lee real .50 cal possible trade???

[jeffhalfrack]

   Hey  guys   this   may  not  be  the  place  to  post??   but  I  am  looking   for   some   of   the   Lee   r.e.a.l.     .50  cal.  muzzle  loader  bullets,,,,,,I  know   the  molds   don't   cost  that  much ,,, but   ,,,,I'm  not  geared   to  cast   yet,,,,,,,but   would  like  to   try  these.   If  any  one  has these   I'd  like  to  hear comments   on  how  they  work,,,  and  possibly  try  some  for my  self,,,,thanks   and I  hope  to  hear for  some  one   soon  JeffW

[JW_Halverson]

I bought this R.E.A.L. mold when I got my first .50,  a CVA caplock two piece fullstock.  I was concerned that a .50 roundball would not knock one of our 100 lb Black Hills does down for good and I didn't know Shiite Muslim Cleric about tracking (still don't). 

I promptly cast up a bunch of 'em and took 'em to the rifle range.  I started at 110 grains of FFg....when I woke up I seemed to be lying on my back looking up at the stars in the oak tree above me.   I mulled it over in my mind a few times and thought maybe I'd be a bit more conservative on my blackpowder.  So I took it down to 90 grains. 

Three more shots and I was out of linen bore patch material normally used for cleaning because I needed something stuffed up my nostrils to staunch the bleeding. 

Coupla weeks later I had screwed up my courage and the little birdies circling my head weren't tweeting so loud that I couldn't make out normal conversation and I headed back to the range.  I loaded her up with 70 grains, took a deep breath and a small handfull of colorful tranquilizers my therapist prescribed and touched it off.  Apparently the bruising under my right eye was still tender because I found myself crying softly on the as-yet-unfinished wood stock.  Saltwater curing bowstaves is as unyet a proven science, but it works to raise the grain of a gunstock so that it can be sanded out really fine!

Turns out that with 70 grains of powder, 15/1000'th linen patches, Bore Butter, and a .490 roundball I can sight it in an inch high at 50 yds and be an inch low at 100 yds.  Furthest I ever tracked a deer shot by this gun and a roundball was under 75 yds.

So.  Tell me whatcha got for stock-in-trade.  Mind you, this was one of the first bullet molds I ever bought and it has considerable sentimental value.  That's why I never use it anymore.  Pulling it out brings back some mighty powerful emotions and I need some compensation, if'n you understand what an old man means.  I'm gonna need something on the lines of dryer lint, unmatches socks, last year's Christmas cards from the credit card company...you know, valuables!

[jeffhalfrack]

  Oh My  God!!!!!!!  laughing   too  hard  to  type!!!!!!!!  JeffW

[cracker]

Dang JW ou oughta take up writing tales for a living you'd be a bazillion heir in two weeks.Ron

[DQ]

Yer killin' me with laughter, J-dub! 

[lesken2011]

That was hilarious!!

[stickbender]

    They are Great bullets!  They are like fifty caliber wad cutters!
 I have shot them in my TC Hawken kit gun and they shoot very well!
I love them.  I hunted with 110 grains of ff grain powder.  It was not a load to target shoot all day, but it was accurate, and will do the job on deer and big hogs.
A fifty cal. round ball will take most of the deer in north America, within range.  Sounds like J.W. wants to drive a hard bargain, but throw in a few gum wrapper chains, and he will probably leap on any deal you offer him.   Also if you have any M&M's that were misprinted with W&W, he will be putty in your hands.  Blue ones if you have them.  Though he will gladly accept the red ones.   Even if you are not in a position to do any casting at this time, get the molds form JW, and when the time is right, you will have them, and not have to order them, if you still can. JW will treat you fair.
                                                   Wayne

[JW_Halverson]

Oh go bend your sticks, Wayne.  I got all the M&M's I want...dark chocolate, to boot!

Which reminds me, with the holidays coming I need to dig out my Merry Chris Moose.  He's carved out of wood and if you lift his head he "dispenses" M&M's from the other end.  I save the brown ones for Chris Moose. 

[stickbender]

