More on Bess’ Balls

The first attempt to cast balls for the Brown Bess ended with mixed results. The Lee .69 cal mold cast perfect balls for what would be standard paper cartridges, but that assumes that the shooter would be jamming multiple rounds down the barrel without any cleaning. For precision shots, I wanted a larger ball that would fit tighter. The other mold I tried on the first experiment was a Dixie Gun Works mold whose putative diameter was .75, but turned out to be more like .76– way to big for the .75″ barrel of the Pedersoli Brown Bess.

Lee Precision is not making custom molds at this point, citing trouble with keeping up with regular production orders. My next best idea was to get a custom mold from Tanner (BallMoulds.com) which is in Britain. I got the referral from The Muzzleloading Forum, a group of guys who have been invaluable in making this project come together. I ordered a .715 mold from Tanner about 2 weeks ago, and it arrived yesterday. It is a fairly simple brass mold that fits a standard set of Lee handles. It does not have a sprue cutter included, so I used a pair of diagonal cutters.

.715 Ball Mold in action with Lee Handles

I am used to aluminum or steel molds for my bullet casting. Brass takes a bit of a learning curve. My first attempt gave me a bit of residual thinning that played all kinds of hell with my casting– just enough to keep the two halves from mating perfectly. I cried for help to CastBoolits.com, and my crazy uncles over there suggested a lead pencil or a bamboo skewer. Indeed a sharp-pointed bit of wood does an excellent job of removing tinsel from where it should not be. I ended up casting two dozen balls in fairly quick order from pure lead. I must say that casting large round balls is rather satisfying if you’re used to casting lead bullets. It takes a while for the mold to sufficiently cool, but once it opens up, I was greeted with a perfect orb showing me my reflection. After cutting with the diag pliers, there is still a nub of sprue left, that I am taking off with a file.

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