Conical molds for cap-n-ball revolvers?

[DEVERS454]

All,

Curious if anyone has seen a good reproduction conical boolit for .44 or .36 Colts & Rems.

the brass presentation molds from Dixie are interesting, and the ones for the Walker are actually quite good.

But, I was hoping for something "faster" producing than the Lee conical mold and works with paper cartridges as well.

Anyone?

[StanDahl]

If you're interested in the looks of the cartridge, conical is cool, but round balls most often shoot more accurately and you can't seat them cock-eyed. I like the Lee R.E.A.L. for my Ruger Old Army - the base is slightly smaller than the upper portion and they seat nicely. However, they don't look olde-timey and they don't come in 6 cav. either. Stan

[KCSO]

The only way I ever had any sucess with conicals was if I used a straight line seater that i made for an arbor press. The cylinder fit on a shaft and the press used a fitted punch to push the bullets straight down into the cylinder. This is definatly not a paper ctg outfit. I found my best accuracy with some oversized 200 gr swc bullets from a modified Lee mold. Regular rebated base bullets for the paper ctg never seat straight and I got tired of missing rabbits at 15 yards.

[StarMetal]

When I bought my very first Colt cap n ball revolver back in the 70's I ordered two mould, one a round ball and the other a hollow base conical. I'll talk about that conical here. It's a Lyman mould and Lyman listed it as a bullet for the 1858 Remington New Army (which I bought one of those later too). Today I have a Ruger Old Army and I still have that Lyman mould. Here's what I have to say. Using that bullet and the Ruger, makes for ONE (not all) of the most accurate revolvers I've ever shot. Today I'm shooting 200 SWC from a four cavity Saeco mould over Triple Seven powder and 44man will tell you I got some impressive velocities and accuracy out of that Ruger. More power then a 44 special and clipping the lower range of the 44 mag. The hollow base conical is a PIA to cast, but boy it's a good shooting bullet and great game getter. I would have to agree with KSCO on the solid conicals being hard to load striaght. I size my hollowbase ones and they just enter the cylinder mouth and then I seat them, so they go straight. The gas pressure flares out the skirt and makes for a tight gas seal.

Joe

Here's a pic of that bullet, sorry I didn't think I had one:

http://www.hunt101.com/img/326395.JPG

[KCSO]

That looks like the perfect bulllet for a cap and ball. Do you have any creeping on the last round? I have a swedge for that nose shape and i might have to turn a hollow base former. That would be a heck of a bullet for gallery loads for my 45-90.

[Bent Ramrod]

I had one of those molds like Starmetal shows back when I had my Navy Arms 1860 Army. I believe Lyman catalogued it as #450229. It was hard to load straight until I sized the base in a .446" lubrisizer die. There was a visible line of demarcation on the bottom band that probably served to start the bullet, but either it was oversized or the chambers on the cylinder were undersized. I didn't do much paper target shooting back then, but the conical bullet seemed to shoot a lot harder than the round ball, and just as accurately, if not more so.

I sold the mold when I sold the pistol decades ago. A couple years back, I got bit by the BP revolver bug again and went on the hunt for another #450229. The one I found had the same detent on the bottom band, and this time, it was small enough to fit in the chambers, so the bullet starts squarely without pre-sizing. The rest of the bullet was a snug press fit. In my new pistols, it doesn't seem to shoot any more accurately than round balls, but it looks cool and I've never had a chain-fire with it, even if I forget (in the excitement of battle, don't you know) to grease the chambers. They never crept forward, but neither do round balls if they're a reasonable match to the chamber diameter.

I don't know if they make this number anymore, but they do turn up once in a while at gun shows. If you can get one for trial, check the diameter of the very bottom of the base band and see if it fits OK. Otherwise a sizing die for a .43 Spanish bullet can be used.

[StarMetal]

KSCO,

No the bullets seem to stay pretty much put unless I'm firing very heavy loads. By the way Triple Seven with a heavy charge blows the skirt out badly. Back to the bullets, with heavy charges the last one did move forward a tad, never enough to tie up the gun.

Bentramrod,

Yeah, I forgot to mention with the bullet the blast seemed more like a crack, like the bullet had more velocity and power. I don't believe the mould is for sale anymore.

Joe