8 gauge pumkin ball

[charlie cleveland]

finally got around to making the round ball today for the 8 ga...first had to dig upall the info you fellas had gave me on melting and pouring of the lead into mould..first thing i relized i didnot really have the proper tools for melting and pouring of the lead...i gathered up my melting pot which turned out to be a salmon can bent to have a spout for pouring...then i cut my piece of flat soft lead to about the size i needed...i then gathered up a couple pair of vise grips one to hold the brass mould together and the other pair to lift the hot salmon can when ready...the size of the mould is .835 thosands ... my next item was something to heat and melt the lead in the salmon can i chose mybutane torch for this.... i greased the mould with wd 40 locked mould tother with vicegrips fired up the torch and set on low flame.. heated the salmon can with the lead in it till it was ready to pourinto mould . then i poured lead into mould what a surprize . the lead cooled down to quickly and stopped up the little hole in the mould...took the mould apart and i had made a perfect half of a ball...started over and did this about 5 more times the more i tried the worser things got.... i d about decided iwas gonna call on yall again for help..then i remembered someone had said to heat up the mould also... i did this andmade a perfect round ball felt a whole lot better then... i then proceeded to see if the round ball would fit the guns bores it was a perfect fit... barrels have been cut on this old parker to 26 inches so no choke left...i tried them in the destrey hoffard special the 8 ga f a loomis the ball would not start to go in the muzzle end...care should be taken in measuring the muzzles of a gun for a round ball.... i then chose me a good hull..i useda winchester primer 209 then measured 40 grains of alliant bluedot powder....used to 1/8 in thick card wads over powder then used2 1/2 inch filler wads then added 1/2 of one of these wads then inserted the ball then placed a thin shot wad over ball....used the roll crimp.. i then got me a 5 gallon bucket filled with water placed in front of a back stop i then loaded the old parker lifter and got at 20 feet from the can i didnot want to miss..when i pulled that trigger that can was split in half what a sight...ive shot cans filled with water before with 30 06 but this old 8 ga out done that 30 06 to bad to talk about...was reall impressive the way it blowed that can apart..i dont know about accuracy yet but recoil was very mild about like a 12 ga shooting a high brass 1 1/4 loadin a 8 lb gun.. ive loaded the old gun up to 49 grains bluedot have fiered several loads but will probly stay between 40 and 45 grains of powder on the round ball load as times permit...wish i had a video to show yall that old can.. hope to get a deer with this old parker and thepumpkin loads...gonna load some more tommorrow.... charlie

[Dean Romig]

I'd like to know how the accuracy is at forty yards or so.

It would be a bunch of fun to knock down a nice deer with an 8 gauge punkinball.

[Keith Parrish]

Charlie,

I too would like to know how these pumkin balls do at a 30 to 40 yard shot. I can't say I ever been closer to deer than 2 weeks ago.

My Dad and my father n law and I were shooting clays for about an hour 3 nice 12ga's banging away in the afternoon sun and out of the side of the hill we saw 2 does and 2 pawns. they weren't 50 yards away from our thrower and 40 yards from us. we watched in awe for 5 minutes or so. We got tired of watching and started to shoot another round of 25 clays and them darn deer just looked and kept grazing. WE WERE SHOCKED THEY WERE NOT THE LEAST BIT NERVOUS OR FRIGHTENED. AMAZING!!

Charlie Let us know how that 8ga hits them targets 30 to 40 yards with them pumkins. I'd bet with the right grip they'd do darn good.

[Frank Cronin]

Nice write up Charlie. Looking forward to reading your future updates.

[Jeff Mayhew]

8 gauge pumpkin balls, oh man... talk about artillery. Thanks Charlie; keep that mold hot!

[Forrest Grilley]

Sounds like a lot of fun Charlie. This could make an interesting Parker Pages article. I am always a fan of how to/technical articles. I would love to see some photos of you loading up those big cannon balls.

[charlie cleveland]

hope tobe able to get daughter to take a few photo s...will report tonight how the pumpkin balls do today...charlie

[Frank Cronin]

Charlie, is the the mold to cast the round ball the one you special ordered from England?

[Jeff Mayhew]

Charlie, I'd be curious to know the measured diameter of the final ball. 0.835" is the nominal bore diameter on an 8 gauge barrel. And of course, no cast ball is going to be perfectly round...

