How to Cast Roundballs for your muzzleloader | Lead Round Ball Casting 101

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As we prepare to take our new Traditions St. Louis Hawken to the range, it's time to start gathering our gear. First up, we need something to fire out of our muzzleloader, we're going to need some lead roundballs.
You can purchase roundballs online, or from any local muzzleloading shop or sporting goods chain, but it can be a lot of fun to learn how to make them yourself.
In this video we'll walk you through the basics of casting some of your own muzzleloading round balls that will be perfect for a day at the range, a day in the field during muzzleloader season, or at your local rendezvous!
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[@krockpotbroccoli65]

I just melt the lead in a large ladle over a fire and cast the balls in scissor molds. That method worked for our ancestors and it works just fine for me.

[@buckskinsblackpowder7106]

Yeah but no where near as productive.

[@anonymousf454]

That little lead melter is sweet.

[@jackieeastom8758]

I have started casting Lee’s REAL mini balls. I love the way it works.

[@Ohmy1956]

The welding gloves are a great idea

[@danclas5983]

Thanks for the video . Just got my first mold and casting furnace , getting ready to get started .

[@blackpowdermaniacshooter]

I'll never buy another roundball again. I've poured 1000's of them over the years using a system similar to this one.

[@billprice6248]

great video

[@gtptvanbuuren3795]

Thank you for the informative video. Nice to have an experienced person sharing with us. Getting back into muzzle loading is an enjoyment I am looking forward to. Thanks again. Kind Regards: Tim from Adelaide Australia.

[@russellkeeling9712]

I have always found the first few balls have the folds in them. For me that is all about the mold temperature. Once the mold gets to temp the bullets come out nice.

[@jackieeastom8758]

I set my mold on top of the melter while the pot heat’s up.

[@gtagamerman1234]

That’s why you always pre-heat your mold. Also make sure to smoke it so the lead doesn’t stick

[@toddsanford7757]

cool videos,

[@howardwinter3455]

I pre-heat with a propane tourch. Well fluxed lead is important and the flux can be lard , candle wax or crisco. Flux and scrape/stir often. I made a top scraper out of a spoon . I cut off the handle half way up and added a wood handle. It works.

[@stevenbowen2061]

Great video Ethan. I just got my first melter last weekend.

[@Bayan1905]

I have noticed in the last year that the price of lead and lead round balls in turn have started going up and going up quite a bit. I used to be able to get 100 lead round balls for my .50 (.490 balls) for about $15-$16 for a hundred. Now that same 100 .490 balls locally at any shop costs about $25 for a hundred. I've been casting lead since 2012 and I decided now to cast pretty much all my lead balls and even buckshot myself because of the cost of getting them in person. I also shoot sizes that aren't going to be on the shelf, my .600 or .690 balls and my oddball .395" round balls.

[@kevinroberson1985]

Hey I hit up the tire shop and get all there tire weights by the 5 gallon bucket full. Usually the stick on type with the tape strip on them they are pretty soft lead and if I need them harder I just drop them in water when I cast them and soft ones I drop on a old towel so they don't ding up

[@Peter-od7op]

I never use bottom pour. Always use ladle.

[@sleeperno1215]

I always used a box fan in the doorway to draw everything outside. Welding gloves from Home Depot.

[@boomstick4054]

Safety? The #1 danger is water causing molten lead to practically explode. Make sure your mold is dry. Any amount of water will cause a molten lead blowout.

