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RegCom7
12-13-2010, 09:21 PM
I'm buying a new Uberti 1860 Army and want to buy a Lee mould for the balls. Is .454 the best size in the Lee moulds? What are your experiences? Thanks.
docone31
12-13-2010, 09:27 PM
.454 will probably work well.
I use that one in my .44 Navy.
JIMinPHX
12-13-2010, 10:21 PM
.454" is probably the most commonly used size. Uberti has a pretty good reputation for holding tolerances, so you are probably 90+% likely that a standard .454 will work well in that gun. A few of them need a .457 in order to shave a full ring reliably. The Lee ".454"" mold that I bought actually dropped more like .457". A little big is better than a little small though, so I just kept it that way.

When you get that thing, make sure that you get the right size caps. Some take a #10 & some take a #11. Different brands of caps may fit differently too.

I also highly recommend getting a bag of wonder wads to put under your balls. They are great from a safety standpoint & also from an ease-of-cleaning standpoint.
RegCom7
12-13-2010, 10:32 PM
I have a Uberti 1851 Navy .36, and I bought the Ampco nipples for it. They use the Remington #10 caps. And I'm going to order some of those same nipples for the 1860 Army, so I should be all set there. And it sounds like I'll get the .454 mould. Good, thanks for the help guys.
MtGun44
12-13-2010, 10:37 PM
I want to shave off a nice full ring of lead as I seat the ball. .454 works best in my
Pietta 1860 .44 Colt.

Don't do the crisco/grease over the top of the ball trick. Use a lubed felt wad under the
ball and the gun will shoot for as long as you want and stay relatively clean and not
gunked up and jamming like with the crisco trick. Wonder wads used to make them, may
still.

Bill
derek45
12-13-2010, 10:58 PM
On My PIETTA ( Cabela's) Colt 1860, I use .451 round balls.

I get a nice little ring when I seat them.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v488/derek45/1860/IMGP5717.jpg
Springfield
12-13-2010, 11:08 PM
My Piettas like .451, my Uberti's like .454. You can always go up a size but it makes seating the balls more difficult. If you load off the gun the larger balls aren't as difficult to seat.