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Beagle333 · February 9, 2013, 12:38 PM

Okay.... shooting again, since it's Saturday, and the first 24 rings weighed an average of .5333 grains each. Assuming a recovery factor of 80% (my factor for recovering flashing lead (last load was 80.12%).... gotta be close to true flux loss for dirty lead rings too)

, that gives a useable .4266gr per ring. At 141 grains for the average .454 ball, I need 330 rings, or the recovered rings from 55 full reloads (at 6 per load) to regain one ball.

Not really worth keeping up with, IMHO.

One note: your rings might weigh more if you use store-bought balls. I use pure lead hand cast balls, and pure shrinks a bit from the mold size, so my cast balls measure .4525 instead of .4540 and might not shave as much ring as Speer or Hornady balls with a true .454 diameter. Still..... you gonna need a pretty good sized poke full of rings to get more'n a ball out of it.

February 9, 2013, 12:38 PM	#12
Beagle333 Senior Member Join Date: January 7, 2012 Location: Auburn, AL. Posts: 2,332	The results are in.... Okay.... shooting again, since it's Saturday, and the first 24 rings weighed an average of .5333 grains each. Assuming a recovery factor of 80% (my factor for recovering flashing lead (last load was 80.12%).... gotta be close to true flux loss for dirty lead rings too), that gives a useable .4266gr per ring. At 141 grains for the average .454 ball, I need 330 rings, or the recovered rings from 55 full reloads (at 6 per load) to regain one ball. Not really worth keeping up with, IMHO. One note: your rings might weigh more if you use store-bought balls. I use pure lead hand cast balls, and pure shrinks a bit from the mold size, so my cast balls measure .4525 instead of .4540 and might not shave as much ring as Speer or Hornady balls with a true .454 diameter. Still..... you gonna need a pretty good sized poke full of rings to get more'n a ball out of it. __________________ . . . Have a Colt and a smile.