32 maxi ball question

[faithtreker]

For those of you who shoot 32 maxi balls, do you use a patch?

[pathfinder]

I'm still looking for some.

[Uncle Russ]

No sir, no patch.

Any "Maxi-Ball' you find for the .32 nowadays will most likely be of very soft lead, if not home-cast for a particular hardness, and might actually require a small wee-tad "bump-up" with the assist of the Ramrod or short starter, which is a good thing to engrave the rifling on loading....keeps the darn thing from falling out if you inadvertently tipped the barrel down sometime during the day.

Loading bump-up assures a tight fit over the powder going down, firing bump-up assures complete seal with the rifling / groove filing with lead to prevent gas blow-by or gas cutting once you touch it off.
This is one case where obturation, or bump-up, is desirable on both loading and firing!  

A good, but not perfect lube, for Maxi-Ball has always been pure unsalted lard.
Of course some of the more modern 1000 Wonder Lube, with choice of scent, may have an appeal but for plain ol' effectiveness, such as that found in pure unsalted lard, and Anhydrous Lanolin with a bit of Beeswax is simply hard to beat.....go a step farther with your Lanolin and Beeswax and add a touch of Carnuba Wax to your melt and you will have one of the finest lubes money can buy, bar none!
It walks in the footsteps of "Old Thunder", if you're familiar with that product.

The little "three-two' Maxi-Ball makes that little pea shooter of yours a real Wolf in Sheep's clothing when properly loaded. I used to love my little "three-two" shooting maxi's with a BHN hardness of around +/- a BHN of 9...truly, truly, a whole new ball game!

However, if this is to be your first batch, just stick with pure lead right out of the box, meaning a BHN 0f no more than 5, and you will see that little gun take on a whole new character....from the lowly .32 to the mighty .32, an amazing transition, and a ton of fun.

Uncle Russ...

[Uncle Russ]

I'm still looking for some.

Path, I know I have a .32 Mold from Lyman, somewhere, that is if Jerry didn't take it when I sold him one of my little .32's a few years back.
I haven't seen it in some time, but then I haven't looked for it either. I suspect I have maybe 75 different molds, used to sell cast bullets as a side line...even had my own label at one time.

As soon as I get my child bride back out of the Hospital,  get her settled back in here at home, and caring for herself again. I will take a look for that old mold.
I keep hearing of folks not being able to find the mold, or the  Maxi on the shelf in .32 caliber, so it might be time for me fire-up the old casting machine again.
I will have to look, but I may have a hundred or so out the shop right now, unless I've melted 'em back down to something else.
If I do, they be the harder ones, right about wheel-weight hardness because on smaller caliber molds like that I use a bit more tin (1.5 to 2%) to get better definition in the grease grooves....seems to help a bit, but that is just my theory.

Give me a little time and I'll look into this .32 Maxi thing for you, okay?

Uncle Russ...

[pathfinder]

No sweat! I have a couple of T/C left just for yuks and giggles. I would be interested in some to see how they would be accuracy wise.

[rickevans]

Oooohhhhhh a new quest!

[Fletcher]

I found  .32 conical cast.  Not sure I would call it a true maxi ball - and it loads
pretty tough in my Crockett.  I am not sure what the twist is.  I use my 'Just Good Lube'
on the cannelures and it shoots pretty good.  I don't see a lot of difference in the grouping
from the .310 PRB.  I would guess the conical at almost double the weight - but have not
actually weighed either on a grain scale.  Should do that one of these days.

Since the PRB loads easier and nothing I would shoot with it needs more than the PRB - the conical seems to be just another gadget that I had to have.