8 ga round ball

[charlie cleveland]

today i fired up my old gas grill and found me a old aluminum cooking pot and melted down 2 lbs of lead..the old grill had twoopen cooking eyes so i put the pot one one and after the lead had melted i tried pouring it in the mold with no sucsess..i had forgotten that the mold needs to be as hot as the lead..the next attemt was good i then made 12 balls befoe i had to quit..but i m back in the groove as they say..a person needs to be carefullmelting and pouring lead..i had a fan blowing away the funes and safety glasses on and a good pair of leather gloves..you must take safety precautions doing this...ant way i m back to shooting the old gun for accuracy again. my target was at 25 long steps i only had 2 loads made so anyway i shot from the sitting position old 8 was shooting a little high..but would have hit the deer... gotta load upthese 12 balls and do some more practice... charlie

[Dennis]

Charlie, I haven't done any bullet casting for many years. I just haven't found the time. I do appreciate you being careful though. It does pay off in the long run to protect eyes and flesh when you can. Years ago I had a lead pot going in the kitchen and a friend came over. I forget exactly why but somehow in horseplay he splashed water in the lead pot and it did explode. He and I were very lucky we didn't get burned from spattering lead. I was cleaning it off the wall around the stove though.

How did the two balls group at 25 yards from your 8 bore? I hope you get to use it on a deer this year.

Dennis

[6pt-Sika]

I wanna see you hit that Dr Pepper can at about 65 yards with one of those roundballs

All BS aside I wish I had a hammerless 8 gauge so I could give it a try as well !

[Paul Harm]

What kind and how much powder you using ?

[OH Osthaus]

only Charlie can see lead and think Bar-B-Que

can't wait to hear the next shooting report

[charlie cleveland]

paul im useing a winchester clear hull and winchester 209 primer 40 grains of alliant powder blue dot...3 half inch thick card waddings..then i cut a rem.sp8 ga plastic wadding down to the main base..seat the lead ball put small amount of pressure as i hot glue ball in place..load is very comfortable to shoot light on shoulder and stock.. at 25 long steps the old 8 ga was shooting about 6 inches high on those two shots..there was about 4 inches between the shots... craig you might as well be hunting you a old 8 ga up...there a hoot to shoot for sure..i m gona try to be ready for a deer when he or she comes by... charlie

[charlie cleveland]

started raining this evening so i went into the shop and decided to load up the round ball loads..took me about 30 minutes to load and glue in place but then i had time to shoot 5 loads as it had quit raining..shot from the 25 long step poistion i had used before all 5 shots in a pie plate circle..gun is shooting high yet and to the left about 4 inches..my last shot i aimed to the right about 4 to 5 inches and dead centered the target..tommorrow i will shoot again and see if my kentucky windage is still on...gonna go for a dr pepper can at 65 yards some day.ha.....charlie

[charlie cleveland]

shot the 8 ga parker again this morning..fired 5 shots from 25 steps..all 5 shots were grouped in a 4 inch circle..my kentucy widage is rite on...both barrels are fireing to same point i have to remember to shoot right about 4 inches and take a fiune site to keep from shooting high...my last shot wasat 35 steps needless to say i either pulled off or somnething my shot went 8 inches to the left of the other 5 shots..at 25 steps i know were gun shoots i now have to make some more round balls and load up several rounds.. i would like to get old gun to shooting ok out to 40 yardsbut 50 would be better..i should know in a few days.. charlie

[John Farrell, Charter Member #33]

Charlie - I know this is more information than you may be looking for, but . . .

Did you weigh the lead balls for consistency and separate out the light and heavy ones and keep them together by weight? Then reload the balls in each weight group (they don't have to be exact weights but within a decent range of each other) and see how they shoot. You might be surprised. It's a little more work, but success comes from good works.

[Dennis]

Charlie, it sounds to me like you are right in the ball park with those loads. I think with a good hold you are going to hit your deer out to 35 yards. I know you will be successful this year. I know these things. I'm psychotic.

Dennis