Again on the .45 bullets in the Ruger Old Army

[tacotime]

Can you recap me on the use of .452 lead bullets in the ROA? Thinking of the Speer 255 grain .452 LSWC cold swaged soft bullet.

It has its own dry/wax lube though.

Wad?

I assume lube-sealing the cylinder is a good idea here.

Limit to the charge? (Pyrodex).

Other issues?

Thanks.

[Omnivore]

What's your chamber diameter? .453"? If so I'd think a .454 bullet would be your bare minimum diameter. I've tried seating square-based bullets in a percussion revolver and it's a bitch. That's why elongated bullets for percussion revolvers have always been heel-based, meaning that there is a short section at the back of the bullet that slips easily into the chamber, and the lever/ram does the rest.

There would be no particular need for a wad, except to help keep powder fouling soft.

There would be no particular need for over-bullet lube with a properly fit "conical" bullet, except that your bullets may be undersized. But in that case they may not stay put under recoil.

Try 'em if you want. If they go in too easily, then be sure to use over-bullet lube. If they go in hard, you won't need it.

Better yet, if you want a bullet that's made properly for your gun, get the larger of the two "44" Lee molds. It's a bit over 200 grains and is sized for the Ruger. If you want 255 grains, Accuratemolds.com will make you any mold you want, with the proper heel base for a percussion revolver.

Getting started in casting a pretty low hurdle to jump, and I'd strongly recommend it. What you're doing is trying to put off the inevitable. Maybe I'm wrong in this, but I doubt any home bullet caster would think of using factory cartridge-style bullets in a percussion revolver. Not saying they won't work (I've did it, before I got into casting) just saying there are good reasons why bullets for percussion revolvers are different from other bullets.

[Omnivore]

The limit to the charge is the length of the cylinder. You just need the bullets behind the cylinder face, so they don't interfere with rotation. Other than that it's all about what shoots best. You aren't going to blow up a ruger (or any percussion revolver of modern manufacture) with black powder or a black powder substitute. I suppose there is a minimum charge though. That would be the minimum volume that the bullet still pushes against when the loading lever is bottomed out. I guess. Not that I think it would really matter all that much.

[FLINTNFIRE]

I thought the rugers were .454 balls for them , I know all my colt replicas are .451 balls for the cylinders

[dualsport]

ROA takes a .457 round ball.

[missionary5155]

Good morning
Have a ROA also and the minimum size boolit I would use in mine is the Lee .456 hallow base.
Have not seen a ROA that has cylinders that small so that a .452 is the correct fit.
Always remember the boolit is a piston and must seal the hot expanding gas to the rear of the boolit. So always measure the diameter of the initial sealing area. That must get filled or a bad journey down the barrel is going to result.
Black Powder explodes and will bump up a close fitted soft lead boolit in a pistol. Pyrodex probably not at all in a pistol. Maybe some in a rifle with a heavy soft closly fitted boolit.
So get a good fiting boolit. Stay away from the hard cast. Measure the chamber mouths accurately. Get the right size with no guessing. Now you are ready to really enjoy the best BP muzzleloader revolver ever made.
Mike in Peru

[FLINTNFIRE]

You are correct it is .457 for the round balls , it was .454 for conicals , never have had one , always a little on the higher end price wise and kind of scarce as to availability .

[fcvan]

I don't have the ROA, I have an 1858 Remington copy. The Ruger takes the larger .457 RB and the .456 conical. The Remington takes the .454 RB and the 450-200 1R conical. My RB mold drops at .4575 and the conical at .454 at the front band tapering to .450 at the base. Shooting the conical boolit is a lot of fun. Heck, I even found a single cavity HP version of the conical mold that had sat on a shelf in a BP shop since the mid 1970s. The shop owner let me have it for the price on the box which was $11.78, the going price back when. The hollow point boolit when cast from pure lead and fired from the Remington copy was devastating on jack rabbits. For your ROA, the 456-220 1R should be a great projectile.

[tacotime]

Good info, I'll try this out. Might have to cast...

[FLINTNFIRE]

My remington 58 took a 451 , italian copy and the lyman my brother had came with the 451 diameter mold , tried the conicals in my colts , went back to round ball , the 454 size I quoted was taken from the ruger factory manual here is the printed line from section on ammunition , The “Old Army” is designed to use a .457” diameter round ball or .454” conical . Lee makes their conical in the 456 , if it will swage down in the cylinder and leave a ring of lead it is fitting the cylinder , which is the main thing you are looking for , go with black powder if you can get it , you can vary the load some as long as your loading lever will seat the ball tight to powder and below the cylinder face , wads under balls will take up space , the more you shoot it will teach you what your gun likes , enjoy your ruger .

[DLCTEX]

I have loaded .454-255 gr. boolits in mine with good results. The bevel base boolits would be ideal, as I used a case deburring tool to taper the bases to aid in starting the boolits squarely in the hole. If the boolits aren't started square they will walk under recoil. Pyrodex can be rammed and packed to give more space for the boolit. Go slow with that or you will be shaving lead off to get the cylinder to turn the chamber so the boolit can be shot out if you add so much powder that the boolit can't be seated deep enough. I can't get the same good accuracy with boolits as with round ball, but close. The balls shoot to POA, boolits do not. The balls and .454 boolits seat ok in mine with ACWW alloy.

[tacotime]

Good info, thanks. Looks like my SWC's are .452, so maybe not large enough for this try. I'll see what I can find in larger ones...

[Boogieman]

Lee's 220 gr. bullet works good in my old army. gives close to 900 fps. matches 45 acp . for power. I also size this bullet to 452 & load it for my 1911 .

[Dan Cash]

Good info, thanks. Looks like my SWC's are .452, so maybe not large enough for this try. I'll see what I can find in larger ones...
A .452 SOFT lead bullet works just fine in an Old Army as long as you seat the bullet tightly on top of the powder. Seating action bumps up the bullet to a tight fit in the chamber. The swaged Speer bullets you reference do not have sufficient or proper lube for black powder shooting.

[tacotime]

Dan, why do you say not enough lube? They are used in 44mag and 44 special without added lube. Or do you mean they need to have additional lube like a dry round ball does?