[@omnivore2220]

Man, if it’s cold out in my garage, it could take an hour for me to pre-heat certain molds just by sitting them on the pot while it melts and then pouring lead into them. I always use an electric hot plate to pre-heat my molds now. That and the lead pot together are running close to around 1600 to 2K Watts though, so you’ll need them plugged into separate circuits. Also, get a lead thermometer, especially if you’re new to this. I had tons of problems at first, with getting the temperatures right. Cast pure lead with a pot temp of around 710 to 720 F. Alloys at a bit hotter, say 750. If your lead is turning blue or yellow, your pot is WAY too hot! With these methods you can get good bullets starting from the first pour. If you cast a lot of bullets, this makes things a lot more pleasant because you’re removing most of the frustration and wasted time of dropping rejects. If your pot and your mold are at the right temps for good fill-out of the mold, the sprue puddle atop the mold after the pour will take up to several seconds to freeze. Roughly four to six seconds for pure lead, and two to or four seconds with alloys. Round ball is the most forgiving of all molds, because there are no sharp corners to fill out. You can get perfect fill out of “conical” (grease groove bullet) molds by controlling your pot and mold temps, AND by keeping the cavities clean and smoked. After about 25 to 30-ish good pours, the bullets will start to degrade, and so I’ll stop, swab the cavities HARD with Q-Tips and re-smoke them. Then the bullets are dropping perfect again. So with one cleaning and re-smoking halfway through a casting session, using a two cavity mold I get 100 to 120 bullets. 150 to 180 with a three cavity mold. Then I’m usually ready to quit. I do NOT like using molds with more than three cavities. With more cavities to maintain, there’s a diminishing return on adding more than that, IMO. And the temperatures from one end of a long mold to the other can vary more. Forget what I said though if your casting buckshot for a scattergun. More is better. If there’s room under your bottom pour pot, keep an ingot mold under the spout at all times to catch any drippings or leaks. Make sure the spout is free inside, because pouring too slow will make bad bullets (poor fill-out). I eventually drilled my spout out to a slightly larger diameter, and now it pours very quickly so I have to be careful, but that is far better than having it pour too slowly. They do clog, so another tip is keep a small, corrugated panel nail handy to clean out the pour spout. The more lead that’s in the pot the greater the spout pressure. Learn to control the flow, but also I like to maintain the pot level within a certain range to get the spout pressure I like. If you need to take a quick break, set the mold back on that hot plate to keep it warm. I never wear gloves, and use a hickory stick to cut sprue and tap out the bullets. I also always run my molds dry. No lube. That’s against “the rules” but the lack of any possibility of getting lube in the cavities, or over them on the underside of the sprue plate, means better fill-out and superior bullets. It’s a trade off, maybe, but all my molds, including expensive custom molds, run fine after years of use and thousands of bullets.

[@johnhoward7298]

GREAT. information ! Good on You ! ( You could have Your Own channel )

[@kowalski363]

Great video

[@clockworkbike]

Great video. I just got a mold and soon I'll be looking for lead.

[@beebob1279]

Excellent demonstration and explanation. I was going to ask you why I see guys hitting the cutter with a stick to get the extra lead off the ball, and then you explained it. Thank you so much. I'm starting to get into pouring round balls and also fishing weights to save money. The start up cost isn't cheap (I checked prices on Amazon) but over time I'll make up for that. Have you done a video on purifying scrap lead. I understand that process but think it would be a great tutorial.

[@atruinaugustus]

just started casting and forgot to heat my mold... talk about wrinkly balls... also scored 40 pounds of lead off a mom and pop autoshop that had alot of old school lead tire weights that came out to be about 30 lbs of pure lead.

[@jasonaldenpatton]

You can soak your mold in the liquid lead and it'll heat up faster. If lead sticks to the mold it's not hot enough, if it slips off you're ready to go.

[@kevinroberson1985]

I'm so glad I have a lathe its not big but it is still nice to make all sorts of things like bullet swaggers and things

[@shihanjulio]

Noticed that you did smoke the mold. Is that really needed?? Great video.

[@daviddelong5238]

Great job guys!!

[@1911GreaterThanALL]

A little tip if you are purely using high antimony lead from range scrap: 100,000 btu burner. Cast Iron pot. Cast Iron ladle. It is far more forgiving than the Lee pots. You can set your mould aside to warn it with radiant heat. If you have 6 cavity then you can more easily pre heat those as well as not having the constant nagging problem of fluxing repeatedly and still having the pot spout getting clogged. This really depends on much non lead additives you intend to scrounge for.

