Casting for muzzleloader

[croue]

So - just got a muzzleloader and also planning to start casting bullets.

For a 50 cal muzzleloader - what am I looking for when selecting molds?
What diameters with and without sabots?
Do I need to size if I use sabots?


C


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[Capt.Dunsel]

lead ball , .490 and pillow ticking for patch . spit for lube on patch .
Minnie ball , same size , no patch.

And which muzzle loader you have depends on which projectile you will use , round ball , Minnie ball , or jacketed w/sabot.

Newer in-lines shoot better with sabots , older style with minnie or round ball.

My Hawken prefers round ball/patch/spit over everything else . 1-58 twist

[croue]

So the minie bullet molds from Lee are intended for use without sabots right?




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[elk hunter]

Use pure/soft lead for maxi bullets. No you dont have to size a bullet that you would use in a sabot. For my TC I cast 50 cal soft lead Maxi slugs and no sizing of the slug.

[elk hunter]

These are for a 1-28 twist rifle, a round ball requires a 1-58 or more twist. The mold was bought from T/C before they were bought out by S&W and I cant tell who made it for them, my guess is Lyman. Lee makes several molds for BP guns and most any will work to some degree. I use bore Butter to lube and in my 50 rifle it's a 80 gr of 2 FG black or the = of pyrodex RS. Hunting load is 100 gr ffg with this bullet out of my rifle. HTH

[Whiterabbit]

Do you have a side lock or inline? open sights? slow twist or fast?

I am a roundball shooter. But I do havea 50 cal LEE REAL mold if you want to come over and cast a few to try out. or buy the mold for like 10 bucks. Just a simple LEE 1-cav. You're probably down the street from me.

I suggest, even if it is an inline with a 26" twist, that you try patched round ball anyways. Find the sabot slug you think will work, but try PRB too. You might be surprised. Uncle Joe will have everything you need except for powder, which I believe you can get at bass pro. I strongly suggest using real back only (unless you have an inline, in which case BH209 or real black. That's just my opinion. I don't think much of substitutes.)

If you have a side lock with open sights, you're welcome to join our monthly muzzleloading shoots next year. Nothing gets a shooter up to speed faster than friendly competition. Besides, nothing feels so good as cutting cards in half at 10 paces, or splitting a ball in two shooting an axe blade.



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edit: I thought I recognized your name. You've been to my house. We swapped 4198 for H110 in 2017. I'm pretty sure I sold all my 50 cal stuff (minus REAL mold), but if I have anything left, you can have it. if I had anything, likely just some TEZ sabots. But I'm pretty sure they are gone.

[Whiterabbit]

When I did have a 50 cal inline I used sabots and 45 caliber 45 colt bullets. I bought the sabots from Barnes in bulk (they were happy to sell me hundreds) and cast whatever 45 cal bullet I wanted. I did not size or lube. The sabot did both jobs.

150 grains of powder under a 300 grain LEE 45/454 bullet was... exciting. And after recovering a Barnes TEZ from a mountain after passing through an aluminum plate like it was paper, I understand why they cost so much. The petals expand. Bigly.

I sold it because I decided if I were to hunt CA muzzleloader, I would rather cast a bismuth ball for my 58 flintlock and go for it.

[sghart]

A lot of good info on here already.

We need to know more, like twist rate, etc.

I shoot nothing but roundball but my rifles all have slow twist rates.

When I shot an inline with a faster twist rate I had good luck casting my owning maxi's.

I sold my maxi molds along with my inline when I started shooting flintlocks.

Good luck and ask more questions! The guys on this forum are fonts of wisdom and really enjoy helping.

Merry Christmas!


Steve in N CA

[croue]

[kcstott]

Tempted to splurge on the hardness tester just because. [emoji38]

Lead hardness can be guessed at with an array of artist pencils of varying hardness from soft to hard.

I'll post up some data tomorrow when I'm home with nothing to do.

[Whiterabbit]

No need for a hardness tester, its a muzzleloader.

You buy dead-soft lead. I recommend that even if shooting sabots. Really recommend if shooting reals, minnie, and definitely round balls!

For pistol, I shoot hardball because I shoot 460S&W. For your 357 and 44, you can shoot clip on wheel weights. Or a mix of clip on plus range scrap. Probably just range scrap is just fine. You’ll never see the difference at 25 yards and “probably” not at 100.

Check out what molds Joe Castello has in stock too.