....and now, the MIDI-BALL

B

bamaranger

New member
You've heard of the Minie' (Minet'?) ball in the Civil War, the T/C Maxi-Ball for hunting and now.......the Midi-Ball!!!!!

First off, not my idea, I snagged it from other posts on another site (I think).

This all stems from me trying to get my .32 cal CVA Squirrel Rifle to shoot Maxi-Balls. Why Maxi's????? I want to get more punch from my .32 so as to cleanly take a wild turkey, and I feel the .45 gr round ball is a bit anemic. Too, the round ball is a pain to load in extended shooting, I have to swab every shot with the .32 and while that is part of the game, it wears on my aging patience.

So I bought a .32 Maxi mold from Lee and had at it. My results leave a bit to be desired. Accuracy is not what I had hoped. I stated previously on other posts I was getting about 3" at 50 yds, but that has not proven the case with more shooting, twice that is more like it. Playing with charge weights seems to make little difference. I'd hope that increasing charge weight would boost velocity and increase spin, but accuracy did not improve and may have slipped more. The culprit is likely the 1-48" twist of the barrel. T/C rifled their barrels for the .32 at 1-20" (I think) or at least faster than 1-48". The .32 Maxi is just too long for my slower CVA rifling twist.

And so in an attempt to shorten the 105 gr .32 Maxi and make it more compatible, I've clipped the rear portion of the Maxi at the rear grease groove. Just took a set of cutters, set them in the groove and snipped. Instant MIDI-BALL.!!!!!!!!!

Dressed the resulting sprue with a flat file. Got the weights to 73.5 gr, +/-, and some fiddling could get them closer, but that will suffice I hope for initial tests. I'll start with 25 gr of FFFg, as that was standard charge for round ball and Maxi before clipping.

When it quits raining here, I'll shoot some and report back
 
BALL-ET

The Ball-Et was made by an outfit called the "Buffalo Bullet Co" Santa Fe Spgs, CA, and are now defunct. I still have some in .50, they weigh 245 grains.
Also, Hornady makes/made a "PA Conical" which largely resembles the old Ball-Et, I have seen these for sale recently, weighing .50/240 gr.

And yes, my clip on the Maxi to "Midi" yields a slug resembling the above projectiles just as Hawg noted. I think the Buffalo Bullet people actually made a .32 Ball-Et, not sure if it was sized for rifle or revolver.

I suppose I could just go and find a .36 rifle and sally forth, or I could download a .50 with a round ball and be successful, but there is something appealing about that dainty .32 in the crook of my arm when I wander the woods with it. CVA made that rifle in .36 (I read) but I have never seen one. Nor have I seen a T/C .36 (or .32) for that matter, in person.

Still raining in AL......no shooting yet. Six gobblers IN MY YARD, this AM before church!!!!!!!!!!
 
You could also go to Accurate Molds and peruse their offerings. If you don’t find something you like you can modify an offering or work up your own.

I have felt the need for a small game BP rifle. The Traditions Crockett is the only reasonably priced offering (new). I’ve often wondered how well a conical would perform and on what. Our deer are generally tiny. Seems this could replicate a .32-40 which took medium game just fine.
 
I have felt the need for a small game BP rifle. The Traditions Crockett is the only reasonably priced offering (new). I’ve often wondered how well a conical would perform and on what. Our deer are generally tiny. Seems this could replicate a .32-40 which took medium game just fine.
Click to expand...

They have a 1:48 twist so should do pretty decent.
 
So I bought a .32 Maxi mold from Lee and had at it.
Click to expand...

I looked on the Lee website and didn't see any Maxi-Ball molds listed. Are you sure it a Lee mold and not a Lyman or T/C branded mold?

https://leeprecision.com/bullet-casting/black-powder-molds/

My bud kills a turkey nearly ever year using a Marlin bolt rifle in 22 mag. One shot, one dead bird. I bet your 32 caliber ball will kill them just fine.

One of the reason I prefer the 36 caliber over the 32 is because I can use a 38 Hollow Base wadcutter bullet in the 36 bore and its a perfect fit and works just like a small sized Minnie' ball.
 
Lee

I bought my Lee, 6-cavity .32 MaxiBall mold from Track of the Wolf, about a year ago. Price was very fair,and it was the ONLY place I could find a new mold. Occassionally, one sees .32 Maxi molds on ebay, where they sell for well over $100.

My CVA .32 Squirrel Rifle is twisted 1-48" and I too thought it would shoot OK. After all, my 1-48" .50's shoot .50 Maxi's OK. But my .32 is not doing so hot. Of interest is that T/C rifled their .32 Seneca and Cherokee .32 cal rifles 1-30".
I will continue to experiment with charge weights, powder,and lube. However, somebody ran the numbers here a while back on a rifling twist table, and the 105 gr .32 Maxi and 1-48" did not work out so good for accuracy. But one can hope.

I've been tempted to buy a Traditions Crockett, the longer barrel would allow me to see the front sight a bit better, but have thus far resisted.
 
OK. You must of found a mold they no longer carry. I didn't remember seeing a 32 caliber maxi Ball mold but actually would have never looked for one either. On gunbroker there are a couple of casters that sell the TC maxi balls for 32 caliber rifles but they may be close to what you already and wouldn't be any use to you.
 
Nevada

I'd have left CA too!!!

I'll look into the new B-Bullet company. Their .50/245 BAll-Et shot pretty well from my 1-48" T/C rifles, without having to fool with a patch, and recoil and powder charge were about like shooting a roundball.

I checked the Track of Wolf website, the Lee .32 Maxi is listed as "backorder" but still shows in their product list.

The Accumold site is interesting and I will keep them in mind.
 
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