Pure lead balls per pound

In older literature, the bore size of Kentucky rifles is often described in balls per pound. The first graph below provides an overview of ball diameter for a given number of pure lead balls per pound, and includes the equation I used to generate the data. In the table that follows the graph, ball diameter is rounded to the nearest ten-thousandth of an inch and ball weight is provided in grains.

L. Dietle, March 9, 2025

Lead balls per pound	Lead ball diameter, inches	Lead ball weight, grains
1	1.6705	7000.0
2	1.3262	3500.0
3	1.1587	2333.3
4	1.0528	1750.0
5	0.9774	1400.0
6	0.9199	1166.7
7	0.8738	1000.0
8	0.8358	875.0
9	0.8037	777.8
10	0.7760	700.0
11	0.7517	636.4
12	0.7303	583.3
13	0.7111	538.5
14	0.6937	500.0
15	0.6780	466.7
16	0.6636	437.5
17	0.6503	411.8
18	0.6380	388.9
19	0.6266	368.4
20	0.6160	350.0
21	0.6061	333.3
22	0.5968	318.2
23	0.5880	304.3
24	0.5797	291.7
25	0.5719	280.0
26	0.5645	269.2
27	0.5574	259.3
28	0.5507	250.0
29	0.5443	241.4
30	0.5382	233.3
31	0.5324	225.8
32	0.5268	218.8
33	0.5214	212.1
34	0.5163	205.9
35	0.5113	200.0
36	0.5065	194.4
37	0.5019	189.2
38	0.4975	184.2
39	0.4932	179.5
40	0.4891	175.0
41	0.4851	170.7
42	0.4812	166.7
43	0.4774	162.8
44	0.4738	159.1
45	0.4702	155.6
46	0.4668	152.2
47	0.4635	148.9
48	0.4602	145.8
49	0.4571	142.9
50	0.4540	140.0
51	0.4511	137.3
52	0.4481	134.6
53	0.4453	132.1
54	0.4425	129.6
55	0.4399	127.3
56	0.4372	125.0
57	0.4347	122.8
58	0.4321	120.7
59	0.4297	118.6
60	0.4273	116.7
61	0.4249	114.8
62	0.4226	112.9
63	0.4204	111.1
64	0.4182	109.4
65	0.4161	107.7
66	0.4139	106.1
67	0.4119	104.5
68	0.4098	102.9
69	0.4079	101.4
70	0.4059	100.0
71	0.4040	98.6
72	0.4021	97.2
73	0.4003	95.9
74	0.3985	94.6
75	0.3967	93.3
76	0.3949	92.1
77	0.3932	90.9
78	0.3915	89.7
79	0.3899	88.6
80	0.3883	87.5
81	0.3867	86.4
82	0.3851	85.4
83	0.3835	84.3
84	0.3820	83.3
85	0.3805	82.4
86	0.3790	81.4
87	0.3776	80.5
88	0.3761	79.5
89	0.3747	78.7
90	0.3733	77.8
91	0.3720	76.9
92	0.3706	76.1
93	0.3693	75.3
94	0.3680	74.5
95	0.3667	73.7
96	0.3654	72.9
97	0.3641	72.2
98	0.3629	71.4
99	0.3617	70.7
100	0.3605	70.0
101	0.3593	69.3
102	0.3581	68.6
103	0.3569	68.0
104	0.3558	67.3
105	0.3546	66.7
106	0.3535	66.0
107	0.3524	65.4
108	0.3513	64.8
109	0.3503	64.2
110	0.3492	63.6
111	0.3481	63.1
112	0.3471	62.5
113	0.3461	61.9
114	0.3451	61.4
115	0.3441	60.9
116	0.3431	60.3
117	0.3421	59.8
118	0.3411	59.3
119	0.3402	58.8
120	0.3392	58.3
121	0.3383	57.9
122	0.3374	57.4
123	0.3364	56.9
124	0.3355	56.5
125	0.3346	56.0
126	0.3338	55.6
127	0.3329	55.1
128	0.3320	54.7
129	0.3311	54.3
130	0.3303	53.8
131	0.3295	53.4
132	0.3286	53.0
133	0.3278	52.6
134	0.3270	52.2
135	0.3262	51.9
136	0.3254	51.5
137	0.3246	51.1
138	0.3238	50.7
139	0.3230	50.4
140	0.3222	50.0
141	0.3215	49.6