[Dean Romig]

Imagine a lead ball of 1/8 lb. coming at you? :eek:

[charlie cleveland]

yes the 8 ga mould is the one from england....made from brass even put my name on it and size of mould....i think the mould andshipping was about 54 dollars and the guy really gets it to you in no time.... his first name was david cant remember his last.... all the credit for the mould has to be given to the parker forem...one of you fellas gave me his name and e mail...just forgot who posted it maybe they will own up to posting it but thanks to whoever... jeff i will measure the round balls true diamter and a friend is going to way the ball...im guessing close to 2 1/2 ounce.... jeff i measured the muzzle end of the 8 ga parker with a digitalcailiper probably not the rite way but all i had....the finished ball will not go done the bores of the loomis 8 ga much to big...fits the parker with about 2 to 3 thouands clearence on each side of ball... only got to make 4 balls today was a lot ofcompany come byand got to take grand daughter who is 11 deer huntig tommorrow its the opening of youth week in miss...monday i get to tote a weapon of chice as long as it has a hammer on it and bigger than 35 caliber... will get back to the 8 ga hopefully tomorrow....hope we will be skinning deer..got get up early so see you fellas later.... charlie

[Dean Romig]

There's nothing better than taking a young relative out hunting - I'm waiting for my grandkids to get a tad older. My grandson is almost seven and I think I'll take him for an overnight at hunting camp in Vermont next year. I have a nine year old granddaughter but I suspect she wouldn't be into hunting... it doesn't hurt to try though...

Good luck on your early hunt. The sun hasn't quite risen here yet but it is good shooting light now - probably about the same where you are... I know you're out there with her right now and probably watchin' a deer or two and I hope a good one walks within range for you.

[Forrest Grilley]

I think this might be the maker of the mold. His name is Jeff Tanner and his website is: http://www.jt-bullet-moulds.co.uk/

I've ordered specially sized molds from him in the past, but I honestly can't remember if I recommended him to you or not. Either way, if someone needs an odd sized ball mold I can't recommend him enough. Like Charlie said, his turn around time is very fast, and his prices are reasonable.

[Keith Parrish]

Good luck Charlie Let us know how things went.

Forrest,
THanks for the info. I may see about if he can make acouple of molds for my new venture

[charlie cleveland]

was a bad hunt this morning fog so thick could not see 20 yards...all we seen was a big rabbit... grand daughter had a shool event tonite so no evening hunt... and i gotta go do a cake walk with her...... loaded 5 more pumpkin ball rounds in the old 8 ga today shot the first 2 rounds at 30 steps very accurate.. next 1 shot at 35 steps about a 4 inch spred... next 2 shots at 40 steps about a 8 inch spread...this 8 inch spread is for all 5 shots...the old 8 has a huge front sight if it were smaller i think i could bring my spred down some...all the shots fired was from the right side barrel...will try the left barrel next week...i would take a shot up to 40 yards with these loads...but need to practice more before i try 50 steps....the mould is .835 i tried measuring the finshed ball but my batery on the digital caliphers went hay wire... i weighed the balls they weigh and average of 2 ounces each a pretty good hunk of lead... huh.... forrest this was the fellow you posted his name that i got my mould from...really reasonable man on his moulds... well gotta go try win a cake..aint never won nothing in my life..... charlie

[Dean Romig]

You've won a lot of friends here Charlie.

[charlie cleveland]

i sure appricate that...yep i consider every body on the parker forem my friend and somereally good ones you boys are....still did not win a cake though.... charlie

[Keith Parrish]

Heck Charlie I'll have my wife bake a cake and it's gona have your name on it you just gota get here to taste it! but you won it thats for sure.

Thanks for the info!!! Those spreads are pretty tight as far as i'm concerned they will have no problem at all taking down a nice buck or even a bear should you run into a big one at your house. And for what it matters that size round will take down any game in the world you want it too. I'll put 2 cakes on it...

I only have worked my way to 10ga but an 8ga will be on my shelf in the very near future should the price be right.

[charlie cleveland]

im on my way to get that piece of cake should be good with a cup of coffee...hope you find and old 8 there truly a lot of gun...and a hoot to shoot....that ten ga would make a nice pumpkin ball gun too....it aint never to late to start doing some of them things we dreamed or thought about doing...ive thought about them 8 ga since i was a kid finally a fellow parker guy let me have his old lommis 8 ga the fellow who shoots the mighty swamp angel... the parker 8 came off gunbroker....when i getready a guy out kansas way gonna look after it a while....gonna take the old 8 huntin soon..... charlie

[Jeff Mayhew]

I located molds for 10 and 12 gauge pumpkin balls at "Track of the Wolf," a muzzle-loading supply website, click here (http://www.trackofthewolf.com/Categories/PartList.aspx?catID=18&subID=126&styleID=408&PageSize=10&Page=2). See numbers 710 and 760.

[charlie cleveland]

boy jeff them folks got some good prices on there stuff...i will definatly get me a 10 and 12 mould...this kinda stuff makes my day.... charlie