New to the forum - but not new to Henry

[JEBar]

in all of my black powder shooting (rifle and revolver) I've only fired round balls .... never have used any type of cast bullets .... doing so would really be interesting

[TMB]

Congratulations on taking the first with that .243 single shot.

[zara_puppy]

in all of my black powder shooting (rifle and revolver) I've only fired round balls .... never have used any type of cast bullets .... doing so would really be interesting

JEBar:

Cast boolits (as they’re called) work really well in the right black powder firearm. For the most part the barrels work the same - quicker twists stabilize longer bullets better. In most cases longer = heavier. The White ML’s are no longer made (as far as I know) but the can still be had. I got super lucky and found a new one at a really good price. The White I have is a .451 - a .45 bored out just a bit. It has a 22” barrel with a 1 in 22” twist. Most ML’s have a 1 in 28” twist. Even so, the right cast bullet can work very well in any muzzle loader. It’s like anything else - find a formula that works for your rifle and you’re in business. My casts are 400 grain pure lead. Swaged to .451 then knurled. The top is conical with a hollow point.

E8AC36E7-0D53-419D-9E41-1C561167F184.jpeg (140.56 KiB) Viewed 1666 times

I put it on top of 75 grains of T7 and it pokes along maybe around 1,200 fps. The flight path is like a rainbow, but I seldom shoot it farther than 100 yards. If you hit a deer with it there’s no question - you hear it loud and clear. I used to have an ultra dot on the White but these days these old eyes see a big red blob through the tube. But the ultra dot at 4” MOA and the powder / bullet combination always dropped the bullet in that dot. Bad medicine for deer.

Now the guy that cast these for me is no longer casting but I made sure I had enough to get through several years of hunting.

What’s the point of all this? If you can find a good boolit maker and the right bullet weight/charge combination you may be able to wring more out of your ML than you ever thought. And you’re right. It’s interesting. And, well, frustrating. And possibly expensive. All the things you get into with ANY rifle. Have fun!

[JEBar]

If you can find a good boolit maker and the right bullet weight/charge combination you may be able to wring more out of your ML than you ever thought. And you’re right. It’s interesting. And, well, frustrating. And possibly expensive. All the things you get into with ANY rifle. Have fun!

understood, specially on the frustrating & expensive parts .. .. the only time I fire lead is when shooting black powder .... to date all of that lead has been in the shape of round balls ....

[zara_puppy]

If you can find a good boolit maker and the right bullet weight/charge combination you may be able to wring more out of your ML than you ever thought. And you’re right. It’s interesting. And, well, frustrating. And possibly expensive. All the things you get into with ANY rifle. Have fun!

understood, specially on the frustrating & expensive parts .. .. the only time I fire lead is when shooting black powder .... to date all of that lead has been in the shape of round balls ....

Here’s a good start.....

https://www.muzzleloading-bullets.com/shop/

You can get a sampler pack of different weights to play with. A 50 cal sampler pack costs $30. Carries 12 bullets of each weight - 4 different weights - that’s 48 bullets. Cheaper than the shrink wrap stuff you get at Walmart. Guy is legit so no problem with that and lots of folks shoot his stuff. You never know - you may find a new pet deer load.

[JEBar]

link and info appreciated .... have book marked the link .... I have no doubt that the bullet style would be more accurate that the round ball .... if I ever decide to hunt with our Hawkins 50 cal. again I may well do some bullet testing