3F and 141gr round ball in 455 Webley?

[flying pig]

Has anyone used this combo before? Reason I’m asking is I have a pile of both on hand and just bought an antique revolver in 455 Webley. I don’t mind cleaning my firearms thoroughly after each use and I just started shooting BP in a muzzleloader as well, so know the drill for cleaning and care. Thoughts?

 

[backpacker336]

I don't see why not, would make a good target load. You can still make a decent crimp with lead balls.

 

[Alex McKr]

flyingpig: Have not loaded .455 Webley, but various similar cartridges, ie: .45 Colt, .45 Schofield, etc., with a light charge of bp and a ball. Works well. I agree with backpacker336. A good crimp can be formed. Simply pay attention to overall stack height, once powder is compressed. You want to form the crimp slightly past center and into the forward curvature of the ball. Does not have to be a heavy crimp. Just enough to hold the ball firmly in place during recoil.

Al

 

[Rick]

I have both a Webley and a S&W Triple Lock chambered in .455 Webley. Talk about the complete opposite of shooting PPC 1500 match and Distinguished revolvers; two different worlds!







(That last pic is a WWII ball round, my .455 reloads in .45 Schofield brass with the rims thinned and trimmed just enough to chamber, a 10mm pistol round for comparison, and the RCBS cast bullet in front for comparison.)

Having tried assorted combinations of cast bullets and powders, I learned what the Brits apparently knew all along: the hollow based Mk II service round grouped better than anything else in both revolvers. Attempts included muzzleloader cast round balls pressed into service.

Meh... the Webley in particular has a forcing cone much larger than the chamber diameter, and it doesn't treat round balls well after they leave the cylinder to arrive and rattle through what isn't a barrel forcing cone. Use some pin gauges on your Webley to compare chamber mouth diameters to the barrel after the forcing cone....

The skirted hollow based Brit service round and RCBS mould that replicates that service round was probably intended to deal with that in Mini ball type fashion.

Well, I learned that AFTER I finally spent the cash to buy RCBS's mould that produces a faithful copy of that ball round. Frustration eliminated almost immediately.

If you WANT to use BP or a replica BP powder and round balls, it will certainly work. But if you want to shoot replica service ammunition and/or try to wring out best performance possible, then I'd suggest you put those Ross-collecting capabilities of yours to work finding one of those RCBS moulds. That's only my opinion of course, but I'm going to stick to it.

If you get stuck on that (and remembering how much you did to help my brother in Redcliff with his Ross restoration efforts), I'll offer to loan you my RCBS .455 Webley mould. You can then cast enough bullets to last you a lifetime and more, then you can return it to me after having done that.

I think I have enough bullets cast already to get me through whatever time I have left on this mortal coil. But like my Long Branch Lee Enfield No. 4 rifle and the Accurate molds I had Tom cut for it, the mold will go to whoever becomes the next owner of those two revolvers after I'm taking the long dirt nap on the other side of the grass.

 

[BlackPowderBurner]

Rick, MP Molds in Slovenia are the current go to for a hollow base 455 mold. They even manage a 4 cavity design which is quite nice.

 

[flying pig]

I have both a Webley and a S&W Triple Lock chambered in .455 Webley. Talk about the complete opposite of shooting PPC 1500 match and Distinguished revolvers; two different worlds!

View attachment 1127717

View attachment 1127720

View attachment 1127721

(That last pic is a WWII ball round, my .455 reloads in .45 Schofield brass with the rims thinned and trimmed just enough to chamber, a 10mm pistol round for comparison, and the RCBS cast bullet in front for comparison.)

Having tried assorted combinations of cast bullets and powders, I learned what the Brits apparently knew all along: the hollow based Mk II service round grouped better than anything else in both revolvers. Attempts included muzzleloader cast round balls pressed into service.

Meh... the Webley in particular has a forcing cone much larger than the chamber diameter, and it doesn't treat round balls well after they leave the cylinder to arrive and rattle through what isn't a barrel forcing cone. Use some pin gauges on your Webley to compare chamber mouth diameters to the barrel after the forcing cone....

The skirted hollow based Brit service round and RCBS mould that replicates that service round was probably intended to deal with that in Mini ball type fashion.

Well, I learned that AFTER I finally spent the cash to buy RCBS's mould that produces a faithful copy of that ball round. Frustration eliminated almost immediately.

If you WANT to use BP or a replica BP powder and round balls, it will certainly work. But if you want to shoot replica service ammunition and/or try to wring out best performance possible, then I'd suggest you put those Ross-collecting capabilities of yours to work finding one of those RCBS moulds. That's only my opinion of course, but I'm going to stick to it.

If you get stuck on that (and remembering how much you did to help my brother in Redcliff with his Ross restoration efforts), I'll offer to loan you my RCBS .455 Webley mould. You can then cast enough bullets to last you a lifetime and more, then you can return it to me after having done that.

I think I have enough bullets cast already to get me through whatever time I have left on this mortal coil. But like my Long Branch Lee Enfield No. 4 rifle and the Accurate molds I had Tom cut for it, the mold will go to whoever becomes the next owner of those two revolvers after I'm taking the long dirt nap on the other side of the grass.

Rick, this is MOST appreciated. Thank you for taking the time to write this up. PM incoming!