roller.html

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Old 10-11-2019, 03:08 AM
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It looks like too much work for me, plus I don't like the texturing either. the Tumbler is the way to go. By the way what tumbler are you using?
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Old 10-11-2019, 04:24 AM
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Originally Posted by edmehlig
It looks like too much work for me, plus I don't like the texturing either. the Tumbler is the way to go. By the way what tumbler are you using?
This is the Exact Tumbler i have, I even bought it as a Kit Just like this. I have used this thing a BUNCH over the Years, It has Ran Flawless for me Who knows about Longevity Running Lead balls in it? I will say the Tumbler is NOISY with the Lead Balls vibrating in the Plastic/Polymer Bowl, But the Tumbler sits perfectly Stil. I think as long as a Guy doesn’t Weigh it Down with to much Weight it will continue to do just Fine. It will handle 100 .50 or .54 Cal Roundballs no problem
https://www.cabelas.com/product/Cabe...Kit/731769.uts
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Old 10-11-2019, 04:34 AM
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Look at the Reviews on my Tumbler Above, out of 446 Reviews it gets a SOLID 4.8 out of 5 Star Rating.

Some of the Big Blue Tumblers (Cant Remember brand?) Probably Wouldn’t work worth a Darn with Lead Balls? They have LOTS of Cusion, Spring in them, You can easily move the Bowl around by Hand, Totally different feel than This Cabela’s Vibratory 400 of mine, this thing is RIGID, Well Built
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Old 10-11-2019, 05:16 AM
  #10  
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I’ve never seen that. I’ve read where some shooters would rough up the ball so it would stick to the patch better so it wouldn’t slip in the patch going down the barrel once fired. I guess they were never lucky enough to dry ball a load and have to pull a ball out. The patch material leaves a pretty good impression in the ball.
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