8 gauge pumkin ball

charlie cleveland · 11-03-2011, 08:05 PM

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 · 11-03-2011, 08:17 PM

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 · 11-03-2011, 09:26 PM

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.

StubTwist · 11-03-2011, 09:40 PM

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

Jeff Mayhew · 11-03-2011, 10:34 PM

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

Hammer Fan · 11-04-2011, 06:50 AM

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 · 11-04-2011, 08:09 AM

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

StubTwist · 11-04-2011, 07:32 PM

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

Jeff Mayhew · 11-04-2011, 09:21 PM

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 · 11-04-2011, 09:39 PM

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