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Does anybody know where I can find .36 caliber conical bullets for sale? I am not looking for a mold. I have had horrible luck with casting pure lead, and that is what is needed for an 1851 revolver. I just want to try some conical bullets instead of round balls. My Google-fu seems to be sucking today, as I have only found one place online that sells them, and they are out of stock.
-Mb
Lead does not have to be pure. A very small about of tin will make the lead flow better without making it noticeably harder.
Will 20:1 work? Or does it have to be less than that?
It can be less.
If you are using a steel framed gun the 1:20 should be fine. The LEE conical double cavity mold works great in the Remingtons and the 1861 Navy. I have never owned a 36 caliber '51 style Navy so I don't know if there is any problem with loading the LEE bullet but I doubt it. Someone else surely can verify the fit.
Do a search for Eras gone. I don't know if they sell bullets or just the molds. They have quite a few videos on youtube about conicals and paper cartridges.
Personally, I have always been satisfied with a round ball from my Colt replicas. Use less lead too.
Robert
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https://www.gun.rodeo/bullseye/ammun...-Ball-Conicals
https://www.trackofthewolf.com/list/item.aspx/129/1
If your 51 is a Uberti don't be surprised if you can't seat a conical in it.
None would seat properly because the chambers have a slight taper to them.
You might try to make paper cartridges, but it's a lot of effort for little joy.
I liked the eras gone molds, but they are sold out for the foreseeable future. And I hate to invest $70 in something that may or may not shoot well in my gun. It is a Pietta, by the way, so it should have enough room to load conical bullets well. I may just have to wait until the regular stores have them back in stock. It seems like the places that have them in now want as much as premium JHPs for them at the moment. And this project isn't that high of a priority right now.
Those look like what I am looking for. It looks like they are heeled bullets for the old Colt .38 cartridges. Is there any reason not to use them in a cap and ball revolver? Am I missing anything, or should those work just fine?
Are you not getting good accuracy with RBs?
Do you know what diameter your piece needs?Quote:
Originally Posted by gun toting monkeyboy
Uberti .36's use an unpatched .375" RB, and a conical diameter should be no different...….Quote:
Originally Posted by Good Cheer
They will work just fine. As you are aware, the Eras Gone Colt bullet is heeled as well.
gun toting monkeyboy,
Pietta's that I've measured the chambers on have been around 0.369". If the bullet will not slip into the chambers before shearing their larger diameter part with the ram, well, you're liable to have a difficult time loading them. The Pietta frames don't have much clearance to get an elongated bullet under the ram. If the bullet doesn't slip in a ways first it gets to be a problem trying to seat a bullet with adequate alignment for accurate shooting.
My solution was to use a round ball mold with an added adjustable length cylindrical tail that slips into the chambers. This precision work was done by Mr. Erik Ohlen at hollowpointmold.com.
http://i.imgur.com/9OqK2CC.jpg
Or to change the piece itself, like this Pietta .36 turned into a .40 caliber, shooting .410 round ball.
http://i.imgur.com/IVn5fpw.jpg
There's not a lot of bullet molds that are suitable to adaptation for use in .36 caliber revolvers so it kinda leave a body plenty of room for individual experimentation. Something I'd like to try is having the chambers themselves not being cylindrical, but with an interior bevel step (located to meet the base of the bullet) at the bottom of a brief tapered portion that the bullet swages into. That way a greater variance in bullet diameters, lengths and geometries could be accommodated and the chambers themselves would provide the aligning mechanism during the seating of the bullets. Another idea, maybe some day.
This Pietta 1858 Remington was reworked to shoot .41 caliber revolver molds.
http://i.imgur.com/o9OwvCH.jpg
It and the .40 caliber 1851 were done by Mr. John Taylor who did a very fine conversion on each.
Old West Molds offers two weights - 125 gr. and 150 gr. - you can buy the mold or just buy the bullets. The OD of the bullet is .375 and the heel .358 - both made for use in .36 cal. cap and ball revolvers with conversion cylinders. I use the 150 grain version in my Pietta 1858 Reming Navy with a Howell conversion cylinder.
The design should work just fine using a C & B cylinder - the only possible issue is if they clear your loading cutout under the loading ram. They will work just like the original style heeled bullet such as the Eras
gome mold casts.
My suggestion would be to try the 125 grain. Bernie's "Old West) moulds aren't cheapp but they are exceptionally high quality. I have the .375 - 150 gr. RN mold and it is fantastic. I just ordered the 125 grain - .375 heeled RN mold as the 150 grain version I have = loaded in Starline 38 Colt Long brass is too long for my new Howell conversion cylinder for my Uberti 1851 Navy - the bulet protrudes beyond the face of the cylinder - but the 125 grain version should work just fine.
Additional Info: As per Old West - the length of the .375 - 125 grain RN heeled bullet (the bullet itself not including the heel) is approx. .335". This is from the intersection of the .378 bullet body and heel to the tip of the round nose of the bullet - when placed in the cylinder of a C & B revolverslver, the heel would sit down in the chamber and .335 would extend above the face of the cylinder and rotate into the loading window under the ram. That .335 dimension should help you to determine if there would be clearance for them in your particular revolver or not.
You can order a number of different cast bullets from them and they also make and sell the molds.