[@scottwillis5434]

Great video! Mold says to clean with solvent and lubricate the alignment pins and pivot screw. Any favorite solvents, or anything that cuts oil? Lubricants? Maybe high temperature disk brake lube.

[@markgoostree6334]

I've cast rounds for my .36 revolvers. I just bought a .44 revolver. I'm waiting for a barrel for my .50 cal. T.C. Hawken. Right now I haven't found molds for the .44 or .50. Seems like Scottie must have beamed them all up! I'm ready to go but they can't even find blanks for the starting gun !

[@kevinroberson1985]

For the last year and a half I have been pressing all my boolits or bullet's with a home made swagger. I made my lead blank sizer and I made 5 different calibers of bullets for my muzzle loaders and pistols and have lead slug or blanks for each caliber bullet I press on my swagger dies and all those little lead wires get recycled back in the press and I smash out a long lead wire with a porta power ram that's 100 tons of power my father had and when he passed away my mom gave it to me so I made a press to pour melted lead in a thick hard tube and press the lead out of the hole at the bottom and a long lead wire diameter of a pencil comes out and I make a coil of lead wire. Then cut to length then press to blank size and then put in the swaging press and press out my bullets to length and weight that I need them.

[@jamescooper2618]

Once the pot gets hot and the lead is fluid, take a big spoon and scrape all the crap off the surface of the lead. Get as much as you can out. This will help keep your lead clean, especially if you are dropping scrap lead into the pot while molding.

[@giuseppe4909]

When you get your lead alloy to a molten state, if not pure lead, there will be some tin….this tin will come to the top…don’t scrape that off just yet…you need to flux the metal which will alloy the tin to go back into the alloy solution….after that, what will remain on the surface will be a dry looking ash…that is what you scrape off.

[@johnmcintosh3820]

great job

[@stephenhoward8481]

I appreciate your video grew up civil war re-enacting with my folks now on for fifty calibers making my own bullets would you know of an outlet for bullet sales

[@Noobish_Camper55]

Assuming you only buy a mold and cast it will talk about 1000 round ball casts to break even with today's prices on lead vs pre cast balls. Not bad for the cost of any ammo right now.

[@anthonydeveno9028]

After casting your round balls can you place them in between two pieces of wood and moving in a circular motion remove where the sprew was?

[@jmartin9059]

*hollow base MINIE' {properly sixed} can be very effective.

[@shihanjulio]

(Casting newbie) Do you add flux in your bottom pour pot?? I've read in some forums not to flux in them. I will be casting .44 round balls and .58 REAL bullets.

[@boomstick4054]

If you’re looking for a way to increase velocity, but keep the traditional roundball, I cast them from tin instead of lead. Much lighter, but melts & casts similar to lead. You can get tin from rolls of solder wire, but it’s very nasty burning off that flux,,, & it’s too expensive to use for bullet material. Lots of plastic coated boat anchors are actually made from tin instead of lead. (They are made from either lead, tin, or iron) but that’s a good way to get clean tin. I’m sure you can order tin ingots somewhere, I haven’t checked. It’s very silvery, lighter & stronger than lead. It’s no problem to add lead to the molten tin to impart a mushrooming effect to your bullets, tin is much harder than lead, but where it blows lead out of the park is tensile strength. It also melts easier than lead, and is much lighter, just keep your mix percentage the same so you’ll have consistent weight & accuracy. Pure tin will be more difficult to shave off that ring of metal when loading a blackpowder revolver. 25% lead/75% tin seems to be great. Tin is apparently very expensive stuff compared to lead, but I’ve got plenty from old boat anchors, apparently manufactured when tin was cheaper

[@Dailyfiver]

Cant you just melt down beer cans for tin? Lol

[@Freedom21stCenturi]

@@Dailyfiver Beer cans are aluminum.

[@Dailyfiver]

@@Freedom21stCenturi Very good point 😂

[@alexs5744]

Where do you get pure lead? The reason why I ask is because it never hurts to know where to get some.

