TAC. Among my varied collection of 'useful things' I have a nice original .577 mould which I'm told makes a Prichett bullet, I wouldn't mind casting a few for you to try if you wish. I do have the measurements somewhere, they're under .577 . The downside is that the only lead I have is old scrap stuff.
This is not a disguised 'selling' post
Almost the only 'pure' lead available nowadays is old scrap lead pipe and roofing lead . It is perfect for making Muzzle loader ammo. Just cut any solder joints out and water that down with pure lead to make smokeless cartridge bullets. Only problem then is guessing the hardness.
Salvaged range lead should be sorted before use and often is only fit for plinking ammo
I'm just curious as I've never used wooden plugs. Didn't they decide that the gas pressure alone was enough to expand the skirt into the rifling? I have access to a longer range to play in now so would like to try my 577 ph musketoon out to 300+ and will experiment.
[I]DesG
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I’ve got plenty. The locals in the village all seem to have kept their old lead water pipes and lots of stuff from the coal mines. A lot of that came my way. We also have a very active airgun section in the club which I clean out from time to time. Lovely soft lead in airgun pellets. I’ve had a lot of success with 22rf lead as well. The 50/100 yd is 22 and airgun only and is due deleading soon. Lots of lovely soft lead there!
I think I have a good few hundred 1lb ingots tucked away.
[I]DesG
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Mel, 'old scrap stuff' is exactly the right stuff to use. Especially if it is pre-Atomic age - ie, before 1945, as most of it is. My hoard of scrap is from a Victorian shop canopy and, legally-acquired, from a church re-roofing. The old stuff having been relocated by a bunch of itinerant lead re-locators, the parish council took the bold decision to stop funding the care-free/tax-free travelling lifestyle of the thieves by installing this new frawk 'lead' substitute. It is totally useless for anything else other than making into thin sheets of waterproof roofing, as it has a melting point even lower than Cerosafe.
I'd be VERY grateful to see a couple of your bullets - .577" is the nominal size anyhow, as they get paper-patched when making them up into the official Enfield cartridge.
You might even have my address? If not, please PM me when convenient.
I'll make a few up for you when I get some time. I've just had a look at some notes I made a while since and they measured up at .565 which seems to be three thou less than the specification size for the Pritchett of this style with the radiused concave base as opposed to the plug base.
Mel.
I remember from a long time since when I first had an interest, reading American magazines ( no WWW in the seventies) and the lead mix for printer's type seemed to be a popular choice.
Linotype was very popular with practical pistol shooters in the eighties and nineties as it was easily available. It was very hard alloy though to give crisp clean printing. Excellent metal for crisp clean moulding as well. Great for pistol and u/l but no use for muzzle loaders.
[I]DesG
Domani e troppo tardi
Mel.
Big favour to ask of you please. If I P.M my address, would you send me 10 of your slugs at .565 please?
I am trying to perfect Pritchett cartridges for an early '53. The Unions favourite .550s fly wide of the target board, .563s are without doubt better. I am getting 8 inch groups at 100yd with .568s and .569s. But they aren't quite taking enough grease down the bore with them. After a detail, ramming feels a bit gritty. Somewhere in between may be the answer.
Robin