Let's talk casting round balls - Tanner mould

[Stormrider51]

Having a new gun in a bore size you've never owned before means needing an appropriately sized mould for casting balls for it.  At least it does for me.  The Brown Bess with its .75 caliber bore is by far the biggest I've ever owned and I knew without looking that nothing in my collection of moulds was going to even come close.  When I started looking for a .735" mould to buy I discovered the market was limited.  Lee doesn't make a RB mould that big.  Lyman does but they cost almost $72 plus shipping.  I considered ordering a bag mould but the steel handles on those get hot in a hurry and require thick gloves.  So what about this British chap I've heard about, Jeff somebody?  The Brown Bess was a British design.  Why not get a British mould?  I contacted Jeff Tanner by email and he told me that one of his moulds in .735 would cost 25 British Pounds plus 10 Pounds for shipping.  That 35 Pounds sounded really good.  It didn't sound quite so good after I did the Pounds to Dollars conversion.  I was looking at $60.72.  That's still a good bit cheaper than the Lyman blocks plus shipping.  I sent payment via PayPal and Jeff notified me the next day that my mould had shipped.  Six days later it was in my P.O. Box.

For those who don't know, Jeff makes his moulds from brass.  He does a very nice job.  The mould halves fit together perfectly.  He etched .735 on one side and my name on the other.  I thought the name was a nice touch.  It's not uncommon for the actual diameter of the balls cast by a certain mould to be a bit over or under the stated size.  Pure lead balls from the Tanner mould read .735 on my micrometer.  I don't know if all his moulds are that precise but this one is.  One thing to take into consideration with these moulds is that they don't have a sprue cutting plate like the Lyman ones do.  This means you have an extra step to perform.  I'll go over this but for now here's a couple photos of the mould.  I used a set of long Lee handles.

Storm

[Stormrider51]

Let's get started casting.  First step.  Melt some lead.  How you go about this is your choice.  I used a lead pot and ladle on a Coleman stove or campfire for years.  Nowadays I have an electric Lee bottom pour pot.  I set the mould on the edge of the pot as the lead was melting so it could start heating.  Even then, the first few balls came out wrinkled with layers showing.  This happens when the mould is not yet hot enough and the lead begins to solidify before the mould is full.  See the photo below.  Balls that look like this go back in the pot for remelting.  Sometimes you will not leave enough of a "puddle" in the sprue.  As the lead cools inside the cavity it actually pulls lead down from the sprue.  When you see a dimple with a hole in it you have two choices.  You can toss the ball back in the pot.  In my case I weigh the balls as a last step and remelt any that are more than a couple of grains under the norm anyway.  Why bother?  Any ball that is significantly underweight has either an air void or dross somewhere inside.  It's lighter on one side.  When fired from a rifle the ball will be unbalanced in its spin.  Think of a washing machine with an unbalanced load.  The ball may not fly true.  Whether the possibility of this matters is up to you.  I'm an accuracy nut.  Fill the mould leaving a generous sprue.  Now watch the sprue harden.  Now give it another five seconds before you open the mould.

The newly cast ball will probably not fall out when the mould is opened.  I use a hammer handle to rap the nut holding the two arms of the handles together.  You may have to rap it smartly a time or three.  Just remember, never hit the mould itself.  Doing so will probably ruin the mould.  You should have a folded towel for the balls to fall onto.  Never use synthetic material.  The hot ball will melt the material which will then stick to the ball.  You will have a devil of a time getting it off.  Should a ball bounce or roll off the towel leave it be or have a metal spoon handy to scoop it up.  Your natural instinct will be to grab it before it gets away.  It's a mistake you are not likely to make more than once.  That freshly cast ball is still several hundred degrees hot.  They also cool a lot slower than you might think.  Leave them alone for a half hour or so before moving on to the next steps.

Storm

[Stormrider51]

Now we have a nice pile of cast balls.  Here's where the extra step comes in with the Tanner mould.  As I said, it doesn't have a sprue cutter plate like a Lyman or Lee.  You must nip each sprue off as close to the ball as possible.  I toss the sprue back into the pot as I go.  Now you have a pile of balls each one of which still has a little pointed nub on it.  What you do about that nub is up to you.  I used to have two picture frames with thicker than normal glass in them.  I'd put one frame on my bench, set a bunch of balls on the glass, and place the second frame over the balls.  Then I'd slide the upper frame around until all the nubs had been pressed into the balls.  The raised sides of the frame kept the balls from escaping.  If you are shooting a gun that uses a fairly tight patch/ball combo you can go the easy route and set the ball on the patch sprue up.  Now place the short starter over the nub and give the starter a good smack with your palm.  It does a pretty good job of mashing that nub.  Today I just sat there and trimmed the nubs off with a sharp knife.  It was slow but I had plenty of time to ponder deep questions.  Like why one of our chickens insists on pooping on the seat of my tractor.  Or will it rain in Texas this Summer?

