The Firing Line Forums - View Single Post - Best type of lead for C&B balls and bullets

Gator Weiss · September 18, 2010, 07:35 AM

Mr. Rifleman, I have a question for you; about civil war style mini bullets. The hollow based conicals with grooves, engineered for and normally fired in the 577 or 58 bore military barrells made with three lands and a moderate twist. In many specimens, the rifling is cut somewhat deep toward the breech, yet shallower toward the muzzle.

Some say exceeding 80 or 90 grains of powder tends to hyper expand the skirt in these pure soft lead cast hollow based bullets. The hyper expansion of the skirts has been photographed in flight by some research experts, so apparently it actually does happen. The hyper expansion of the skirt distorts the shape in such a way as to create much drag on the missle. This obviously causes the missile to suffer in accuracy and to dump velocity even more quickly than normally.

The school on black powder has always called for the use of pure unalloyed lead in a casting for the muzzle loading guns. BP cartridge guns will allow for harder leads.

I have some observations here, and my question is, do you think these observations would prove accurate, or do they just open other problems to be considered in BP shooting?

You seem like a very knowledgable guy and a credit to the forum. Would you comment on this for us?

1. Reproduction BP military style gun barrells are slightly thicker than many original cuts, and so they are a little stronger. You can therefore come up in pressure a just little bit with no worries or problems other than accuracy. But do not abuse this margin with reckless and dangerous pressures. Sometimes more pressure is desired in creating more energy for moose or elk, or for experimentation with long distance target work.

2. For more pressure, you obviously add more powder. But you risk hyper expanding skirts in a pure lead hollow base casting, and you risk some very weird or erratic flight characteristics if you are using simple patched round ball. Round ball isnt very accurate at high velocities.

3. Adding some alloy to the crucible can create harder lead, and less skirt expansion at higher pressures. Accuracy is held in place for a little bit longer distance accordingly.

4. Patched soft-lead round ball can be distorted by the rammer at loading. Accuracy suffers. Harder round ball casting will resist distorting the face of the ball on loading, and the patch is the only thing contacting the barrell anyway.

Please give me your thoughts on this.

September 18, 2010, 07:35 AM	#12
Gator Weiss Senior Member Join Date: August 13, 2007 Posts: 117	Mr. Rifleman, I have a question for you; about civil war style mini bullets. The hollow based conicals with grooves, engineered for and normally fired in the 577 or 58 bore military barrells made with three lands and a moderate twist. In many specimens, the rifling is cut somewhat deep toward the breech, yet shallower toward the muzzle. Some say exceeding 80 or 90 grains of powder tends to hyper expand the skirt in these pure soft lead cast hollow based bullets. The hyper expansion of the skirts has been photographed in flight by some research experts, so apparently it actually does happen. The hyper expansion of the skirt distorts the shape in such a way as to create much drag on the missle. This obviously causes the missile to suffer in accuracy and to dump velocity even more quickly than normally. The school on black powder has always called for the use of pure unalloyed lead in a casting for the muzzle loading guns. BP cartridge guns will allow for harder leads. I have some observations here, and my question is, do you think these observations would prove accurate, or do they just open other problems to be considered in BP shooting? You seem like a very knowledgable guy and a credit to the forum. Would you comment on this for us? 1. Reproduction BP military style gun barrells are slightly thicker than many original cuts, and so they are a little stronger. You can therefore come up in pressure a just little bit with no worries or problems other than accuracy. But do not abuse this margin with reckless and dangerous pressures. Sometimes more pressure is desired in creating more energy for moose or elk, or for experimentation with long distance target work. 2. For more pressure, you obviously add more powder. But you risk hyper expanding skirts in a pure lead hollow base casting, and you risk some very weird or erratic flight characteristics if you are using simple patched round ball. Round ball isnt very accurate at high velocities. 3. Adding some alloy to the crucible can create harder lead, and less skirt expansion at higher pressures. Accuracy is held in place for a little bit longer distance accordingly. 4. Patched soft-lead round ball can be distorted by the rammer at loading. Accuracy suffers. Harder round ball casting will resist distorting the face of the ball on loading, and the patch is the only thing contacting the barrell anyway. Please give me your thoughts on this.