142	0.3207	49.3
143	0.3200	49.0
144	0.3192	48.6
145	0.3185	48.3
146	0.3178	47.9
147	0.3171	47.6
148	0.3163	47.3
149	0.3156	47.0
150	0.3149	46.7
151	0.3142	46.4
152	0.3135	46.1
153	0.3129	45.8
154	0.3122	45.5
155	0.3115	45.2
156	0.3108	44.9
157	0.3102	44.6
158	0.3095	44.3
159	0.3089	44.0
160	0.3082	43.8
161	0.3076	43.5
162	0.3070	43.2
163	0.3063	42.9
164	0.3057	42.7
165	0.3051	42.4
166	0.3045	42.2
167	0.3039	41.9
168	0.3033	41.7
169	0.3027	41.4
170	0.3021	41.2
171	0.3015	40.9
172	0.3009	40.7
173	0.3003	40.5
174	0.2997	40.2
175	0.2992	40.0
176	0.2986	39.8
177	0.2980	39.5
178	0.2975	39.3
179	0.2969	39.1
180	0.2964	38.9
181	0.2958	38.7
182	0.2953	38.5
183	0.2947	38.3
184	0.2942	38.0
185	0.2937	37.8
186	0.2932	37.6
187	0.2926	37.4
188	0.2921	37.2
189	0.2916	37.0
190	0.2911	36.8
191	0.2906	36.6
192	0.2901	36.5
193	0.2896	36.3
194	0.2891	36.1
195	0.2886	35.9
196	0.2881	35.7
197	0.2876	35.5
198	0.2871	35.4
199	0.2866	35.2
200	0.2862	35.0
201	0.2857	34.8
202	0.2852	34.7
203	0.2847	34.5
204	0.2843	34.3
205	0.2838	34.1
206	0.2834	34.0
207	0.2829	33.8
208	0.2824	33.7
209	0.2820	33.5
210	0.2815	33.3
211	0.2811	33.2
212	0.2807	33.0
213	0.2802	32.9
214	0.2798	32.7
215	0.2793	32.6
216	0.2789	32.4
217	0.2785	32.3
218	0.2781	32.1
219	0.2776	32.0
220	0.2772	31.8
221	0.2768	31.7
222	0.2764	31.5
223	0.2760	31.4
224	0.2756	31.3
225	0.2752	31.1
226	0.2747	31.0
227	0.2743	30.8
228	0.2739	30.7
229	0.2735	30.6
230	0.2731	30.4
231	0.2727	30.3
232	0.2724	30.2
233	0.2720	30.0
234	0.2716	29.9
235	0.2712	29.8
236	0.2708	29.7
237	0.2704	29.5
238	0.2701	29.4
239	0.2697	29.3
240	0.2693	29.2
241	0.2689	29.0
242	0.2686	28.9
243	0.2682	28.8
244	0.2678	28.7
245	0.2675	28.6
246	0.2671	28.5
247	0.2667	28.3
248	0.2664	28.2
249	0.2660	28.1
250	0.2657	28.0
251	0.2653	27.9
252	0.2650	27.8
253	0.2646	27.7
254	0.2643	27.6
255	0.2639	27.5
256	0.2636	27.3
257	0.2632	27.2
258	0.2629	27.1
259	0.2626	27.0
260	0.2622	26.9
261	0.2619	26.8
262	0.2615	26.7
263	0.2612	26.6
264	0.2609	26.5
265	0.2606	26.4
266	0.2602	26.3
267	0.2599	26.2
268	0.2596	26.1
269	0.2593	26.0
270	0.2589	25.9
271	0.2586	25.8
272	0.2583	25.7
273	0.2580	25.6
274	0.2577	25.5
275	0.2574	25.5
276	0.2571	25.4
277	0.2567	25.3
278	0.2564	25.2
279	0.2561	25.1
280	0.2558	25.0
281	0.2555	24.9
282	0.2552	24.8
283	0.2549	24.7
284	0.2546	24.6
285	0.2543	24.6
286	0.2540	24.5
287	0.2537	24.4
288	0.2534	24.3
289	0.2531	24.2
290	0.2529	24.1
291	0.2526	24.1
292	0.2523	24.0
293	0.2520	23.9
294	0.2517	23.8
295	0.2514	23.7
296	0.2511	23.6
297	0.2509	23.6
298	0.2506	23.5
299	0.2503	23.4
300	0.2500	23.3

The next graph below provides an overview of the number of pure lead balls per pound for a given ball diameter, and includes the equation I used to generate the data.

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