Round Ball Bullets for Revolver/ Pistol Cases?

[RGMJ]

Hi Guys,

I've been reading recently Lee's Modern Reloading book and there is a mention there of using cast round ball lead as bullets for rifle (?) revolver or pistol cases.

Have any of you guys tried this? What lube did you use? Any load data you could share? What's the performance?

I was thinking of introducing my son and daughter to shooting my revolvers and my 1911. I shoot 357 mag, 44 spl, 45 colt, 9mm, 45 ACP in my revolvers/ pistols. I wanted to try some light RB :wink:loads that don't kick too much.

Any ideas would be appreciated...:-)

Thanks

[HARRYMPOPE]

Works very well.Dennis Marshall did alot of this in the CBA's Fouling Shot magazine 20-30 years back.They have a CD of all of his pieces on the site if you need the info.
its really must have reading on down to earth bullet casing and lore.

I shot a .430 RB with 1.5- 2g Bullseye in my shop in a 44 mag at 10 meters all one winter.I used one case and pope style de- re primer and and a dipper and finger seated the ball that was rolled in Lee Alox.One hole if you held steady.

George

[edsmith]

I shoot round balls out of my old army, peitta 58 rem, and a peitta colt 1873 that was a cap and ball, I converted to 45 colt, the old army and the rem. has conversion cyls. in them. they shoot just fine.

[429421Cowboy]

I use 4.0 gr or Unique in a .44 Special case out of my Super Blackhawk behind a .433 Hornady RB. Almost zero noise, good enough power at close ranges and has absolutely nothing to do with why there are no cats or gophers in our yard at the feedlot[smilie=1:. Sub-sonic, zero recoil out of the big gun but still loads of fun. I wouldn't reccomend loading any lighter due to ignition issues as well as they can ricochet with supprising force if they don't penetrate your target. They can be a pain to load but nothing too special.
I also load two RB's in a .44 mag case with straight beeswax between for a good small game load that is accurate out to 30 yards. printing the boolits within 2 inches of eachother. A single swaged .433 ball as i have them weighs 121gr, so two gives me a payload of 242gr, well within the limits of 7.0gr of Unique that i use under mine.
Good shooting!

[429421Cowboy]

I might add that you can expect dirty loads due to the cases not sealing in the chamber at the low pressures run by a "gallery" load. We have found that a good crimp helps get them going better. Haven't pushed the limits to see how fast they can be run but pure lead is a good case for leading. Most people find they aren't worth the trouble but i think they have their place and enjoy creating new loads. Perfect for getting kids started due to the low noise/kick/flash, my cousins love it because they can honestly say they've shot our .44 magnums, started them with wax boolits first, they liked priming the cases then seating the boolits themselves.

[Echo]

I have loaded .358 RB's over about 2 gr BE in 38 Special cases, seating the balls down so they are entirely within the neck - I believe it was Ed Harris (or maybe Mike V.) who suggested doing it that way, with a smear of loob on top. Fun to shoot - aiming at a rock on the backstop 60 yds away, I was able to come close - ON THE BOUNCE! maybe a new match - ball must strike the ground before the target...

[Texantothecore]

The round ball gallery and higher velocity loads are also historically correct. It was very common in the early 1900s especially with the large bore rifles. At 450 FPS you can use them to shoot rabbit with a large bore rifle without having to traverse four counties looking for rabbit body parts to put on the barbecue.

I am working up a load for a .45-70 round ball and having a blast.

[rockrat]

I used to shoot RB loads in my 45 acp Star. Worked well. Light recoil. Had to use a lighter spring in the gun, for function. Don't remember the loads, but used B'eye in 45 round ball loads in acp cases for my Ruger blackhawk, for a light load. I was TOLD, mind you, that it worked great for frogs!!

[Guesser]

.433 RB in 44 Special and .454 RB in 45 A.R. and 45 Colt. Some of the older Speer books have load data.

[1Shirt]

Have loaded round ball single and double (in some cases) in 38S/357/44S/44M/444,45-70/ and 30-30. Check out Beatles article on shooting round ball, it is well done. I have had best luck accuracy wise with the balls rolled in LLA.
1Shirt!:coffee:

[94Doug]

In the 38/357 you might consider just getting some 358101 wad cutters for ease of loading....2 grains of bullseye is a standard load iirc...


Doug

[williamwaco]

If you can find it, 000 buckshot works well in the .38/.357.

I used a lot of it many years ago for "stealth" shooting in the back yard.

[rexherring]

I've shot the .454 ball in my .45 LC Ruger with black powder just for fun and it works quite well. I don't remember how many grains but it was enough to support the round ball base when crimped.