     Oh yeah, brag about a real wood Chris Moose!  I had a little plastic one
but don't know where it is now.  couldn't put much in it.  I do however have
Genuine plastic made in "Mainland People's Republic of China" (as opposed to the People's Republic of Barry)  M&M Fire Truck, which dispenses M&M's from the back of the truck, when you push down on the ladder on the right side.  It is sitting idle at the moment, as the M&M's have long since been eaten.  I am not supposed to have them,.......Buuuut once in awhile, I will get a craving for M&M's, and relive my childhood, before Diabetes.   But the truck is still pretty neat.   Even has a red M&M firefighter driving the truck, and a yellow one on the back!  But is not wood like your Chris moose, but it is a collectable!  It says so right on the package! So any round eyes who want get a genuine Chinese plastic M&M collectable, and go on antiques road show, or American pickers, you can ...... try to find one of these, future.....valuables!
     Sooooo, are you going to make him throw in a pomegranate, RC cola, and two moon pies, just to complicate the deal?  Have you fired up your flinch lock yet?  Maybe part of the deal, would be, he would have to test fire it for you!
     Well Jeff I think he is on the ropes now, his mind is probably needing a replacement hamster by now, just trying to figure out which swell deal to make with you, " lets see, juicy fruit gum wrapper chain, ...... dryer lint, in a Zip Lock baggie with the slide on it,......a snake skin shed, which he can give to some Young person to put it in his sister's underwear drawer, and when she screams, he can look at it and say, wow, where did you get the black mamba skin, or something like that, "Gee it must be living in your dresser."........  The young person will be forever in J.W."s debt for future fond memories of his younger years......  That way he won't have to listen to J.W. talk about fond memories of "his" younger years!   Ok Jeff I have softened him up for you, and just for the heck of it, see if you can push the envelope a little further, and ask if he will pay postage....

                                        Wayne
 

[jeffhalfrack]

  This  is  crackin  me  up!!!!!   I  can  see  this  now,,,,,,,,,,I  do  end up  with  the  mold,,,,,,,,,,I cast  a bunch,,,,,,while  deer  hunting,,,,,,"Buckzillia"  comes  by,,,,,,,,,,to  calm  down  I  re-cap  this  deal in  my  head,,,,,,,,,start  laughing out loud,,,farting  so  bad  gas  fogs up  my  glasses  trying  to  escape  my  coveralls,,,,,,,  the  buck  turns  and  does  the  "Elmer  Fudd"  dance  down  the  trail!!!!!.   And  I  drive  home  saying  over  and  over "Elmer J. Fudd,,,millionare,,I  own a  mansion  and  a  yatch"      this  is  funny  stuff  here!!!   Jeff W

[JW_Halverson]

Now you guys got me laughin'.  This has gotta be the best trade I have ever gotten involved with and nobody's shipped squat yet!

[RidgeRunner]

JW:  That story reminds me of the first time I fired my .58 Cal H&R.

The gun was passed down from my FIL and he was MUCH of a MAN.   I am a runt.
My FIL had always used 120g of FFF in it so he advised me to do the same.  Good Lord that thing kicked like a spooked mule.
After several more shots ( over about two weeks ) I had decided that I DID NOT WONT a .58 cal stuff - barrel.
Could not hit a barn with it anyway.

Got to talking to some guys and they informed me that I was using to much power.
After working with is some more....  I am now down to 85g of FFF.  Ahhhh  that's better.
And it shoots straight.

Anyone have a .58 cal Mini Ball bullet mold???  I would like to mold my own.

David

[stickbender]

     J.W. perhaps it is best that so far no one has sent "squat" .....since Jeff sounds like
has the capabilities to flash burn a hole in is overhauls......... Ridge Runner, I think it is illegal to use noxious gasses to disorient deer, so they are easier to kill, even in Alabama!  Hmmm, I wonder if while noodling, you released a little pressure build up if it would count as stink bait?   Might be prone to attracting gators though.....
120 is a little much , the load you are shooting now is about right, and if it is shooting straight, then it is the load you want.  If you use too much powder, you will cause the soft lead bullet to just tear on the rifling, and not grip it, to spin the bullet.  Well I hope someone  here gets the mold....... uh bullet MOULD that is, that they want.  Ridge Runner check out Dixie Arms, and go on line for Lee Bullet molds.  There are excellent molds, from Lyman, RCBS, etal.  That are steel, but you have to buy the mould blocks, and then you have to buy the handles also.  With the Lee Moulds, you get the handles with the blocks as one unit, and are cheaper, but excellent moulds, they are aluminum blocks, that have a hardened steel bullet that the blocks of aluminum are pressed against under tremendous pressure to form the mould, and are more precise than the milling of the steel blocks, plus they are smoother, and heat up quicker than the steel blocks.  Either are a good choice.  I have both steel, and aluminum, and like them both.  But the Lee imo is the better deal.  I had a Zoave .58 cal rifle, and loved it.  You have to work "up" to the load the rifle likes.  Some manufacturers recommend  you start at 75 grains and go up from there.  I used a hundred grains, and it was ok, but I should have gone down in the load, and would have probably gotten a better grouping.  Yeah, that load your Father In Law was using can knock you down, and stomp on you!   You shouldn't have any problem getting the moulds you need.  That is a bit on the high side of a safe load any way.  The theory of you can load all the black you want is a dangerous story to go by.  Just think of a pipe bomb.   Good luck to all parties involved in this endeavor, and I hope all sides get the best of the deal.   I hope J.W. gets enough dryer lint to make enough felt, to make that hunting Yurt he wants to make, so he can be comfortable out in the windy, chilly mountainsof SD, while guiding a bunch of newbie nimrods to their first Meriams, or buck, or Elk.  He can have a portable hunting lodge so to speak......   You guys, is funny peoples!

                                                Wayne