Whats the largest possible RB for a .443 chamber?

[mikenbarb]

I have a matched set of limited edition 1858 .44cal Buffalo pistols(reproductions) that I just broke out of my collection and I wasnt gonna shoot them but im now saying what the heck, Im gonna shoot them and enjoy them! The cylinders mic out at .443 being the largest. Im wondering whats the largest RB dia I can use in them while still getting good accuracy and not overexerting the lever. I tried .440dia and it falls in and a .450 seems too large but im sure if I tried harder it will fit but shave alot of lead on the edge. Im using Pyrodex pistol pellets with Ox-yoke wonder wads over the pellet and NASA lube to seal the ball end. Im casting the RB's with pure soft lead. Heres a pic of what im loading.
http://i374.photobucket.com/albums/oo185/mikenbarbj/002-57.jpg

[beagle]

Mike,

Take a sizer die that you know will fit after measuring the bore. Use a TP for one of the RN designs. Turn your center punch in the sizer die backwards so the flat side is up.

This will allow you to "bump" a RB to diameter and have a flat on one end and a round nose on the other end.

I've done this with RBs for loading 2 ball loads in the .45 ACP and it works. The first one, I bumped into a flat wafer for seating first, then the conical on top.

Might work for you and the conicals shoot well...just the wafers that give you those nice big groups (patterns)./beagle

[MtGun44]

I don't worry about cutting a ring of lead when I seat an oversize ball. 0.007" means only
a 3 1/2 thousandths of lead cut as a ring. Sounds around perfect to me, you'll get a good
seal. The Wonder wads are AMAZING, another thing I learned from Elmer. You can shoot
as much as you want with a BP revolver if you use greased felt wads instead of that darned
Crisco !!! Mine are more accurate, too.

Bill

[Dale53]

You NEED to use an oversize ball to properly seal the cylinder from "crossfires" although the wonder wads pretty much "mitigate" that possibility. You also need properly fitting caps to avoid the same. Cap and ball revolvers can actually be very practical (I had a friend that used one for a "car gun" for self defense (we didn't have a carry permit in those days and he figured to "skate" if confronted by the constabulary). Kind of interesting to see he had an "antique" in his "new at the time" Austin-Healey 3000...

Just a few years ago, a local mom & pop "Trading Post" was held up by a gunman who threatened to shoot the wife. The husband was in a back room, heard the commotion, whipped out his cap and ball revolver from under the counter and during an exchange of gunfire a single ball struck the bandit in the head (the bandit was armed with a 9mm). Accuracy trumps "fast noise" every time. The bandit did not expire but spent a long term in the hospital, a long time in the penitentiary then a life time as a cripple (a bullet in the brain will sometimes do that - gave him a long time to ponder the error of his ways...

A few weeks later, a couple of ex-cons dropped in on the store, had a bit of a chat with the owner and decided they needed to be elsewhere (yep, cap and ball revolvers CAN be practical).

I much prefer my modern revolvers and pistols for self defense but there is NO denying that there ARE other choices that can work...:drinks:

Good shooting!
Dale53

[mikenbarb]

Yep, I know it has to be oversized but im not sure how oversized a ball can be because im not a big BP pistol shooter and I dont want to damage the pistols. Im also sealing the ball end with NASA lube to help eliminate a crossfire and the nipples im using fit great and tight.

[StarMetal]

You NEED to use an oversize ball to properly seal the cylinder from "crossfires" although the wonder wads pretty much "mitigate" that possibility. You also need properly fitting caps to avoid the same. Cap and ball revolvers can actually be very practical (I had a friend that used one for a "car gun" for self defense (we didn't have a carry permit in those days and he figured to "skate" if confronted by the constabulary). Kind of interesting to see he had an "antique" in his "new at the time" Austin-Healey 3000...

Just a few years ago, a local mom & pop "Trading Post" was held up by a gunman who threatened to shoot the wife. The husband was in a back room, heard the commotion, whipped out his cap and ball revolver from under the counter and during an exchange of gunfire a single ball struck the bandit in the head (the bandit was armed with a 9mm). Accuracy trumps "fast noise" every time. The bandit did not expire but spent a long term in the hospital, a long time in the penitentiary then a life time as a cripple (a bullet in the brain will sometimes do that - gave him a long time to ponder the error of his ways...

A few weeks later, a couple of ex-cons dropped in on the store, had a bit of a chat with the owner and decided they needed to be elsewhere (yep, cap and ball revolvers CAN be practical).

I much prefer my modern revolvers and pistols for self defense but there is NO denying that there ARE other choices that can work...:drinks:

Good shooting!
Dale53

Dale,

That's brings up some interesting things. Very very long ago G&A wrote an article about an old lady that asked someone associated with G&A about getting an old revolver out of her house. It turned out to be an original 1860 and it set in one of her dresser draws for many years. It was loaded...for even more years, possibly as far back as the 1800's. Well G&A wanted to see if it would still fire the original charge after it set that long. They did replace the caps with new fresh ones. All six cylinders fired. I had a cap n ball once that I loaded and left for months just to see if it would fire. It did. They are, in my opinion, a very formidable weapon still today.

Joe

[Ohio Rusty]

Nice pistols !!! I don't blame you for wanting to shooting them. You'll get hooked on the cap-n-ball bug after shooting them. It's just another form of gun sickness we all suffer from <BG>.'

There are 3 ball made for the .44 pistol ...... .451, .454, and .457. .457 is normally reserved for the oversized Ruger Blackhawk blackpowder revolver. Most BP guns usually use the .451. When you squeeze the ball into the cylinder hole with the loading arm, a small ring of lead should peel off as the ball as it gets tightly squeezed down into the cylinder. You then know you have the right size ball. The ball should never be 'easy' as you want the ball to be tight. That prevents the ball from moving in the cylinder upon recoil. I also prefer a greased felt wad between the ball and the powder. Prevents a possible chain fire of the next cylinder, and it helps to remove a small amount of the barrel fouling.

Lastly, keep the cylinder pin the cylinder rotates on well lubed. BP fouling gets into the cylinder pin, and that starts the cylinder to gum up some and not spin as easy as when it was clean. Some folks have reported the cylinder binding when there is no lubrication. Hope this helps.
Ohio Rusty ><>

[mooman76]

If you're worried about damaging the pistols loading you could run the RBs through a sizer first to bring the size down some before you seat them.

[mikenbarb]

Thanks guys and im gonna try a .450 and see what happens. A .440 is real sloppy in the cylinders so hopefully the .450 will solve the problem. I havnt shot it yet but im gonna try to get some down range this week.