Lee conical (456-220-1R) for the Ruger old Army

[viperchannel]

Hey there!
I will pick up a ruger old army in a couple of days and while searching for information about that gun, I came across the Lee 456-220-1R 90384 mold.
It seems Lee used to make 2 molds especially for that revolver. Today, only one is still avalible, the 90384.

Did anyone ever use that mold? How is your expirience? I found an very old post where some people reported bad accuracy using that mold, but great sucess for hunting. Since I only want to use it for target shooting (just precision) I am unsure if I should get the mold. Also they are quite pricy over here where I live, so I would love to get some information to decide if I should order one.

I never shot conical bullets out of a revolver, just roundballs. Casting conical ones is a little bit more effort, and I would imagine I have to size and lube them also, since they have a lube groove If so, which diameter should the be sized? They get sized again when loaded in the drum so is this necessary?
If the accuracy is worse, where is the advantage in taking those extra steps? The only advantage would propably be to use them in paper cartridges for faster reloading.

Am I wrong here or is the information in the other post just wrong?

[gunther]

Check Lee Precision's web site for a discussion of the 90384. A bullet sized to .452 is a snug fit in a ROA chamber, and any cast 45 auto bullet will work. If you want to look for a real unicorn, Lyman made a 175 grain 45468 hollow base mold a long time ago. A .457 round ball will shoot as accurately as anything, and a mold should be easy to find. Don't know if your local laws allow it, but a ROA, loaded with all the black powder it will hold, and a round ball, will take deer if you can shoot into a 3 pound coffee can at 25 yards. The guns themselves are capable of 1-2 inch groups at 25 yards.

[viperchannel]

Thank you, I did not know that Lee has its own forum. I will check it out.
But if I get you right, I can just stick to round balls, if I am only going for precision?

[siamese4570]

Viperchannel, you're in for a good time. The ROAs are a lot of fun and very accurate. Look around for an article written by C. E. Harris about shooting the ROA. Very informative. Another option for a conical boolit is the 200 gr Lee REAL boolit. It's tapered so you don't have to size it. It gets sized when you load it. As far as accuracy, plain ole .457 round balls have worked the best for me. Also I've had good luck with Triple 7, 3f. Use a lube fiber wads under the ball. Buy or build yourself a loading stand. When it comes time to clean it, windex or the wally-world equivalent works great. Have fun! My ROA is the most accurate pistol in my cabinet!.
Siamese4570

[viperchannel]

I shot it yesterday for the first time. I used 454 roundballs and 21grn of 3F. It worked pretty well. I did not have enough time to try out different loads.

Since I am only going for precision, there seems to be no reason to get the mold for the conical bullet. So I will stick to roundballs. Thank you all, that saved me around 60$ (they are expensive here).

[viperchannel]

Viperchannel, you're in for a good time. The ROAs are a lot of fun and very accurate. Look around for an article written by C. E. Harris about shooting the ROA. Very informative. Another option for a conical boolit is the 200 gr Lee REAL boolit. It's tapered so you don't have to size it. It gets sized when you load it. As far as accuracy, plain ole .457 round balls have worked the best for me. Also I've had good luck with Triple 7, 3f. Use a lube fiber wads under the ball. Buy or build yourself a loading stand. When it comes time to clean it, windex or the wally-world equivalent works great. Have fun! My ROA is the most accurate pistol in my cabinet!.
Siamese4570

I found the article. Thats great information!

[M-Tecs]

The POI for conical will likely be different enough to require a different front sight. Round balls shoot great in both of my ROA's.

https://castboolits.gunloads.com/sho...army-load-help

[yeahbub]

The chambers on a friend's ROA pin checked at .453 and the .457 RB worked well. We "heeled" .454 conicals in the taper of a .308 case sizing die just a bit, so we could get them started in the chambers and they worked well. One mistake was using Pyrodex and Triple 7 in his stainless and not cleaning it promptly. T7 and Pyrodex are corrosive, even though they contain no sulfur. He was shocked to find pitting in the barrel, but there it was. One BP substitute that performed surprisingly well was Shooters World Black 3F, made by American Pioneer Powder for Shooters World. We used a .41 mag case as a measure and the 250gr RNFP's hammered the dingers. The nice thing about BP substitutes is that BP-compatible lubes are not necessary.

One thing you may find is that it may shoot high with conical boolits. Adding some height to the front blade with a piece of scrap steel and some JB Weld seems to work well.

Good luck with it and let us know how it all works out.