Have a cap & ball .44 caliber coming in, want to cast boolits for it.

[DaveInFloweryBranchGA]

I have a Pietta Remington 1858 New Army in .44 caliber coming in fairly soon. I've already got a good sized bucket of pure lead ingots ready to go for reloading black powder firearms.

All I need is a good mold for the revolver I've got listed. I'm going to be loading the cylinders off the gun in a "Tower of Power" reloading stand, so I'm not tied to just balls, but would like both a good boolit and a good ball to fit this revolver. Planned use is punching paper holes, tin cans and the like.

I'd like to cast 6 at a time of whatever I cast and would like it to fit the latest cylinder/bore/groove of the Pietta 1858 Remington New Army clones. I really like Mihec molds, but don't know if he makes anything for cap & ball revolvers.

I'm thinking I'd like both a ball and a boolit if possible. For the boolit, one that conserves on lead would be good.

Any suggestions and thoughts on the matter would be welcomed, as I'm new to the black powder world. Not only on the molds, but also on premium quality accessories for loading the revolver, etc.

Thank you,

Dave

[bubba.50]

lee has a double cavity mold for bp revolvers in .450dia 200gr & .454dia 220gr they also have 6cav molds .45acp in .452dia in weights from 160gr on up. luck & have a good'en bubba.

[rodwha]

Accurate Molds makes a 5 cavity mold, and you can choose from what he has or design your own. He made a 170, 195, and a 285 grn bullet for my .44/.45 cal pistols, and the 170 and 195 both work equally well in my Pietta '58 and Ruger Old Army.

For RB's I'd suggest either the .454 or .457" as they'll give more bearing surface after seating.

The Pietta's have way undersized chambers (~.446") to the groove (~.452"). You may want to consider reaming them. Mine have been reamed to .449", as well as chamfered. Supposedly pure lead will obturate to fill in the gaps.

[swathdiver]

Track of the Wolf sells Lee six cavity round ball molds. Your Pietta will likely run best with a .454 round ball.

Lee makes a 200 grain conical, in 2 cavity form.

Or if you want the best, most accurate and awesome hunting round, get the Kaido 220 grain conical mold which comes in a six cavity mold.

If your Pietta sixgun is coming new in the box, made in mid 2012 or newer, it will have six lands and grooves with tighter rifling for improved conical ball performance.

Your chambers will run about .448, your grooves .4515. That being said, at 25 yards mine are tack drivers from the factory but could be better at longer ranges with the forcing cone cut and the chambers reamed to .452. That would of course necessitate the switch to the .457 round ball and the larger conicals by Kaido and Lee but from your stated use of the sixgun, all that is not necessary.

[dondiego]

The Lee 250 gn REAL bullet works well in my revolvers too. They come with 6 cav's I think.

[Hellgate]

The best R.E.A.L. mold is the LEE 44 cal mold but they discontinued it. It is/was perfect for the Remingtons.

[dondiego]

The best R.E.A.L. mold is the LEE 44 cal mold but they discontinued it. It is/was perfect for the Remingtons.

I went and weighed the REAL bullet that I use in my revolvers and Hellgate is correct. Mine weighs 200 gns and is 0.457 on the top band and .452 on the bottom band. Not sure if it is the discontinued mold or not.

[Good Cheer]

If you have a Lyman or RCBS type cast bullet sizer you can size the rear end of .45 bullets (cast of soft lead) to fit into the Pietta undersized chambers and shear on the front band as with a round ball.
Note: Leaving a small unsized front band to avoid the use of excessive force in seating bullets is important in the .44 revolvers.

[Tar Heel]

track of the wolf sells lee six cavity round ball molds. Your pietta will likely run best with a .454 round ball.

Lee makes a 200 grain conical, in 2 cavity form.

Or if you want the best, most accurate and awesome hunting round, get the kaido 220 grain conical mold which comes in a six cavity mold.

If your pietta sixgun is coming new in the box, made in mid 2012 or newer, it will have six lands and grooves with tighter rifling for improved conical ball performance.

Your chambers will run about .448, your grooves .4515. That being said, at 25 yards mine are tack drivers from the factory but could be better at longer ranges with the forcing cone cut and the chambers reamed to .452. That would of course necessitate the switch to the .457 round ball and the larger conicals by kaido and lee but from your stated use of the sixgun, all that is not necessary.

bazinga

[Bardo]

The best R.E.A.L. mold is the LEE 44 cal mold but they discontinued it. It is/was perfect for the Remingtons.

