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Thread: Starting pointers for a newbie (Pedersoli P53)

  1. #11
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    Small Diameter (Land to Land) : 0.5787
    Groove Depth : 0.0045
    Large Diameter, groove to groove : 0.5877

    So it looks like I've got something a fair bit larger than .577. Would I just round this up to .579 in this case? Not sure how peculiar you have to be with the overall sizing for matching bullets to the land to land diameter.
    Bullets are generally sized to the nearest .001". So, if your bore is .5787, a .578 bullet should fit. A .577 or even .576 should also work.

    Basically, I size my bullets by .001" until it doesn't fit, and then step down .001". Obviously the bullet must be at least that size as cast - you can only size bullets down, not up. (I'm going to ignore tricks like swaging here).

    As for powder. The selection I have here is incredibly limited. I either have Pyrodex and other substitutes, and in rare cases when the Goex FFg powder shows up during black powder season here. Ordering it is a pain due to the costs involved. I was able to get in early and picked up four bottles of the Goex FFg when I had the opportunity, so thats what i'll have to use for the meantime.
    Pyrodex will work fine. So will FFG black powder.

    As for the lube. What would you folks recommend? Just not sure what ratios/mixtures I should be setting up. Spring and summer here can get a bit on the hot/humid side (70f to 90f is common) if that helps determine anything.
    You will get a million answers. 50/50 beeswax/crisco works fine. Or you can buy some commercial lube like SPG.

    Also, I'd be very interested in trying out those bullets Harry, Would the .575 sized bullets be adequate for the size of my barrel? What other folks have said that might be a bit too small for what I've currently got. I'd be happy to try them regardless. (Edit: Spoke to Harry already. Thanks!)
    .575 bullets will probably work fine. But the closer you get to bore size, the better off you'll be.

    I have about 200+ of these commercial minie balls. Is there a way I can purify the lead myself or am I stuck with them as is? Still very new to this stuff, and im hoping to have my casting pot within a week or so.
    If the bullets were not made of pure lead (ask the guy who made them), then there is no way to un-alloy the lead in a home setting. You're better off swapping the lead to someone who casts modern ammo in exchange for pure lead.

    Steve
    Steve Sheldon
    Commander
    4th Louisiana Delta Rifles
    NRA Certified Muzzleloading Instructor

  2. #12
    Muley Gil is offline
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    Smokepole, can you scratch the bullets with your thumb nail? If so, the bullets should be soft enough to expand.
    Gil Davis Tercenio
    # 3020V
    34th Battalion, Virginia Cavalry
    Great, great grandson of Cpl Elijah S Davis, Co I, 6th Alabama Inf CSA

  3. #13
    Smokepole is offline
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    Thanks again for the replies!

    The minie balls I have size consistently at .578 so i'll just try them as is. Gonna get stuff together to make the lube and cross my fingers that I'll see some improvements compared to what I have had. Will probably weigh a batch too and see how that goes.

    As for scratching the lead. I can scratch the surface but not really dig into it. Can draw lines in it with my fingernails if anything. The seller claims 100% pure soft lead, so i'll just have to go with that.

    Gonna try and find a bit of time to hit the range after work this week and see what I can come up with what I currently have. If not, i'll just have to wait 'til my casting stuff is all in order.

  4. #14
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    Regarding pure lead verses 'hard'. If you're an able-bodied male with decent hand strength, AND the bullets are hollow based with not too thick a skirt, you should be able to squeeze the bullet at the base and get some deformation. Not guarenteed, but it would be almost impossible with a 'hard' bullet whereas pure lead is possible...

    Obviously, not very scientific, but worth a looky-look!

    -Boots
    Mike 'Bootsie' Bodner
    Palmetto Sharpshooter's, Commander
    9996V

  5. #15
    bobanderson is offline
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    Other ways to tell how hard your lead is...

    If it's in ingots of a pound or more, drop them on a concrete surface from about waist high. A hard alloy will ring like a bell/tuning fork. Soft lead will hit with a dull thud.

    When you melt hard lead, you get a bright shiny surface in the pot. Soft lead will have a definite blue tint.

    If you cast enough bullets, you will find the eventual need for a lead hardness tester. I'm told the best ones are made by LBT (never tried), Cabintree (a friend has one and it works well) and Lee. I have the Lee, which is cheap and completely repeatable. The Lee is best used to compare different samples against each other. It does come with a chart that allows you to translate your test results against Brinnell numbers, but as long as I can see it is soft by testing, I don't care what number it is.
    If you are a home machinist, you could turn out a simple drop point tool to test lead and compare different lots. Again, you would compare samples to work up a scale like with the Lee.
    Bob Anderson
    Ordnance Sergeant
    Company C, 1st Michigan Volunteer Infantry
    Small Arms Committee

    "I won't be wronged. I won't be insulted. I won't be laid a hand on.
    I don't do these things to other people, and I require the same from them."
    - John Wayne in "The Shootist", 1976

  6. #16
    Rick R is offline
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    This may not be possible for you but as you work up your load and get P53 humming, if you can connect with one of us and take a test drive with a skirmish proven musket it can keep you going. I used to hand my back up to new shooters, often while I was working on their muskets and it sure can be a boost to the enthusiasm seeing what waits and the end of the trail. Of course be prepared for a run at being recruited.

    Good luck, you have great advice to work with from previous posters.

  7. #17
    Smokepole is offline
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    I very much appreciate all the help given here.

    I live up north in Manitoba, Canada, and I doubt there is any sort of N-SSA activity north of the border. Though, I really really wish there was! I can't get enough of the video footage of the events that I have watched! Once the craziness dies down with the current world situation I am absolutely planning on making a trip to one of these events even if it's just to spectate. Though for the meantime, I'll just have to do my best to pass on the black powder bug on to my shooting buddies and see where we can go from there.

    As for the lead. I only have it in cast bullet form. And having tried squishing it, I haven't had much luck even creating a little bit of deformity. The skirts at the narrowest point is about 0.08 of an inch according to my caliper so i'm not sure if that would be considered thick or thin for a minie ball. it rapidly thickens out up until half the length of the bullet where the cavity ends. The bullet itself is just shy of an inch in length.

    Got some news though. I finally got my casting equipment in and plan on starting my first casts this weekend. The weather here took a turn for the worst and dumped a foot of snow on us the other day. Quite a pain in backside since the winters snow had come close to melting away fully. Back to being -30 again, so my plans for a range trip this weekend has been thrown out the window, I'll have to make up for that by cleaning the lead I have and cast what I can for the following weekend.

    In terms of casting, The type I have is the Lyman Big Dipper furnace, a non dispensing type. How do you go about cleaning these pots once you are done casting? or is it fine to leave leftover lead and the like after it has cooled down?

    Thanks again everyone. You have all been a great help.

  8. #18
    Jim_Burgess_2078V is offline
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    Electric Furnace

    I gather you have an electric furnace designed for use of a ladle and not a bottom pour pot. Unless you intend to use a different lead alloy for other types of cast bullets, there is no need to clean out the remaining lead in the bottom of the pot. It will all melt again with any new lead you add to the mix the next time you crank it up. I use a ladle and cast iron pot on a propane furnace for all my skirmish bullets and an electric bottom pour furnace for cast bullets of harder alloy used in my 6.5 mm and .30 caliber rifles.

    Jim Burgess, 15th Conn. Vol. Inf.

  9. #19
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    It will actually melt quicker if there's lead left in it.

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