How do these work

[No Powder]

I know most of you guys cast your own round balls, and I do too. But I was able to buy 2 full boxes of Remington Premier Golden Round Balls at a good price. I've never used any of these before. I thought maybe somebody else had used them and could tell me how they perform. Would they perform the same as Hornady, or perhaps Speer?  And what is that gold material on the outside of the ball, and will it harm the bore in any way?

[Winter Hawk]

I didn't even know that Remington made round balls, so can't comment on their performance.  However, since the ball itself should not touch the barrel because of the patch, I would think that the gold coating is not a concern.  Also, if it were not benign and could harm the bore they would be open to law suits.  A moot point since the company is defunct, but still valid in the context of whether to shoot them or not.

~Kees~

[No Powder]

Some very valid points indeed Kees. I just weighed some of them and measured some of them. Weights were anywhere from 173.2 -174.6 grs. I measured several at different places on the ball, and come up with .485 - .495, which explains the variance in their weight. Many moons ago I bought some of these in 54cal. But I haven't tried those either. One of these days I need to shoot some gold balls at the range. I'm going to try to send a picture so you will know what I'm talking about. [ Invalid Attachment ]

[The Miner '49er]

A quick online search revealed that in July, 2003, on The Muzzleloading Forum, this question was asked and answered.  According to Remington, "the brass plating allows cleaner handling and reduces barrel leading."

[No Powder]

Interesting Don. 2003, that's back when I was completely computer illiterate and didn't even know about muzzleloading forums. That was even before I started forgetting to put  powder in before the patch and ball.

[Hank in WV]

Like Kees said, I don't see it reducing leading when you're using a patch.

[PetahW]

.

Huh, I only knew about brass balls - not golden ones.....