Best Conical Mold for .44 1851 for $20-ish

[Colonel_Gentlemen]

The title pretty much says it all.
I need a decent non-roundball mold for my Pietta 1851 .44(.452?) for around $20, may as well learn on something cheap and that's about what I have left over in my bank.
I don't much care where it's from as long as it works, so that doesn't exclude an offer from a member of this forum.

Once I get some skill at it(and some money) I'll upgrade from an old rusty cast iron lead pot, an 'improvised' ladle, and a cheap mold.


P.S. This is my first post here; Hello everyone.

[MtGun44]

Good luck! Never tried the conicals in my 61 Navy or 60 Army. Please report back the
results you get. I have hard old claims that the conicals don't work well, but no experience,
so wonder if this is another of the "everybody knows" that may be baloney.

Bill

[Colonel_Gentlemen]

Good luck! Never tried the conicals in my 61 Navy or 60 Army. Please report back the
results you get. I have hard old claims that the conicals don't work well, but no experience,
so wonder if this is another of the "everybody knows" that may be baloney.

Bill

Doesn't have to be conical, I edited it, just anything that isn't ball.

But I'm sure I'll post back after getting it.

[Colonel_Gentlemen]

http://www.midwayusa.com/viewProduct/default.aspx?productNumber=264838

Would this work for my needs?

[MikeS]

While that mould might work, why not get a mould Lee designed specifically for BP revolvers.

http://www.midwayusa.com/viewproduct/?productnumber=432413

That boolit was designed for the Ruger Old Army, but it works fine in most other 44 cal BP revolvers. The rear most band is smaller than the rest of the boolit to make loading easier. I have this mould, and cast out of pure lead, and they load into my ROA with no problems. I haven't shot them yet, but I see that others have and it shoots pretty good I hear.

[MtGun44]

My Pietta 1860 Army does best with .454 RB, shaves a nice ring of lead as seated.
I think the .452 would be pretty decent if dead soft pure lead.

I think the biggest issue is the loss of powder volume with these boolits, may wind
up with pretty light charges. I think the lightest that you can find may work best.

Do you mind saying why not the RB that is most commonly used? Seated over a
lubed felt wad I can shoot these into about 3-4" groups at 25 yds. Considering the
really marginal sights, and the movement in the hammer, this seems pretty decent
to me. Once I ditched the stupid practice of smearing crisco all over the place on top
of the balls, I have been able to shoot 5 or 6 cylinder fulls with no serious fouling
problems. I run out of interest at that point, not stopping due to excess fouling.
MUCH cleaner and nicer that crisco! Wonder Wads is the brand I use.

Bill

[Colonel_Gentlemen]

While that mould might work, why not get a mould Lee designed specifically for BP revolvers.

http://www.midwayusa.com/viewproduct/?productnumber=432413

That boolit was designed for the Ruger Old Army, but it works fine in most other 44 cal BP revolvers. The rear most band is smaller than the rest of the boolit to make loading easier. I have this mould, and cast out of pure lead, and they load into my ROA with no problems. I haven't shot them yet, but I see that others have and it shoots pretty good I hear.

I didn't even know they made that, but now that I think about it that would be a problem without the base being smaller.
That may well be the next mold I buy.


My Pietta 1860 Army does best with .454 RB, shaves a nice ring of lead as seated.
I think the .452 would be pretty decent if dead soft pure lead.

I think the biggest issue is the loss of powder volume with these boolits, may wind
up with pretty light charges. I think the lightest that you can find may work best.

Do you mind saying why not the RB that is most commonly used? Seated over a
lubed felt wad I can shoot these into about 3-4" groups at 25 yds. Considering the
really marginal sights, and the movement in the hammer, this seems pretty decent
to me. Once I ditched the stupid practice of smearing crisco all over the place on top
of the balls, I have been able to shoot 5 or 6 cylinder fulls with no serious fouling
problems. I run out of interest at that point, not stopping due to excess fouling.
MUCH cleaner and nicer that crisco! Wonder Wads is the brand I use.

Bill

I got impatient and ordered a .454 RB mold, I was just wanting to try something different, but I suppose I should start with what I know works.
I've been doing the bore butter over the ball thing, but I was going to try something different once I get setup with a decent supply of ball, may as well try Wonder Wads.

On a side note, have you tried shooting #6 or #8 shot out of yours?

[Harter66]

I've not tried shot ,i'd worry about the over card/wad getting loose.

I've tried some RCBS 45-200 SWCs dead soft . They hit about 3" low at 25yd over 25gn FFF 777 ,I needed to shoot it that day,greased in crisco. I don't have a .454RB mould yet. I think with the cylinder length you could get 30 gn measured in my Pietta brass 1858.

[Colonel_Gentlemen]

I've not tried shot ,i'd worry about the over card/wad getting loose.

I've tried some RCBS 45-200 SWCs dead soft . They hit about 3" low at 25yd over 25gn FFF 777 ,I needed to shoot it that day,greased in crisco. I don't have a .454RB mould yet. I think with the cylinder length you could get 30 gn measured in my Pietta brass 1858.

I use 20-25 grains by volume of shot, then I take a wooden dowel and wrap it in paper, fill it with shot then I take a .45 shot card(I made them, don't know if you can buy them) put it on top of the shot then seal it with wax, remove from the dowel then repeat, I also put another card between the shot bundle and the powder though I suspect a wad would work better. It works very well, and makes a pattern about a foot wide at 15'.

[MikeS]

I didn't even know they made that, but now that I think about it that would be a problem without the base being smaller.
That may well be the next mold I buy.

I think you misunderstood what I was saying. The base on that design IS smaller. When seating it, it will shave a ring of lead, but that's from the front parts of the boolit, not the base. Of course I'm shooting it in a Ruger Old Army, so your revolver might be different.

[Colonel_Gentlemen]

I think you misunderstood what I was saying. The base on that design IS smaller. When seating it, it will shave a ring of lead, but that's from the front parts of the boolit, not the base. Of course I'm shooting it in a Ruger Old Army, so your revolver might be different.

I understand.

[MtGun44]

Never tried shot in muzzle loader revolver. Once you use felt wads one time you will be
totally done with over the ball lube mess. Dry and nearly as clean as a modern revolver,
accurate and no problems. Who ever came up with the 'smear grease over the balls' did
everyone a dis service.

You do know that the whole issue of 'chain firing' comes from loose caps, not from leaking
fire at the front? Right? If your caps need to be crimped a bit to make them stay on,
STOP. You can get cross firing. Caps should fit nice and snug without pinching. Often
the nipples are for #10 and people use #11 caps. Make sure yours fit well.

Bill

[Colonel_Gentlemen]

Never tried shot in muzzle loader revolver. Once you use felt wads one time you will be
totally done with over the ball lube mess. Dry and nearly as clean as a modern revolver,
accurate and no problems. Who ever came up with the 'smear grease over the balls' did
everyone a dis service.

You do know that the whole issue of 'chain firing' comes from loose caps, not from leaking
fire at the front? Right? If your caps need to be crimped a bit to make them stay on,
STOP. You can get cross firing. Caps should fit nice and snug without pinching. Often
the nipples are for #10 and people use #11 caps. Make sure yours fit well.

Bill

Next time I put in an order I'll be sure to buy some, shouldn't be too long, I need to order some 6.5x50 Arisaka for a friend.

Yep, I only use snug fitting #10 CCIs. Proper caps are a lot cheaper than a trip to the hospital and a new gun.