Making my own muzzle loader bullets for sabots ( 50 cal )

[raymo]

Just wonder if anyone has any good advise on making lead bullets , I am having a 3 cavity mould made for muzzle loader bullets to shoot with sabots , they are .451 / .835 long / 325 grns / smooth body / RN / also having a jig made to make hollow points after i have cast the bullets , this is my own design , mould maker thinks it will work well, they say tin in your lead will make them pour with sharp corners , want them to be soft to medium hardness , i have all the equipment , just no experience with casting bullets ,

thx

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[mechanictim]

Best place I have seen for information on casting lead is the forum at ---.castboolits.gunloads.--- . These guys do a lot of casting and have covered everything you need to know to get started.

For your sabot load for a muzzleloader the harder bullets will work better than softer ones. A soft bullet will deform more when loading than a harder alloy. A deformed tip or hollow point will not effect accuracy all that much but a change in bullet diameter will make a difference in presure which can mean a huge difference in velocity from shot to shot. When the temperature changes or the bore gets dirty the resistance of the sabot to go down the bore changes the increase in presure on a soft lead bullet from a ram rod will deform the bullet more making it larger and raising presures. The key to accuracy is to keep doing everything as consistantly as you can from shot to shot.

If you were shooting just lead bullets without sabots the softer alloys allow the bullet to better engage the rifling and seal the gases till the bullet exits the barrel. But a sabot does that for you.

[raymo]

Thanks for your reply , Will try the castboolits web site , Looking to have some fun doing my own bullets , I am a benchrest shooter at heart , so i will try to get these bullets as acculate as i can , that is my fun , not so much the killing part

, I removed some wood and glass bedded the action of my knight long range hunter, went from 2.5 " @ 100 yds to touching the bullets , using barnes 290 tmz , they are expnsive to target shoot with , so i am going to try casting my own , also am having a Kahnke 50 cal made , not much to do with it except to try powder/bullets. i weigh all my loads ( bad of me ) and have found that triple f gets the best out of my knight , unlike whati see on these forums, thx for your time