I was wondering about the round ball mould (mold) and how long the basic mould has stayed the same. A couple hundred years or longer?
They are all about the same as the one pictured with the sprew cutter in the center and gauge number stamped on one handle. Did they ever stop marking them as gauge (number of lead balls per-pound) and ever convert to caliber?
Where the majority of them made in the UK and imported into the USA?
Most 18th century moulds I've seen, civilian or military, did not have sprue cutters. Especially the moulds made by gunsmiths - the "rifleman's mould" or "bag mould" - would not have had a sprue cutter typically.
Filing a cherry and forging a ball mould to fit the bore used to be part of a gunsmith's skill set. Hand forged rifle barrels from the American frontier were not uniform in size - they went with a rough "balls to the pound" measure. Caliber as we know it wasn't used in descriptions of rifles, or when they were ordered. A new rifle would have had a mould made to go with it.
Also, wrought iron barrels that saw heavy use got freshened out with some frequency, and re-cutting grooves and sharpening lands (in addition to re-crowning) was also part of the gunsmith's daily work. After a few freshenings, a new ball mould would be needed.
I am sure there were factories in England and elsewhere that produced moulds of any description, but as to markings I don't know. And of course for military use, since those arms were built to a standard bore size, they had uniform sized moulds issued to the troops.
There' a company called Rapine Moulds that still makes a high quality "bag mould" as you picture there, and Track of the Wolf also makes a good similar model.
looing for a six bore round bore mould for a Brit FL rifle
Dixie Gun Works used to custom make bronze round ball moulds in any requested diameter. Not sure if they still do or what their max size is but I believe it was in the .75 caliber range.
6 bore - wow. That's a lot of metal - you'd empty a Lyman furnace in short order pouring that slug. These folks might be able to help you:
http://www.2-bore.com/2boretech.html
Back when I was playing with half-stocked American percussion rifles I pick up gauge moulds when I could.
Mark, I don't have anything that big but will keep a eye out for one. I suspect you want an original.
I have taken notice of these gauge moulds for a long time and I have seen them in all manner of cased sets both from the UK and the USA.
My early gunsmith supply catalogs from the 1800's, when they show a picture of the moulds it's this one.
If you can't make out the writing the smaller sizes were $1.60 per dozen.
I'm looking for one in 16 bore.
I have used the scissors mould (~$35) from Dixie for an 18 bore double rifle. It is easily the best bargain in all of shooting. Looks like crap but the balls are round as can be.
Brent
Michael you are right I do want an old 6 bore mold. It is for a Jover & Son, London FL rifle, quite splendid. 10.5 lbs.,27.5" octagon, .815" groove, 9 grooves, gold lined waterproof pan, etc. Wm. Jover went bankrupt 1796 and this must have been made near the end. Bought it at 1999 JCDevine sale of Lanny Samaon collection. Samaon was a physician and a member of the tony NY Arms and Armour (note spelling!) club. He was driving across one of the Hudson bridges when there was an accident. He stopped got out of his car to help and promptly had a heart attack. I am quite proud to have his rifle.
I remember that rifle well, right on the cover of the catalog.
Another question I have is does anyone know what the fixture looked like that the early gunsmiths used to freshen out or cut a new mould with?
I know what the cherry looks like but not how it was used.
michael thanks for the pic of the Jover
