.452 cast bullets for BP Revolver

[Ohio1]

Hi all, I'm getting a Mod #1858 from Cabela's soon and was wondering if my cast .451 and .452 45ACP bullets will work with the black powder revolver? I have cast bullets from 165gr to 240gr. and it seems to me that they should work OK. Anyone out there shoot these in your PB Revolvers?
Thanks for your time.

Steve

[Pb2au]

I've have monkeyed around with the Lee RN 230 grain in my 1860 colt. To be honest, I didn't convince myself that it was any better than a simple round ball. I know the originals had conical and round ball prepared ammunition, but I don't have a similar mold.
You do pick up some mass with using the Lee 230 RN, which is always nice. It was relatively accurate at 25 yards too. But not more so than the round ball.
My conclusion was that in general, I would just stick to the round ball. But for sure do not let me dissuade you.
I cast the RN in pure (ish) lead, and did not size them. The reason being was to get the interference fit in the cylinder. I hand lubed them with bore butter and seated them over a lubed felt wad. Maybe this was a little overkill, but hey, I'm wasn't making a space shuttle.
So good luck in your endeavors!

[Outpost75]

If you are using a loading stand or arbor press to force bullets into the chambers, you can make a false muzzle to fit over the cylinder, to hold the bullets in alignment for ramming. This technique works very well. If loading the cylinder in the revolver, then you must have bevel-based bullets of soft alloy, no harder than 8 BHN, in order to get them started straight into the chambers and to seat them without bending or breaking the loading lever.

[Tackleberry41]

I bought some conicals years ago, but getting them to load straight was a nightmare. I wasn't going to invest in any sort of loading stand or anything. RB is so much easier to deal with. Might try some pure lead in my lee 230 gr mold I use for my 45 auto and colt. But not at the risk of tearing up anything.

[Maven]

Steve, Take a look at this, specifically mold #452-160 (90570):http://leeprecision.com/bullet-casting/hand-gun-bullet-molds/bullet-mold-double-cavity/ I've tried them from my Armi San Paolo Rem. 1958 and they work, but I've not tested them from a steady rest. Btw, you can seat them backwards (over a lubed, felt wad) for ease of loading and nice, clean holes in the target. They weren't hard to seat normally either (over a lubed, felt wad).

[Tackleberry41]

Thats what I had read is some of the guns dont have the spin for a decent weigh conical. Both mine are piettas, so may not like a 230 grain anyways, tho could probably be loaded backwards.

[Omnivore]

The Pietta frame generally doesn't have enough room for a conical to sit straight over the chamber and fit under the ram. Chances are you'll have to open up the loading cutout in the frame.

Any bullet made for the 45 Colt or 45 Auto will be extremely difficult to load in the intended orientation on the gun, because a proper cap&ball conical will have a heel base that gets the bullet started with finger pressure so it starts straight.

If you're going to get a Lee mold, get the Lee 450-2001R, which is made specifically for cap and ball revolvers. That bullet will be too small for an Uberti (mine at least) but it works pretty well in the Pietta once you've opened up the frame. Or get one of the several fine C&B molds from accuratemolds or Big Lube bullets.

The Buffalo Bullets semi hollow base 180 grain bullet for Cap and ball works very well in the Pietta.

[Good Cheer]

The 45468 will work if you size down the rear end to fit in your chambers.
http://i791.photobucket.com/albums/yy192/SNARGLEFLERK/45468_zpsf1e474d8.jpg (http://s791.photobucket.com/user/SNARGLEFLERK/media/45468_zpsf1e474d8.jpg.html)

The easiest way to go about it for me is just to make the bullet fit the gun like with this modified round ball mold.
http://i791.photobucket.com/albums/yy192/SNARGLEFLERK/blocksandplug2_zps28109c6b.jpg (http://s791.photobucket.com/user/SNARGLEFLERK/media/blocksandplug2_zps28109c6b.jpg.html)

[Thundermaker]

I used to load 200 grain SWCs in my Armi San Marco 1860 army. They shot fairly well. I had to bevel the bases so I could load them.

[lobogunleather]

I owned a replica 1858 years ago and found that the chamber diameters were significantly larger than .44 Colts, requiring about a .457 ball to seat and seal properly.

Then I acquired an original Remington (1863 production), found that it also required the larger ball.

Recently purchased a second original (1864 production) and guess what? All chambers measure .457".

My point is that a .452 bullet is unlikely to seat and seal well enough to even hold itself in place, based upon my experience. I'd wait until you have the revolver in hand and can actually measure your chambers, then proceed accordingly.

[Omnivore]

lobo; The Pietta chambers are under .450". More like .447 to .449. My Lee 450-200 bullets measure right at .450" and they work well in the Pietta (once the frame's loading window is opened up to accommodate them) but they drop down into my Uberti Remington chambers with almost no resistance.

Anyway, a .452 ball will work in the Pietta, but a .454" is better and a .457" will also work. A conical can be closer to the chamber diameter, like just a couple or three thou over, and that provides good resistence and easier loading.

Lee, Accuratemolds.com, Buffalo Arms, Pedersoli, and Big Lube all make heel based bullet molds for C&B revolvers, so there are plenty of choices.

Though their size would be in the correct range, I wouldn't want to mess with bullets made for 45 cartridges, mainly as they're a pain to start into the chambers an/or you have to seat them backwards. Been there, done that, quit doin' it, got a proper mold.

It's good to know the chamber diameters of your originals. Thanks. I'd really like to know the bore and groove diameters too. If you could provide those I'm sure a lot of us here would appreciate it.

[Wolfer]

My 58 replica has cylinders that mic .450 I felt the lee bullet was too small so never bought it. I bought the one for the ruger old army. It was too big so I gave it away. I've shot several swaged 45 acp bullets but they are hard to load straight. Mostly anymore I shoot the lee 452-200 RF cast of pure lead. If their loaded straight their very accurate. If not loaded straight, well you know.

Anymore I would probably buy the lee cap and ball mold. If it wasn't big enough I'd beagle it. I always cap with crisco so possible chain fires would not be an issue. Woody

[Mike 56]

I shoot Lee .450 bullets all the time in my Colt and Remington cap and ball revolvers. I tumble lube them twice in alox lube. I shoot them without grease or wads. They shoot great!