3 boxes of .310” round balls. Going to give them a trial in the Sneezer. Pigs are holding a support rally. Silly critters they are.

WHAT??

This is blasphemy! Why dost thou not cast these wuddo balls?

I'm pretty good at playing with my balls, but the Hornady version has no sprue, something I cannot accomplish with a mould. Further, I can only find one mould brand that makes balls that size, that being Lee. I don't enjoy aluminum moulds.

Please forgive me.

For thy contempt of Lee molds alone, thou art forgiven and 100% absolved. Load and shoot in peace, my son.

I've already worked up some loads, to include Lord Black. This is gonna be fun....

To confirm you remain on the straight and narrow, please post pics of results.

We are concerned for you.

For what it's worth , I have been casting Lee rounds balls in various sizes for 50years. For my muzzle loader rifle , to shooting in my 38/357 , & 44 cal hand guns ( tons of fun ) , & shot shells. Not the slightest problem. In the ML & hand guns always load the sprue flat straight up or straight down. The game I have taken never knew they came from an aluminum mold.

I’m quite sure that some make Lee moulds drop copious amounts of good bullets and balls. I am however trapped in a world where aluminum has yet to find a home. I’ll make do somehow.

Quite some time ago I loaded balls (paper patched) in my .44 Mag. They shot quite well as singles and doubles until I wandered up near the 2,400 FPS realm. Dunno where it went, missed the target completely. Anyway, I figure to make a small game/plinker gimmick out of this. Pics will follow.

Wandered thru the Cast Boolets site recently and found it to be a common form of amusement. Surprised me a bit to see some impressive groups....mostly shot from .30-30 chambers. Guessing a couple of grains off800x or Bullseye will do the trick.

NICE!

FEDEX just dropped off my new balls.

They fit quite neatly in brass not sized after shooting some torpedoes. Domestic chores get the next few days off.

Why balls and not a light WC? Just curious.

1. ‘Cause a WC is way too simple.
2. I’m curious about a replacement for the .22 BB caps for squirrel
3. All my other guns and loads are sufficiently accurate so as to bore me blind.
4. I like playing with my balls.

dan the ball man

I am SMILING big time. Playing with my balls is gonna be lots of fun.

I couldn't stand the suspense so I put my looney hat on and went to work.

Balls are advertised as .310" diameter at 45 grains. They measured .311-.312" I was concerned about leading, but...they were a press fit into the case mouth w/o effort after I put a very, very minor flare in the mouth with a Lee Universal Case Expander, and wound up with the major diameter just a hair below the case mouth.

The cases were once fired Sneezer brass which by divine grace had a case mouth ID of .310" They chambered ok and did not riot when I installed a CCI 400 primer and 1.5 grains of Bullseye. Why Bullseye? Well, the short version is that I reviewed 4 powder burn rate charts and found they apparently had 2 authors. My choice of powders was Bullseye, 700X, WW231 and Red Dot. Each pair of charts indicated reverse order of burn rate. I wanted the fastest if only to minimize powder fouling.

Then I pulled out my Lyman load book and perused a bit. Turns out the .25 ACP data included a 35 grain bullet load that reinforced my suspicions. Scientific investigation is useful and that led me to pick 1.5 gr of Bullseye. You see, it was a max load for the ACP and while my balls are heavier the Sneezer case volume is much larger. Mr Teller would be impressed I'm sure.

So, charge in place, powder installed and I seated the balls with my calibrated thumb. I then placed a wee bit of SPG lube in the void between ball and the rim of the case mouth, ran them thru the crimp die only enough to remove the flare. Grabbed the chronograph and went up the hill to my range. I did not shoot targets, intent only to check velocity and see if they leaded.

Pop, pop, pop. Powder fouling was epic. Average velocity was 709 fps and the ES was 9. My balls vanished into the earth never to be seen again. Back to the shop, cleaned the barrel and much to my surprise and pleasure there was zero leading. Zilch, nada, zip.

That done my next step will try a few different powders and a bit more charge for the Bullseye. I'm looking for about 1,000 fps. Targets will die. If it groups well I will put the suppressor on and work it out to the bitter end. I have lots of balls. -hint-

I am speculating here, but if any of you want to wager.....I'll be getting one hole groups of 5 at the 20 yd line before this ends. The squill are protesting already. I understood one of them to scream earlier that G. Soros was funding their cause.

.310 Backyard Creedmoor.

Angus says:
He's got big balls,
She likes big balls, but who's got the biggest balls of them all...

My other balls are .69 caliber.

BOOM!

Well, little bit of a teaser before tomorrow's shoot.