[@thomas.bill92]

Pure lead has been harder to find than I'd hoped. Call local scrap yards, and call them often. Soft lead doesnt sit around for long.

[@tonyfino]

What is the hardness level of the lead you’re using?

[@taurushipointenthusiast1306]

Like you 6-8 months ago, I am getting ready to cut my teeth so to speak, I have seen "Hard Casting" Bullets I wonder if it would be round ball advisable.

[@doe71]

Unfortunately (as a preventative), the NW doesn't allow lead balls, so I can't make them. I have to have steel.

[@bigislander72]

NW? Northwest USA?

[@russellkeeling9712]

Does the National Muzzle Loading Rifle Association make black powder?

[@556suppressor]

No. They just sell it 2 times each year at their National Matches.

[@warwick526]

I’ve gotten most of my lead from a local roofing company. It’s flashing that they tear off of houses.

[@shahpourahmadi1338]

How do I get to 700 degree when my 10 lb lee pot starts at 850 At lowest setting?

[@raysheppard8040]

YUP, Been downing tons of research OOOOOFF ARRGGGHH, I get the toxicity of hot lead many are shunning the ppe stating unless temperatures excess 900 degrees for extended periods the lead in liquid form (gas/fume wise) is totally safe. It is crazy if one is fluxing or even heating lead to liquid one would consider fumes? Just stating careful on your research some can be well not so good.

[@Airon79]

Do ya'll muzzleloaders do brass or copper balls ?

[@thomas.bill92]

Hardest part of casting round balls is finding nice pure lead...

[@thomas.bill92]

@@nationalmuzzleloadingrifle8871 good deal! I have been calling some scrapyards around me and I think there is some promise. Some of the people who answer the phone don't know the difference between "lead" and "nice, soft lead".

[@thomas.bill92]

Was able to score 50 pounds at a scrapyard for $26. Bit harder than I'd like but they load just fine in a .44 pietta revolver!

[@jamesgenovese7319]

Not that hard if you know what you are doing and know how to test each piece before you clean it. I find it at a recycling center. Ask to pick though the lead bin and then test each piece when you get home. You can always sell the crap lead back to them. Messenger me. I will send you a doc. on how to test lead and not have to cast any rounds.

[@thomas.bill92]

@@jamesgenovese7319 I have been messing around a bit with the drawing pencil scratch test, my trouble is that most of my local scrap yards just don't have any lead at all. I would love to take a look at any info you have on testing. [e-mail]

[@shadowcastre]

Bill T Soft lead is not necessary for any muzzleloading Patched round ball. Any lead alloy will shoot fine!

[@swamprat9018]

should have covered sources for lead and that all lead is not created equal.

[@308dad8]

Wow talk about going way overboard even for the safety police. I cast outside, stay upwind if the pot and you’re fine. Wearing eye pro ain’t bad but much beyond is overkill

[@leenard1237]

Leads made of iron or alloy

[@kurtbaker5821]

" MAKE SURE TO WEAR SAFETY GLASSES OR GOGGLES BE CAUSE LEAD CAN AND WILL SPATTER AT THE MOST UNOPPERTUNE TIME."

[@matthewtaylor3308]

You should still flux and clean the top of your lead even in a bottom pour setup… 🤷‍♂️

[@taylorharbin3948]

I’ll confess, casting kind of intimidates me. I have an outdoor space that would work, but it’s a wooden shed. I’d need to invest in a metal work table and chain-link fence to keep the dogs away so they don’t lick anything when I’m finished. I like the idea of casting and would like to do it if it would save money, but the initial investment and potential hazards concern me.

[@oldeays5085]

Terrible

[@MrApru1]

Too much close up facial talking to the camera, bud. Otherwise a good video.

[@308dad8]

Nope ignore him. The notion to wait until it gets hot to start adding lead is ignorance. I usually refill before unplugging for the night. Terrible video. All you need to know is hotter lead and hot molds makes smooth pours. If you can’t avoid wrinkles add a little tin.

[@jerrydelp7973]

You talk way to much