I have one that is a 44 235gr. Was that in an Uberti or Pietta? Will it work in a colt 1860?

Bardo

[Hellgate]

OK, I dug out my shooting log and here are the dimensions of the .44 and .45 cal 200gr LEE R.E.A.L. bullets. These notes are from 1994 or '95.

The LEE 44 cal REAL bullet has 3 driving bands from bottom to top: .447, .452, & .457" dia..
The LEE 45 cal R.E.A.L. bullet bands are (from bottom to top): .457, .462, .467" dia.
The 44 cal Lee REAL should drop into the chamber and stop at the second driving band if the chamber is typically .448" dia as most Pietta Remingtons are. One thing I have found is when you cast them be sure the mold is completely filled or the driving bands don't fill out to their designated sizes and when the gun is fired the bullet will migrate forward under recoil and jam the gun. Ask me how I know this. If they are cast well with hot lead they are a great conical that carries a lot of lube. The 45cal is fine for the ROA.
I don't believe I could get my 44 cal REAL to fit my Pietta or ASM 1860 but it fit all the Remingtons I have used: Pietta, Uberti, & Euroarms/ASP.

[Bardo]

Mine has 4 bands. Wonder if that will work? Maybe in a newer uberti with a faster twist.

Bardo

[Hellgate]

Bardo,
You must have the rifle version if it has 4 bands. It is probably 230 -250 grs in weight.

[Bardo]

How much powder were you putting in with the 200 gr?

[Hellgate]

Anywhere from 20 to 30grs FFFg with no wads under it. The 20gr load is very accurate and the 30gr load is quite a "thumper". I smear a BP lube into the lube grooves and put some lube on top after charging.

[Bardo]

When it cools down here a little I may try some of these in a faster twist. Unless you see a problem with the 235gr.

Bardo

[StrawHat]

Not affiliated nor do I use these boolits, but he does offer 6 cavity round ball molds. Also boolit molds.

http://www.biglube.com/

[SSGOldfart]

Dave, you might want to wait until your 1858 gets there and slug the cylinders . so you know the size before you order a mold, I picked up a Lee 456-220R-1R it is degsigned for the Ruger Old Army but mine drops @ .457 and my cylinders are both 457,I have a single cav .437that I picked up before I got the 1851

you might want to look for a wad punch and caps they can be a little hard to come by in some area's
I've also got a 1858 Remington on the way laser engraved with spare cylinder my wife found it thru somebody she dealt with on ebay Never know when these deals are going to pop-up?? Have fun with it and enjoy

[DaveInFloweryBranchGA]

After visiting the websites, I notice Dick Dastardly offers what appears to be a mold made by M-tek for $99.00. Track of the Wolf offers similar bullet molds made by Lee for $54.99. What I'm wondering is there a really good reason to pay the extra for the M-tek mold vs. the Lees? Also, does the M-tek mold accept Lee mold handles? I already have several sets of those.

I have and used lots of Lees and the higher quality group buy molds order here on the group buy forum and prefer the group buy molds, but they're more expensive and I usually only buy them for bullets shapes I can't get through Lee.

One more question, what weight balls do the two round ball molds drop with say, dentist lead?

[Fly]

(What I'm wondering is there a really good reason to pay the extra) NO! Lee makes dam good molds.
Think about this.Once you ram your bullet,ball it conforms to the size of the cylinder, not barrel.I ream
my cylinders .001 over barrel size & use a wad.Lee uses CNC, & checks QC with a DRO.

I only buy molds from others, when Lee does not make what I want.
Fly jmohop

[DaveInFloweryBranchGA]

Fly,

Thank you for that information.

Now does anybody know if anybody besides Track of the Wolf offers the Lee round ball mold for closer to the Lee standard price or is that about as good as it gets?

Thanks to all for their answers.

Dave

[dondiego]

Try Titan Reloading, a vendor at the top of this page. They have all of the LEE stuff and good prices and service.

[DaveInFloweryBranchGA]

Try Titan Reloading, a vendor at the top of this page. They have all of the LEE stuff and good prices and service.

Thank you Sir, you have just solved my round ball mold buying problem.:)

[DaveInFloweryBranchGA]

Got the round ball mold on order and the boolit mold just arrived. Life is good!

[dondiego]

Good shootin' to ya Dave.

[DaveInFloweryBranchGA]

Thank you, I don't know about anybody else, but I hate a company taking advantage and charging more than double the suggested retail price for an item when it's sold elsewhere for less than half that.