Loaded up 4 charges using Bullseye, Red Dot and 700X. Pic below shows the ball seating geometry in use prior to lube and "crimp".


Lubed and crimped.


Report on the way tomorrow, with luck I won't blow up the gun.

DD

Dan,been playing with powder coating cast bullets lately.

Did some 400 grain for the 458 SOCOM as well as the 45-70,they shoot full power and don't have a mess of lube mixed with powder residue.

Did some for the 41 mag,357,9mm and the 380.

It is the shizzle.

Easy to do and don't cost much.You might try it for kicks.

I almost certainly will do that eventually, but maybe not for this project. I'm afraid it would make my balls to big, and I don't need the trouble right now.

Been thru that while learning how.

Some work with just one sizing but others need to have a second.

Just started with a couple of 1/3 lbs.of different powders to see what ones coat the best.

Don’t know who makes it, but clear powder coat seems quite the rage lately.

Yea saw that and some kind of copper colored that looks like a jacketed bullet color.

Well, it happened. Threw my balls into the air, they came back down I know where.

Interesting trial it was. I fiddled with minor stuff along the way but will let you know what/where/ etc and all y'all can do with it as you please. Short version? I found my load on the first go-round.

Couple of points for your consideration. Super low load density can manifest as wild velocity variations. But you already knew that probably. What surprised me somewhat was the numbers were surprisingly consistent depending on the orientation of the charge. Let it rest in the forward part of the case and velocity was low, muzzle up before you shoot and it is MUCH higher. You will see on the picture below some outlandish variations, but they were so because I was changing the game routinely with each load. I also relate that with exception of the Red Dot the powder fouling was remarkably heavy. No surprise there. There was no leading whatsoever.

First round was the center X and is the same load fired over the chrony in the earlier post. 1.5 gr Bullseye. All shots had powder settled to the rear of the case except the last and it accounted for the large velocity spread.. Next up was the upper left, followed by upper right and lower right. Number 2 load was 1.8 gr Bullseye and the 4th shot had the powder forward and again, accounts for the velocity dip. It will be my squill load nonetheless.

Red Dot flyers were generated by powder forward and the 700X group has the top 2 holes from powder forward. Fact of it is, the POI was reasonably predictable based on my antics. That they shot this well was a bit of a surprise. 20 yards by the way and round balls work thru a suppressor with very little noise.



Dry patched the barrel after the two Bullseye loads, in order L-R and the last patch was the result of 10 shots. As suggested above, Red Dot did not powder foul at all.




So.....OK....I'm bored again. Got my new BB gun and it's hog rated. First blush of cool weather I'm headed to the swamps to bust its cherry.

DD

I'd like to see a picture of the loaded cartridge.

How did things with Lord Black go?

Haven’t done the BP yet, that’s next. Pic of cartridges back about a 12 posts +/-

Not sure how I missed the pic . . .

I recall trying to shoot RB's out of a 10" Contender in .30-30. Didn't get the groups you are getting at 20 yds.

Sneezer is a shortened .30-30?

Shortened and necked .357

Way to go Dan.

If you keep this up there will be nothing you can't do if you set your Balls on it.

Wonder if one could powder coat their balls?What color would they be?

30 Creedless.

Purple? 🤪

I figure 18 gr of 3fg but it might go -gasp- supersonic. Will have a report in a day or two. The .30 Crackin’ Balls?

You ain't as old as I thought you was.

In spirit, no. Otherwise I am a little slower than I was back in the '60's.

So, the Sneezer .30 Crackin' Balls went for a walk with Lord Black today. I'm still laffin' here.

One of the things that has been of interest with the gun has been developing loads for a cartridge that is the new kid on the block. Data is, uh, scarce. More so for BP loads and BB's.
I found a little info that suggested it might run in the 1200 fps range with a full case, but it was speculative to say the least. So, what to do? Well, I loaded it like I do all the rest of by BP rounds. In this case a load of 18 grains of Goex 3f and a .030 card wad. Mildly compressed the completed cartridge looked just like the others previously displayed.

So, off to the backyard range, do the set up and with no idea what would happen I jerked the trigger. BOOM! I did not put the muffler on it because of the card wads, and I now realize the Sneezer wants to be a buffalo cartridge when it grows up. So, 5 shots went down the road on the 20 yard line. Really. You have to look close to see all 5, but they are there. Save for one winger it shot better than I expected and there was NO LEADING. Is that cool or what?



It is the first time since I developed the Sneezer that it spit lead supersonic. And round balls at that. All hale Lord Black!

Nice shooting.