[Janoosh]

38/357, any primer, 2grns BE... 360 round ball. Coat with LLA . Found a muzzle loader shop going out of business. Bought all there was. Lots of fun in a Rossi M92. Texantothecore..... I use a H+R trapdoor carbine 45/70. 457 round ball, coat with LLA, any primer, 10grns Trailboss. All bark, no bite. Lots of fun. Hardest part is seating the ball!

[a.squibload]

Yep, .433 ball in 44, seated flush with case mouth, then scrape a lube stick
with the case mouth. Don't remember the load. They wouldn't penetrate
a steel beverage can (maybe I AM gettin' old) but would squash it and
flip it several yards. Could watch the ball fly, like an adult size BB gun!

Recovered some, they had about a 1/8" flat band around the middle with rifling marks.

[olafhardt]

I tried 0 buckshot in a 32 s&w short over 0.2 CC by volumn of 231 seated to 0.88". I shot these out of a h&f five shot ttopbreak and no lube. I spent the last week trying to get the lead out. I just seated the balls like bullets. I used a 22 short case filed down and calibrated with an insulin srynge to measure powder. I regard this as a work in progress.

[Texantothecore]

38/357, any primer, 2grns BE... 360 round ball. Coat with LLA . Found a muzzle loader shop going out of business. Bought all there was. Lots of fun in a Rossi M92. Texantothecore..... I use a H+R trapdoor carbine 45/70. 457 round ball, coat with LLA, any primer, 10grns Trailboss. All bark, no bite. Lots of fun. Hardest part is seating the ball!

Thanks for the heads up on the 10 grns Trailboss. I have been hassling with a round ball mold trying to get good bullets and had barely started to think about TB loads.

Excellent. Thanks again.

[mdi]

I rolled some 432" balls in xlox and loaded them over 3.4 gr. W231 in .44 Magnum brass. Seated just below center and lightly roll crimped. From memory I think I got about 4" groups ay 20 yds, with .22 lr recoil. Ruger SBH 7 1/2"...

[SquirrelHollow]

I shoot unlubed .433"s out of my .44 Mag Super Blackhawk and .318"s out of my .327s. With mediocre velocities (400-600 fps) leading is minimal to nonexistent.

[beagle]

Look on Castpics/Articles by members/Round Ball Loads.

My favorite is a two ball load in a .38 Special./beagle

[SquirrelHollow]

Look on Castpics/Articles by members/Round Ball Loads.

My favorite is a two ball load in a .38 Special./beagle

Oh, yes. I forgot about two ball loads (I call them "duplex ball" loads).
In addition to the loads referenced in my previous post, I sometimes use the 'duplex ball' loads around 900 fps and/or load them as a 'duplex' load in .44 shot shells (modified .303 Brit or .30-40 brass).

[RGMJ]

Thanks Guys,

i just recently bought the Lee 18 cavity 000 buckshot mold and will cast some RB this weekend.

i try loading them in my 38 spl cases for my Ruger GP-100.

By the way, did you ever need to size RB to the right diameter? 000 is about .360". If I recall, 38 spl bullet is about .358.

Anyway, thanks again for all your replies!! [smilie=s:

[beagle]

I resized the ones I used in that article to .358". I used a flat plunger in the sizer and a #430 TP as well as I recall and bumped them a little. This gave them a flat base and a rounded nose.

As well as I recall, these was no difference in the accuracy between the bumped bullets and the stock RBs./beagle


Thanks Guys,

i just recently bought the Lee 18 cavity 000 buckshot mold and will cast some RB this weekend.

i try loading them in my 38 spl cases for my Ruger GP-100.

By the way, did you ever need to size RB to the right diameter? 000 is about .360". If I recall, 38 spl bullet is about .358.

Anyway, thanks again for all your replies!! [smilie=s:

[BAGTIC]

I have been shooting RB in straight rimmed cases for over 35 years. I use Red Dot and seat the ball directly on the powder. It insures consistent ignition and no smoked cases.

In .357 a .360 RB and 4-5 grain of RD. In larger calibers more powder but I try to keep the noise low. In a rifle one can get the ball up to 1800 +/- fps with very quiet air rifle level report. Very effective short range varmint/pest load.

Lube probably isn't necessary but I lube all my cast balls with JPW as it keeps them from oxidizing in storage.

[olafhardt]

I am still playing with my 32 topbreaks. This morning I discovered that the Lee powder through expander die can be adjusted perfectly to seat round balls. It worked great and I had to run tell you guys.