round ball molds, h.p. mold, .58,.50 .45, .30?

[IMADMAN]

Looking start cast my own ammo.

I have the above calibers. The .58 is a DAQ outlaw, I've read the Lee brand was good, just don't know the part # for it. The .45 and 50 are also Daqs, looking for r.b. and h.p. molds as well. The .30 is a Bobcat mk 2. Looking at making r.b. and h.p. for those as well. Any advice or direction would greatly be appreciated! TIA!

 

[Airgun-hobbyist]

Not sure of which mold maker is truly best, as each have their specific qualities. Some will bore their molds to order (Accurate), others will have a big hollow point selection (NOE) that the other won't have. There is a mold machinist that you can send them off to be machined to accept the hollow point pins too, but I don't remember who that is. As far as round balls go, check out Hornady for the smoothest and most accurate stuff, as they may have a diameter of ball that will work for you. The whole selection of sizes are found in a lot of bigger gun shops and they are cheap to experiment with. https://www.hornady.com/muzzleloading/round-balls#!/

 

[OldSpook]

Lyman molds are widely.respected and used by the black powder community. Get molds which cast two or more balls per throw. You will want mic your barrels since you are not using patching.

You will find that round balls are sensitive to being pushed too fast in a "bullet" barrel. In BP shooting a compromise twist rate for barrel that are intended to shoot both bullets and balls is 1:48". You will want to keep you round balls subsonic at twist rates faster than that to reduce leading. Start slow and work up while watching group size. When it falls off you will start to see a leading problem due to stripping rather than gripping the rifling.

Anyway your vendor will.have the best information

 

[mercado]

Ebay would be the place for RB molds.. I have seen them in every size aviable..I managed to find a .257 n 300 n 308 lyman RB molds..but sold the because they need a slower twist rate than what I have at the time..

 

[IMADMAN]

Thanks for the info everyone! I gotta look for a thread that mentioned the Lee mold in .58 that supposedly drops at .575 and get the part # for it.

 

[Pale_Rider]

Must be a lot more folks casting these days or preppers hoarding because it wasn’t easy to find .575 mold. Luckily I found this Lee .575 RB mold for a DAQ pistol: https://muzzleloadingandmore.com/product/575-double-cavity-rb-mold-58-cal/

After writing that first paragraph I remembered eBay had a couple .575 rb molds for sale. Don’t remember seeing them for $35(shipped) though. Too bad these weren’t available when I bought mine for $50 shipped https://www.ebay.com/itm/124011030007?epid=1600519723&hash=item1cdfa225f7:g:-kIAAOSwTpldpzAr

 

[IMADMAN]

Thanks for that. At least I know the sku # to look for.