Author Topic: Wheel weights (Read 1433 times)

AZ300wsm · « **on:** May 03, 2005, 02:07:46 PM »

Is it ok to use ww's for .490 balls with a patch in a .50 cal muzzleloader? I have a 5 gallon bucket of them and would like to cast them for plinking.

Robert · « **Reply #1 on:** May 03, 2005, 02:14:46 PM »

I wouldn't. Maybe someone else could say for sure..but I have heard of w/w stripping out the rifling in some muzzle loaders. Also....with round balls, you want the ball to 'upset'. That is what I have been told anyway. You might want to ask this question on the Black Powder forum.....might get a better answer from the front-stuffers.

jgalar · « **Reply #2 on:** May 03, 2005, 03:18:46 PM »

I tried it. They shoot fine but are a bear to load. Stick with pure lead.

flintman · « **Reply #3 on:** May 03, 2005, 03:48:10 PM »

And by the way,there is no easy inexpensive,nor practical way to seperate the tin and antimony from the lead base.that was a topic on another list.
Just my 2 cents worth of info,Jeff.

Orygun Mark · « **Reply #4 on:** May 03, 2005, 06:15:14 PM »

with a proper thickness patch they work fine. I have used WW roundballs for years in 45 and 50 cal BP rifles. The patch actually seals the bore and if lubed properly they will load easily. I have even used them deer hunting and did one shot kills on deer.

AZ300wsm · « **Reply #5 on:** May 04, 2005, 04:50:22 AM »

Thanks for the help.I will look for some pure lead and save these for casting bullets for my 45-70.BTW all they would have been used for is to give the people taking the hunter ed class I help with a chance to shoot a muzzle loader.

Orygun Mark,

Could you elaborate on the .50 cal with wwhat kind of patch you use?

S.S. · « **Reply #6 on:** May 24, 2005, 08:53:52 AM »

I ruined a Nice kentucky rifle barrel with them in one afteroon.
It was not roundball I was shooting though, it was LEE
R.E.A.L. bullets. I fired probably 40 rounds and noticed
that accuracy started falling off severly. I thought the barrel
had become fouled, cleaned it and found that I almost
has a smoothbore. As I can not tell the alloy they are made from,
I do not use wheel weights anymore.

jh45gun · « **Reply #7 on:** May 26, 2005, 05:51:58 PM »

Hornady makes a cast ball now called a hard ball and they make a sabot type cup to hold these .490 round balls to shoot in a 50 cal. At that moment it looks like 50 cal is the only caliber they are offering these round ball sabots. I plan to give them a try in mine sooner or a later. Jim

jh45gun · « **Reply #8 on:** May 26, 2005, 06:09:37 PM »

Quote from: S.Sumner

I ruined a Nice kentucky rifle barrel with them in one afteroon.
It was not roundball I was shooting though, it was LEE
R.E.A.L. bullets. I fired probably 40 rounds and noticed
that accuracy started falling off severly. I thought the barrel
had become fouled, cleaned it and found that I almost
has a smoothbore. As I can not tell the alloy they are made from,
I do not use wheel weights anymore.

:shock: :shock: :shock: Are you sure you did not just severly lead it??? Any good barrel should be able to shoot any lead alloy with out doing the damage you say happened. Pure lead is best for cast in muzzle loaders because it upsets and fills the bore better. You can scratch wheel weight metal with your fingernail so it is not that hard that it should wreck any barrel. I still think you severly leaded the bore and regular cleaning will not solve that problem it really takes some agression to get the bore clean after leading a bore that bad I know I leaded a 22 pistol barrel shooting Rem thunderbolts that was in a hot truck and the lube melted off and I did not know it and it really leaded up the bore like about to 17 cal I had one heck of a time getting it clean again. Jim

Longcruise · « **Reply #9 on:** May 27, 2005, 07:45:52 AM »

Quote

Are you sure you did not just severly lead it???

That's my take too. I don't think a barrel could possibley be soft enough to be worn down by ww.

Try using a home made elctronic bore cleaner or the fould out system. Bet you get your barrel back :grin:

jh45gun · « **Reply #10 on:** May 27, 2005, 03:16:57 PM »

Took this off of the muzzle loader site I go to after posting about Sumners rifle problem.

Hard lead will lead with low pressure loads, such as black powder loads are, where pure lead will not. It is indeed because the hard lead does not "set back" and seal the bore, and the gas goes past the projectile, melting the lead as it does.

No doubt those REAL's you had were cast from harder lead, someone probably "meant well" thinking they would work better for heavier loads....NOT!

I cast my own REALs out of PURE lead and they work very well, ZERO leading with heavy loads. REALs are good bullets, but must be cast of very soft lead.

The harder the lead, the more pressure it needs to set it up a bit. But even the most heavy loads (within reason) in a muzzle loader don't approach the pressures needed to make the very hard lead alloys work. Nor do they produce the velocity for soft lead to lead a barrel, from velocity in it's self.

Also, in a modern gun/breech loader the bullet is usually larger than the bore, which makes the problem less severe.

No leading will hurt a bore if it's cleaned out properly.

Robert · « **Reply #11 on:** May 27, 2005, 08:45:59 PM »

Well this is an interesting thread. I will be sure to watch the replies. I have also heard many, maany stories of ruining nice BP guns with W/W. So IS IT TRUE? OR IS IT JUST LEADING?

jh45gun · « **Reply #12 on:** May 28, 2005, 07:45:15 AM »

Well the first 22 I ever had was a Marlin single shot bolt action. I loaned it to some one and they shot a lot of shot loads through it and leaded the crap out of it. At that time I did not know every thing about guns that I do now and I thought the bore was shot so I gave it to some one. Now I know it was leaded and that if I would have learned how to take the lead out I would still probably have it. :cry: Instead I thought it was a basket case. I know better now. Jim

jhalcott · « **Reply #13 on:** May 28, 2005, 02:46:39 PM »

some years ago I had some half inch ball bearings and an old rabbit fur muffler(the kind granny kept her hands warm with).I used those balls and patches from the muffler in a .58 enfield just to see what would happen! The Enfield still shoots Minnie balls quite well.Accuracy with the bearings was NOT very good,But I could keep 5 on a foot square target at 50 yards.
The balls would penetrate a 4x4 at that range when loaded hot!I DO NOT RECCOMMEND THIS PRACTICE! YOU COULD GET HURT! :eek: