45ACP boolit in 44 cal 1858 revolver

[daschnoz]

I'm planning to get a Remington 1858 revolver. If I need to get a new mold, it may as well serve 2 purposes. Is there any reason that I couldn't use a 230gr round nose 45ACP boolit in a 44 cal 1858 revolver?

[Larry Gibson]

Might not be of large enough diameter to eat properly into chambers. Most take a .457 ball or bullet. Lee makes a reasonbly priced mould that is just right for such revolvers.

Larry Gibson

[frnkeore]

Actually, the chambers are a lot smaller than .457 and should be somewhere between .448 and .450. The .451 RB molds are made for the 1858. A .454 is a better choise tho. When you seat a ball in the cylinder, it should shave a little ring off of it.

The grooves are usually in the .452 range and a they usually have very slow twists. 185 - 200 gr bullets are the best choise, the 230's may not stabilize.

Frank

[garym1a2]

I tried the 200swc sized to 452 in my Ruger old army and they where too small. Shifted forward under recoil on a couple. Next I tried the same unsized and they where a pain to load as they are a touch too long. I went back to round balls as they are much easier to load, I was just hoping to use the 6up 45acp boolits to same casting time.
You might get by with the 1858 as they have smaller chamber. I would watch it with the heavy boolits as recoil is much greater.

[Hardcast416taylor]

I bought a Lyman imported `58 Rem. made by Uberti back in `70. They had a .451 bore on them, Lyman included a .451 RB mold with it. I have since put a replacement cylinder in it to shoot low pressure .45 LC cartridges thru it. I shoot 230 gr. RN bullets that I also load my .45 acp with in the Rem.Robert

[daschnoz]

Ok, what about a 0.490" round ball? I already have that one for the front stuffer. Good size or too big?

[416Rodney]

Daschnoz-

I had the same question when I started the Cap-n-Ball thing in Cowboy Action Shooting. I used a Lyman single cavity, hollow base mold numbered 45468. I lubed and sized to .450 and didn't have to worry about cutting the little lead ring to make them seat tightly. They weigh about 155 grains and were very accurate with 24 to 27 grains of 2F and a #10 Remington cap.

[daschnoz]

Daschnoz-

I had the same question when I started the Cap-n-Ball thing in Cowboy Action Shooting. I used a Lyman single cavity, hollow base mold numbered 45468. I lubed and sized to .450 and didn't have to worry about cutting the little lead ring to make them seat tightly. They weigh about 155 grains and were very accurate with 24 to 27 grains of 2F and a #10 Remington cap.

I take it that the hollow base expanded into the rifling? How was accuracy? Any trouble with the boolit creaping forward in the chamber?

[daschnoz]

Ok, what about this:

Lee makes a conical boolit mold for cap and ball guns. 456-220-1R

Is there any reason that I couldn't resize it to 451 and use it in 45ACP?

[Wireman134]

Ok, what about this:

Lee makes a conical boolit mold for cap and ball guns. 456-220-1R

Is there any reason that I couldn't re size it to 451 and use it in 45ACP?

I use the 452-200-1R boolit in my .45 ACP. Casts around .453" using Pb, .455" using my alloy 97/1.5/1.5, water dropped. Base of boolit is smaller (.448") for centering in .44 cap-n-ball revolvers that use a .450" conical boolit. It works well in my Springfield 1911A1 for any load that requires a 200gr. pill. Good dual purpose boolit IMO. 456-220-1R is designed for the Ruger Old Army I believe, that has bigger chambers. It should size down to .452" for use in a cartridge pistol. .452" is the dia. I use in my 45's Colt/ACP

[Wireman134]

I'm planning to get a Remington 1858 revolver. If I need to get a new mold, it may as well serve 2 purposes. Is there any reason that I couldn't use a 230gr round nose 45ACP boolit in a 44 cal 1858 revolver?

1858 Cap-n-ball uses .450" chambers, cartridge boolit does not have a smaller base to easily start loading in a black powder revolver.

[daschnoz]

Should I also resize it for the 1858 Remmy or use it as cast?

[Wireman134]

As cast. When ramming in chamber a ring of lead shears off and gives a tight fit. Use only Pb boolits in the Remington.

The 456-220-1R might be a hard start in a .450" chamber. It depends on the base dia. of boolit. Measure the chamber dia. or just use the 450-200-1R

[azrednek]

Ok, what about this:

Lee makes a conical boolit mold for cap and ball guns. 456-220-1R

Is there any reason that I couldn't resize it to 451 and use it in 45ACP?

I did it for years using the Lee 456 mold. Cast pure lead for my Ruger and Italian import BP revolvers and used clip-on wheel weights for 45ACP. I sized .452 for the 45ACP. Occasionally I sized the pure lead conical boolits as well to .452 for the Italian revolver. Made it a bit easier to seat and shaved little if any lead.

If you can find one. The old Lyman .450 hollow based mold. The mold number escapes my limited brain power this morning. It was the hands down favorite and most accurate lead slug fired in my old brass framed Italian revolver. Results were mediocre at best in the Ruger as could be expected launching a .450 slug down a .456 bore.

[daschnoz]

I'll wait until I get the 1858 and measure the bores in the cylinder. Orders from Midway get to me in 2 days, so I'll wait to buy a mold.


Thanks guys.

[44man]

Only one thing with the Remington. Chambers are close and flash from a fired chamber can ruin the next boolit in line.
I found the round ball much better.
There is nothing wrong with a RB and would be all I would use in the Remmy.

[rbertalotto]

The very slow twist of my 1858 Remington with 45LC conversion cylinders would not stabilize a 250g boolit.

I'm not sure it would stabilize a 230g

It barely stabilizes a 200g.

I just received a Big Lube mold for 170g boolits.........This should be perfect!

[Wireman134]

Limiting to a 200gr. boolit might be a good idea, you you will be limited with your charge weight 22grs instead of 28grs max in the shorter Remington cylinder. Again the Ruger boolit is designed for the longer cylinder, I believe 35-40grs is possible with the Old Army and 220gr. boolit.