Storm

[greggholmes]

when i get a weekend on over time i will put in an order for a mold for my bess

[greggholmes]

web site?

[Stormrider51]

Ball Moulds | Homepage

[Hanshi]

Tanner molds are excellent molds.  They are made from brass, possibly the best material for molds, at least from my casting experience.  The lack of a sprue cutter plate is not the big problem some would assume.  Clipping off the sprue as shown above is easy.  I've found that tumbling the balls will often minimize or eliminate entirely the sprue scar.  I usually tumble everything I cast.

[Sir Michael]

In regards to removing the sprue, in 1822 Ezekiel Baker got a the equivalent of a patent in England for modifications to the standard bullet mould that looks much like the "bag" moulds we buy today.  His modifications included adding a sprue cutter to the scissor pivot similar to the nail cutter shown above.  He also designed a separate sprue cutter based on the nail cutter.  The key to both his sprue cutters was the inclusion of a curvature on the side of the cutting blades that matched the diameter to the ball to be trimmed with it.

[Stormrider51]

Thank you, Sir Michael.  I had to go look that up.  Interesting design and one that makes the ability to cut the sprue from the mould itself older than I thought.

Storm

[Sir Michael]

It also shows that the "bag" mould design with the scissor spure cutter is older than a lot of folks believe.

[Geezer in NH]

Now we have a nice pile of cast balls.  Here's where the extra step comes in with the Tanner mould.  As I said, it doesn't have a sprue cutter plate like a Lyman or Lee.  You must nip each sprue off as close to the ball as possible.  I toss the sprue back into the pot as I go.  Now you have a pile of balls each one of which still has a little pointed nub on it.  What you do about that nub is up to you.  I used to have two picture frames with thicker than normal glass in them.  I'd put one frame on my bench, set a bunch of balls on the glass, and place the second frame over the balls.  Then I'd slide the upper frame around until all the nubs had been pressed into the balls.  The raised sides of the frame kept the balls from escaping.  If you are shooting a gun that uses a fairly tight patch/ball combo you can go the easy route and set the ball on the patch sprue up.  Now place the short starter over the nub and give the starter a good smack with your palm.  It does a pretty good job of mashing that nub.  Today I just sat there and trimmed the nubs off with a sharp knife.  It was slow but I had plenty of time to ponder deep questions.  Like why one of our chickens insists on pooping on the seat of my tractor.  Or will it rain in Texas this Summer?

Storm

Sweet, I have the same chicken problem but every now and then a rebel leaves an egg there!!!!!

[Bigsmoke]

I've long been a fan of Jeff Tanner moulds.
anyone have a need for one in .980?  I doubt if I will be having another four bore anytime soon.
John

[RobD]

i just finished running a batch of balls using both a lee aluminum .440" double mould and a jeff tanner brass .440" single mould.  between the two, the jeff tanner mould is the clear and easy winner for casting the absolute best looking balls with greatest uniformity of roundness and weight.  there was no soot mould prep or "break in" required, i just q-tipped a bit of bullplate around the brass rim, then wiped it off.  every ball turned out well rounded, with no wrinkles, and with an easy drop-out out of the mould.  i  used a pair of fret end flush cutters to remove the sprue.  anyone need a lee .440" mould for cheap?  

[Stormrider51]

I completely agree with you RFD on the Lee vs Tanner comparison.  The the best thing about a Lee mould is that they are inexpensive compared to the competition.  I have several Lee moulds.  My double-cavity .600 has a sprue plate that doesn't line up exactly with the cavities in the blocks.  It isn't enough to merit sending the mould back but still a flaw.  I have to be careful while casting with any Lee mould or the blocks will not line up correctly when I close them.  Taking the time to check this interrupts my rhythm.  As you noted, there's the whole smoking the mould thing.  In contrast, the Tanner mould just works.  Thanks for the post.

Storm

[RobD]

for me, it's hit or miss with lee moulds.  i also cast boolits for pistol (.45acp) and long range sharps and rolling block rifles (.45-70) and some lee moulds work and some just don't work well at all.  in the long run, a waste of money, for me.  i'll keep use tanner round ball moulds and lyman, jones, hoch moulds for bpcr boolits.  

the only lee mould that's really performed well for me is their 459-500-3r for .45-70.  it's a double mould that really works best for me using only the outer-most cavity and a 1:20 or 1:30 alloy ...