What round ball size?

[SP101GUY]

A friend of mine has an Uberti 1861 army revolver in 44 cal. he wants me to cast some balls up for. I said I would do it for free if he gets a mold. Problem is, he is not sure if it takes a .440, .433, or .445 round ball as he doesn't have any box or papers with the pistol and hasn't shot it for a long time.

Any one know off the top of your head? I don't have the pistol to slug the bore or mic the cylinder. Thanks in advance.

AJ

[missionary5155]

Good afternoon
I would be surprised if it does not take at least a .451- 452.

[fishhawk]

i would also say .451 when seating the ball there should be a ring of lead shearing off the ball. steve k

[docone31]

That pistol, and the other Uberti's in that caliber take .454. That will give an accurate loading, decent lead ring, and grip the rifleing. Not too hard on the loading lever either.
.457 is for the Walker, and .452 will give serious leading.
I make my lube.
50% Beeswax, 50% Corn oil. I add Crisco to stiffen it.
Makes a good lube.
I am in Central Fl. That lube stays firm/soft in my pistols. Where it is cooler, add less oil.
You will have to play with it.

[SP101GUY]

If it does take a .454 ball, what should the cylinder mic out at, just to be sure?

AJ

[docone31]

Probably .451, or .452.

[SP101GUY]

Alright, I'm gonna wait till I can mic the cylinder, then go .002 or .003 over that. Thanks to all for the replys.

AJ

[BillP]

That pistol, and the other Uberti's in that caliber take .454. That will give an accurate loading, decent lead ring, and grip the rifleing. Not too hard on the loading lever either.
.457 is for the Walker, and .452 will give serious leading.
I make my lube.
50% Beeswax, 50% Corn oil. I add Crisco to stiffen it.
Makes a good lube.
I am in Central Fl. That lube stays firm/soft in my pistols. Where it is cooler, add less oil.
You will have to play with it.

I contacted the mfg to find out what size they suggested for my 1858.

Hey docone31,
That lube sounds like a winner. I'm in Palm Bay, where do you shoot BP in central
FL? I'm new to BP and looking for other BP shooters.

bp

[docone31]

Hernando Sportsman Club. A good club. Once they know you, they are real friendly.
They do not allow any nonsense there. I like it. I got to shoot, not look over my shoulder as some folks are careless.
They are also BP friendly.
I go there a lot.
That 1858 will take .454. You see, lead is soft. Even if some chambers are tight, it will still shave. That is what you want.
You will like that pistol. Mine took 30gns of P Pyrodex. My wife liked it also.

[BillP]

Hernando Sportsman Club. A good club. Once they know you, they are real friendly.
They do not allow any nonsense there. I like it. I got to shoot, not look over my shoulder as some folks are careless.
They are also BP friendly.
I go there a lot.
That 1858 will take .454. You see, lead is soft. Even if some chambers are tight, it will still shave. That is what you want.
You will like that pistol. Mine took 30gns of P Pyrodex. My wife liked it also.

I have a 1977 vintage Armi SanPaolo-Brescia (now Euroarms). They sent an email saying .451. I've read on several forums these have tight bores so I was thinking .451 was correct. BP is new to me so the learning process has just started. Been reloading centerfire for 20+ yrs though.

Thanks,
Bill

[docone31]

If you can get some in that diameter, I would try it before buying a mold.
Trust me on this.
You will love BP! It is slow, smoky, and you will savour every shot. It is not an agressive recoiling item.
If I had know what I now know, I might not have any smokeless pistols! I like the hassles of loading. I really like it.
I believe you will also.
Perhaps one day we will meet at the club. It is a good club.

[R.M.]

If you think about it, bore diameter don't mean squat. It's the chamber diameter that counts because when you seat the ball, the chamber mouth cuts the ball to it's diameter.
Italian reproductions are notorious for having small chambers to bore relationships. Ends up the ball barely contacts the rifling. Must be a lawyer thing. I've taken and reamed the cylinders to a larger diameter to better match the bore diameter. Makes for a more accurate gun.

[Hellgate]

I assume you have an 1860 Army 44. Use the .454 diameter balls. Even if the chambers mike to ..446-.448 the .454 will shave a ring of lead and seat fine. It is too risky to get a .451 mold as some of the guns may have larger chambers and you will get "ball creep" where the ball drifts forward under recoil and jams the cylinder. I've had about 30 different 44 C&Bs and all of them took the .454 but some would not hod a .451 ball. Even a .457 ball is easy to load as long as it is pure lead. You can get into trouble trying to ram a hard lead ball and bend or break the rammer assembly. Get the LEE DOUBLE cavity mold. I've cast about 15,000 with my mold and so far, so good.

[qajaq59]

I'm in Palm Bay, where do you shoot BP in central Bill I sent you a PM with the e-mail address for the guy in charge of BP at a club near you.
Qajaq59

[SP101GUY]

Hellgate, you are correct on the pistol. I'll have him pick up a .454 mold. Even if it takes a .451, the other .003 will shave off. He can pick up a Lee mold for $23 shipped. I told him that is the way to go.

AJ

[fryboy]

i'd go for the lee conical !! performs awesumly ! with pure lead mushrooms pretty good with a standard charge ( it even impressed a buddy or few ) usually the imports take a .451 , or at least this is what the destructions state , for a colt copy that is , the remington copies take a .454 and of course the ruger takes a .457 , the ring of shaved lead is the best indicator ( especially if u dont use felt wads underneath it , i've actually cast and loaded a few lee light 45 acp boolits cast in pure lead and yes they work as well , the short lite ones because the 230's are rather a pain to get to load without a loading block and as a plus the lee conical if cast out of a lil harder alloy can also be successfully reloaded in a 45 acp case ( the lube is the problem there as the bands on the lee shrink towards the heel but recluse's recipe works ! )

[SP101GUY]

I tried, he wants to shoot balls instead. Conicals are too "new fangled" for him.

AJ

[firefly1957]

Mine uses .454 but .457 shot real good Make sure he greases well or puts wad under ball so he does not get multiple chambers igniting at once.

[Hellgate]

Fryboy has a good idea, get the conical mold too. Some guns, i.e. Piettas do not have enough room under the barrel to allow the conical to be seated. The ASMs barely do but I think the Ubertis have more room. The Remingtons all have plenty of room. The 200gr conical under 30grs powder is a real thumper.