Results 1 to 8 of 8

Thread: Cast up some bullets for the Smith last night.

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jan 2009
    Location
    Huntsville
    Posts
    3,733
    Region:
    Deep South - Georgia, Louisiana, Tennessee, Mississippi and Texas

    Cast up some bullets for the Smith last night.

    I cast up and weight a bunch of bullets for my Smith last night. These are from the Eras Gone Smith mold. They drop very consistently and being double-cavity I can really crank them out. I discard anything that falls outside of +/- .5% Out of 295 bullets, only 22 were outside the acceptable range, but even those not by much. The top-end bullets were only over by about half a grain and in truth could probably be shot no problem.


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

  2. #2
    Jim_Burgess_2078V is offline
    Team:
    15th Connecticut Volunteer Infantry
    Member
    2078V
    Join Date
    Mar 2006
    Location
    Bull Run Battlefield
    Posts
    355
    Region:
    New England - New York, Connecticut, New Jersey and Massachusetts

    Bullet Quality Control

    Steve,

    I also weigh, visually inspect and sort my bullets. For the large caliber bullets used for skirmishing I'll keep those that are within 3 grains of the heaviest bullets. My tolerances are correspondingly tighter for smaller cast bullets. Unless they are obviously oversize, the heaviest are likely the best bullets with less chance of having internal voids. The lighter bullets go back in the pot.

    Jim Burgess, 15th CVI

  3. #3
    Scott Snyder is offline
    Team:
    1st Tennessee Vol. Infantry
    Member
    11455
    Join Date
    Mar 2022
    Posts
    3
    Region:
    Central Virginia - Virginia and North Carolina

    Smith Rounds weight difficulties

    I am molding from a Lee double gang mold. I am also using a mixture of Hard lead with soft. I was told that Harder lead was better for the Smith and Henry. But there is a 10-13 grain difference in rounds due to lead inconsistencies. Partially my fault due to inconsistent reloading of the lead pot with soft and hard lead. Is there any advice on Hard vs. soft for the Smith? I have always used hard and did OK, but I got away from the Smith the past 7 or so years. I want to start using it again but want to be consistent.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Jan 2009
    Location
    Huntsville
    Posts
    3,733
    Region:
    Deep South - Georgia, Louisiana, Tennessee, Mississippi and Texas
    They recently re-printed a Dave France article in one of the recent Skirmish Line magazines. He advocated discarding anything outside +/- one half a grain!. He gave the numbers for the amount of drop difference you'd get at 100 yards and it was more than I would have thought (I can't remember the numbers off the top of my head).

    I think if you are going to make alloy bullets you should be consistent in making up your alloy.

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

  5. #5
    Scott Snyder is offline
    Team:
    1st Tennessee Vol. Infantry
    Member
    11455
    Join Date
    Mar 2022
    Posts
    3
    Region:
    Central Virginia - Virginia and North Carolina

    Smith Round hardness

    Steve,
    Thank you for the info. The real question is, is using harder lead in the Smith and Henry rest in better accuracy or is it better to shoot soft lead? I am not dedicated to the hard lead for the Smith in Henry, It is just what I was told 15years ago so I stuck with it. I have never been an A-1 Shooter but I strive to be since I can dedicate more time now. I want to start back with the Smith and Henry following the best practices with Best results. Above all consistency in weights which is something I have to figure out

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Feb 2016
    Location
    SE Georgia
    Posts
    636
    Region:
    Deep South - Georgia, Louisiana, Tennessee, Mississippi and Texas
    Right or wrong, I keep mine to +/- one half percent, as well. So, for a 400 grain bullet, that comes to 402/398. If I were to throw out everything outside of +/- half a grain, I'd literally throw out more than I keep.

    Frankly, I would think a percentage of weight would be more appropriate than a fixed number of grains. What applies to a 9mm pistol bullet might ought not be applied to a 500 grain musket ball. Or the other way around. If you hold to +/- 0.5 grains on a 500 grain musket ball, would you hold +/- 0.12 grains on a 120 grain 9mm bullet? Same thing, I would think. I've often wondered the same thing about bullet diameters. We all have heard the .001" to .002" over size rule for breech loader bullets. I tend to think .001" is plenty oversize for .30 cal bullets, but would prefer .002" on a .56 cal bullet. Both are pretty much .003 times the bullet diameter.

  7. #7
    Muley Gil is offline
    Team:
    34th Battalion Virginia Cavalry
    Member
    3020V
    Join Date
    May 2004
    Location
    Southwest Virginia
    Posts
    1,676
    Region:
    New England - New York, Connecticut, New Jersey and Massachusetts
    As to which lead to use, you need to see what works best in YOUR Smith and YOUR Henry. It will take some experimenting to find out.

    Many years ago, I had a .30-40 Krag. The only bullets I had on hand for handloading right then (I was a poor cop!) were some .307" flat nose that had been bought for a .30-30 Winchester Model 94. That old Krag would shoot 3/4" 3 shot groups at 100 yards, from the bench.

    So, start with what you have on hand. When you find a load combination that works, then concentrate on marksmanship.
    Gil Davis Tercenio
    # 3020V
    34th Battalion, Virginia Cavalry
    Great, great grandson of Cpl Elijah S Davis, Co I, 6th Alabama Inf CSA

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Jan 2009
    Location
    Huntsville
    Posts
    3,733
    Region:
    Deep South - Georgia, Louisiana, Tennessee, Mississippi and Texas
    I experimented with 1:20 tin:lead alloys with my Sharps; I never could detect any difference over using pure lead.

    I did receive some lead from a past teammate that was labeled "Henry lead" so I assume he was shooting some kind of alloy. I just tossed it in with my wheel weight "scrap" lead.

    Like Gil said, the only way to know for sure is to do load workups with different alloys and see what happens in your gun.

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

Similar Threads

  1. Finally cast up some Noe Hodgdon bullets
    By Maillemaker in forum Shooting Techs, Tips, & Tricks
    Replies: 12
    Last Post: 04-30-2019, 07:57 PM
  2. Cast Hard Lead 45-70 bullets FS
    By Moses Milner in forum Wanted/For Sale Items
    Replies: 0
    Last Post: 02-06-2014, 12:37 PM
  3. Cavities in cast bullets - if you can't see it don't shoot it
    By Pat in Virginia in forum Shooting Techs, Tips, & Tricks
    Replies: 21
    Last Post: 10-07-2012, 01:01 PM
  4. FREE CAST BULLETS -56-50 Spencer
    By John D 2nd Va Vol Inf in forum Wanted/For Sale Items
    Replies: 11
    Last Post: 05-16-2010, 07:42 AM
  5. WTB Cast Bullets: Hodgden
    By MikeArthur in forum Wanted/For Sale Items
    Replies: 5
    Last Post: 06-18-2009, 12:11 PM

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •