round ball moulds

[long rifle]

Does anyone know of a company who makes round ball moulds for a odd ball size,,like,,,say a .47 caliber??Ed rayle had sent me a .40 caliber barrel this past week ,i called to thank him and he told me he makes some odd balls stuff quite a lot BUT! yer on yer own for a mould,,so dose anyone know of a place??let me know if possibe,thank you,mickey

[smylee grouch]

Check out jeff@ballmoulds.co.uk        Smylee

[smokinbuck]

Smylee has got it right, best molds going and reasonable.
Mark

[Militant_Hillbilly]

Lee makes a .457, that would work with a thicker patch. They used to make a .470, I have one that I bought after ordering a .48 barrel.

[SCLoyalist]

Larry Callahan at bagmolds.com makes a good bag mold for $50 or $70, depending on  whether it's a standard or nonstandard size mold.

[long rifle]

Was thinking of the .457 as i have one!! though of a 15 thou or so patch,,and you know that sure would work! give me a little insight on this .48 you have,,,was it a rayl barrel? i like the idea of the out of norm calibers,,too many think,THEY!! love the THEY only make 45s and .50s,,,a 47,,that would let me still shoot the smaller game as well,,you know i think both boone and kenton carried a .48 somewhere in their long careers,as well! thank you,!

[Daryl]

As far as a .47 calibre ball - are you meaning a .470" ball, or a .465" or .460" ball for a .470" rifle bore?

A .470" ball sounds it if it's for a .475" bore, or at the most, a .480" bore - and as long as a .20" or thicher patch is used, it will be fine.

I've had really good luck with  .015" patches, but only with balls that are already larger than the bore size - ie: a .400" in a .398" bore, or a .457" in a .448" bore.  I've NEVER had useful results from a .015" patch with a ball that is smaller than the bore.

To use a .457" ball in a .470" bore, a .0225" to .030" patch would have to be used just to usable accuracy imho and a ball that is .015" or more smaller than the bore, I'd not even try.  On top of that, the rifling should be normal .010" to .012" deep,not the .016" or even deeper rounded grooves sometimes found - unless you enjoy cleaning the bore while shooting, that is.   I would hovever, buy a custom .470" mould from Jeff Tanner, if that ws the right size.

If ordered at .470", it will most likely cast .466" to .468"- perfect for a .470" gun. If the gun is larger, order it's size and the ball will come out of the mould a couple thou. undersize. If it came out at bore size, then that would we just perfect too, for a .018" to .0225" patch.  

Doubled .015" patches make good cleaning patches as long as they are absorbant.

[Kopfjaeger]

www.bagmolds.com

[Standing Bear]

I was lucky enough to pickup a Lyman .475 dbl cavity mold 25+ years ago.  Dunno if they still catalog 'em.  Might be a set collecting dust somewhere.
TC