1860 army questions

bat119

bat119

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I have a 1860 Uberti on the way was curious about a few things

What size ball is used in a .44 cal? I have read that that you should try different sizes from .451 to .455 to find which one is the most accurate.
The question is after you push them into the chamber wouldn’t they be the same diameter? Shaving a small amount of lead would change the ball weight would it be enough to affect accuracy at 25 feet?

I went through my odds and ends and found a box of .457 round balls; would they be hard to load?
 
A small shaving of lead from the RB is what should happen when you push them in with the loading lever. It won't affect accuracy if all balls are the same diameter. Also, IMHO this is what prevents chainfire. You still need a lube to keep the fouling soft. If you are just starting off, buy a book written by Sam Fadala on blackpowder shooting.
 
One more thing I should mention again. Give the caps a slight squeeze to prevent them from falling off the nipples due to recoil, this I believe might be the cause of chainfire. Luckily I never had one happen.
 
those 457s are for something like the ruger old army, or some other 451 bore- in other words a 45- i think, being an italian clone , you're going to find out that your bore is a real 44 , and your ball size should be 450- point 1 over will give that to you, provided its SOFT lead and not alloy- i'm in the other situation- i have a 44 caliber mold( italian) and a 457 bore- i can use 44 cast in it, but it slips in the bore and i get a LOT of blowby- i get better results with 45acp bullets- now, giving that the norm is .006 oversize, if you can get those balls to seat, yes, the 457 ball can be fired, but that's asking a lot out of a chamber wall- i don't know if i wouldn't either re-cast using a 44 mold, or try to trade or sell - in your shoes, i'd certainly question being that much oversize- .13- roughly double the accepted norm- .006- it could go either way, and if you force it, you could end up having to replace your loading lever- and clean out the excess lead before you crisco it
and be sure and put your sprues( that's the little bit on the ball that sticks up ) up in the cylinder when you seat it- or straight down-if that contacts the sides of the barrel or cylinder, it gives a false diameter- makes the bullet APPEAR larger than it is
 
shooting .44

using a .454 in my original remington new army and it shaves off about 2 thou off all round when pressed into cylinder. used same on my italian copy of the same gun. the .457 was used in the ruger old army. i use 2 wads well lubricated on top of the 20 grains fffg and set the ball firmly on top then finish the chamber with crisco or beeswax/tallow mix. regards
 
Thanks I think for $15 bucks I'll get some .454 balls and go with those, the .457 were for a flint lock pistol I shoot just for the smoke and bang.
 
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