# Lead Ball Mold



## The Gopher (Aug 25, 2010)

I recently started casting my own lead balls for ammo, and what a fun process it has been. I bought a 45 caliber roundball mold made by Lee for my mold, but also wanted to try some bigger sizes. In my search for cheaper molds i stumbled upon a nice discovery that i think can help out many folks who cast their own lead ammo.

Do-It molds for fishing jigs, etc. has a 6-gang mold that casts three 3/8 oz jigs and three 1/2 oz jigs, both with barbs. A quick measurment of the cavities in the mold showed a roudn ball could be made that is ~.45" and ~.5" respectively. I debated weather or not to leave the barbs on there and clip them off later, but since i never use fishing jigs that big anyway (I got this mold for a couple bucks at a sportign goods store that was closing) i figured i might as well close the barbs off to save work in the end.

Original J-B Weld can withstand temperatures up to 600 Deg F, accordign to the package, should work OK i think. The picture below shows two barb and eye cavities filled and filed flat and the other cavities just filled (before filling). After the J-B Weld was fully cured i filed the overfilled cavities flat and used a dremel tool to smooth out the inside portion on the ones where the weld flowed into the round portion too much.









Note: in the picture you can see the model number of the mold i used.

I got a little excited and tried casting a few balls after only 14 hours of curing, even though the package says wait 24 hours before using. Lesson learned, they say 24 hours for a reason. the heat from the lead and the partially cured weld didn't do well together, the weld softened and parts of it pulled off. I refilled the holes, waited, filed, and waited more, having learned my lesson...haste makes waste!

The wait was worth it as the finished balls came out beautifully, they actually have a bit of a texture as you can see in the picture as opposed to a totally smooth finish from the Lee mold, I like the texture.

One note on the weld, i had a small piece of weld break off after quite a bit of casting. I think when working at a pretty good clip the weld doesn't cool much and begins to soften a bit. This mold may require a bit of maintenance over time.

Now for the specs of the ammo, compared to my 45 cal Lee ammo:

45 Cal Lee: 0.458" diameter (11.6mm), 129 grains
3/8 oz jig head modified: 0.465" diameter (11.8mm), 132 grains
1/2 oz jig head modified: 0.51" diameter (13mm), 178 grains

I was very pleased to find out that the 3/8 oz was so close to 45 cal ammo, as well as to find out that i can make 1/2" lead for heavy duty hunting!

Thanks for bearing with me on this long post.


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## philly (Jun 13, 2010)

Good post Gopher, I started casting agsin after a 20 year layoff, used to cast pistol bullets. It really is relaxing and fun.
Philly


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## mckee (Oct 28, 2010)

i always say i will start casting but i never do


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## The Gopher (Aug 25, 2010)

casting was something i always wanted to do and once i got a gift card for christmas and saved up enough cabelas points i took the plunge and bought the casting equipment. and like i said i got a few fishing molds a while back from a sporting goods store that was closign just cause i new how good of a deal it was. im glad i took the plunge and love casting my own ammo. now i just have to work on collecting lead. last week i discovered a 15 pound homemade anchor that is solid lead


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## jmplsnt (Jan 1, 2010)

Also keep in mind that your same Do-It corporation makes two dedicated Slingshot Pellet Molds that can cast the following at once:

One can make 7 .50 round balls and 8 .44 round balls 
Another can make 11 .31 round balls and 8 .38 round balls

These have breakaway sprues and a long channel connects all of the sprues if you choose to fill it up. This allows all of the shot to be poured simultaneously, extracted at once, cooled, broken/twisted free with pliers, and the resultant sprue block dropped back into the pot to remelt. This mould does away with the sprue cutter and actually functions better with the hard alloy wheel weights that seem to eat sprue cutters on pistol ball molds.

It is no serious effort to make a thousand shot in an afternoon, especially with two pots going.

I'm bidding on a .58 lead round ball mold myself at the moment for some extra scunnion when I feel like it's warranted.


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## Frodo (Dec 19, 2009)

jmplsnt said:


> Also keep in mind that your same Do-It corporation makes two dedicated Slingshot Pellet Molds that can cast the following at once:
> 
> One can make 7 .50 round balls and 8 .44 round balls
> Another can make 11 .31 round balls and 8 .38 round balls
> ...


I only saw the smaller mold on their web-page. I guess i have to look a second time!


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## Frodo (Dec 19, 2009)

Here is a link for everyone who want's to buy a do-it mold:

http://do-itmolds.com/shop/index.php?route=product/category&path=1_11_88


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## egmont (Jun 15, 2011)

hello, i can´t find it. can you mayby give me a link?


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## -SRS-45- (Jul 7, 2011)

cheers, might have to get me some of them.


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## StretchandEat (Nov 11, 2015)

Weird.. i know this post is almost 5 years old but I'm out in the shop casting and Google how much a what caliber a 3/8 lead round ball is.. well I didn't look at what site my answer was on but clicked it anyways and what pops up?.. Gopher explaining the size,weight and how he filled the mold sitting at my feet amongst the lead.. I recently got it in an ausome trade.. kinda weird.. to me anyways.. I guess the J.B.weld holds up after all.. thanks again


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