Reloading for .44 Cap and Ball Pistol

l-girl

I know that a "44" cap and ball pistol is really a .45 inch diameter bore. However, I see round ball bullets for sale that are .451, .452, and .453. Do I need to slug my bore? At low velocities (and low pressure) with lead bullets, is there much risk from using larger bullets.Is anybody casting their own round bullets? If so, what size?

No Bull

Use only pure swaged lead .454 balls the excess will be shaved off when you load with the loading arm. Just discard the little lead ring that is produced. This makes a tight fit allowing combustion to build and keeps the bullet from rolling out under recoil. Dont forget to use lube too.

jonk

I use .454 Speer round balls; in yours, .451 or even .458 might work best. Try them and see. Be sure to use either pre made over powder wads or cover the ends of the cylinders in grease like crisco to prevent chain fires. no. 11 or 10 percussion caps will be what you need, probably 10.

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Wenn alles richtig ist, dann stimmt 'was nicht. -Nena (When everything is going right, something is bound to be wrong.)

v35

You can have the cylinder chambers measured and all should be measured. Use a ball no smaller than the largest chamber diameter.Theres no danger in using too large a ball but accuracy may suffer because in seating, more lead may be shaved off one side than the other and the spherical front and rear of the ball will be eccentric to the bore axis. All this may just be academic, you have to try different sizes as long as they are at least the chamber diameter which will be a friction fit.I have an older Navy Arms 44 Remington Army that had uneven chambers. They were re-reamed to .451 and now shoot standard 45-200gr semiwadcutters very well. The bullet loading port was slightly reprofiled to accept 185, 200 and 250gr semiwadcutters. Loading is less messy than with balls and loose grease.

AdamsQuailHunter

I find I get more consistant results with FFFG powder than FFG. Make sure you leave one chamber empty on the cylinder and rest the hammer on that empty chamber. If you don't - sooner or later you will regret it.

steve45

As I understand it most Italian replicas shoot 451 bullets or round balls. Ruger old army shoots 457 bullets or round balls. Check out your local gun store, mine stocks 451, 454, and 457 round balls.

opentop

I have used Navy Arms standard .451 lead balls in my Uberti Model 1860 Colt .44 Army revolver and their .451 caliber swagged lead conical balls which seem to actually be perhaps a little bigger diameter than the .451 round balls, because they seem to fit more tightly into the chambers when loading. I asked a friend of mine who knows more than I on the subject and he says that balls up to .457 should be a none issue. He says to look at it this way. Since a caliber is 1/100th of an inch, 44 therefore being 44/100ths of an inch and 45 being 45/100ths of an inch, then .451 is 45/100ths plus 1/1000th of an inch and .457 is 45/100ths plus 8/1000ths of an inch. A difference of 7/1000ths of an inch, a negligible difference. Such a negligible difference will not matter as when larger than .451 balls are used, any excess will likely "shave" off during loading and can be brushed away prior to greasing over the chamber after loading. Never use a ball smaller than the design's original bore land to land diameter as this can cause "seating" problems which can lead to excessive chamber and bore wear. The only problem you might experience using a ball much larger than .453 might be that when you load and any excess "shaves" off, it might do so unevenly which can "deform" the ball to an extent that accuracy suffers which is why I normally use the conical balls which are more accurate anyway.

opentop

Slight discrepancy in my measurements there, I mentioned .457 and said it was 45/100ths plus "8"/1000ths of an inch, a difference of 7/1000ths of an inch. Should have been .457 is 45/100ths plus "7"/1000ths of an inch, a difference of "6"/1000ths of an inch. Sorry about that. What can I say, it's midnight here and I'm a bit tired.

ranahan

I have shot a Ruger Old Army for many years for sport, hunting and as my work gun for every day carry as a cowboy here in Ariz. and several other states. I've used .457 round ball with 45(+/-)grs FFFG and grease (beef tallow in summer, Crisco in winter). Also,.490(50 caliber)rnd ball and 40grs.FFFG;(This cuts off a big ring of lead which I save and re-cast. I've squib-shot and retrieved these balls in a trap and weighed them and they weigh 180 grs. (The .457 balls weigh 150 grs.)I use grease on this load too, for bore lubrication. Near Tombstone,we had a lot of ferral dogs from town that killed and crippled cattle. This load worked very well on them. Also on Javalina and desert White Tail Deer. I shot 1 deer at a guestimated (It was across a draw.) 75 yrds. with this load. It passed through the near arm and through a rib; took off the top of one heart auricle, passed between the off ribs, knocked off the far elbow bone and lodged under the skin. The deer just shook his off leg and then lay down and died. I've also used the Lee Conical Bullet mold a lot. It is made for this gun and makes a 220grn.bullet. It shoots and loads well over 35 grs. FFFG but dosen't seem to be as accurate as my 50 cal ball hunting load above. I also load (? grns) #7 1/2 shot over 25 grns.FFFG (needs oversize cardboard wads front and middle, that I cut myself.)No Grease. Great for getting bulls out of the brush and turning rouge steers. Also rattle snakes and an occasional unlucky Quail.The .452-460 cast semi wadcutter bullet for the .45 acp (200grs), also shoots well (with grease)and 25 to 40 grs of FFFG but they often slip forward from recoil in my gun and will jam the cylinder so need to be re-seated with the loading lever. You can buy these in quantity at most gun stores but be sure they fit good and tight in your gun before you use them. Also, get bevel base. One of the .454 designs for the .45LC wouldn't slide forward; which can set up dangerous pressures with black powder.Always be sure your loads are seated TIGHT in the cylinder, WITH NO AIR SPACE BEHIND THE BULLET. ranahan[This message has been edited by ranahan (edited 09-06-2001).][This message has been edited by ranahan (edited 09-07-2001).][This message has been edited by ranahan (edited 09-07-2001).]

ranahan

AdamsQuailHunter: Most cap and ball revolvers I have seen in my time have between-the-cylinders hammer rest notches to rest the hammer in safety, when loaded and holstered. This of course makes the empty cylinder unnecessary. This was a common feature that dissappeared with the bored through cylinders of the first S&W cartridge guns and was left off of Col. Colt's subsequent new cartridge offerings (Open Top and 1873 SAA "Model P")and all revolvers that I know of since. I never could figure out why this feture was abandoned as it is such a good idea, saved firepower and accidents and even lives. It took almost 100 years of this nonsence before Bill Ruger turned our six shooters back into six shooters again with his transfer bar ignition system that is now standard on all modern revolvers.

rick_reno

Yes, I cast my own bullets for a Ruger Old Army. I've got a couple of Lee moulds that cast a .457 ball.Something I haven't seen mentioned is if you want to cast bullets for these pistols, be sure you're casting pure lead. Don't use wheelweights, they produce a bullet that is too hard.