45 cal conicals?
- Thread starter Fox
- Start date
Yep, BP conicals for a 45 cal muzzleloader
Lee makes the REAL bullet mould and 45 minie ball moulds.Problem today is a lot of stuff is currently out of stock especially in the states do to the pandemic etc and also here in Canada muzzling guns aren t as popular as they once were.Your best bet is trying to find some used moulds once the gun shows get going again it should be no problem finding them
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Ya there are a few molds available but does anyone not make 45 cal conicals anymore? It would be good to be able to shoot some to see how they performed rather than buy all of the molds and then try.
you would be wise to use the Greenhill formula to calculate the longest projectile your gun would stabilize. Keep in mind that a twist of 1" faster than the formula give a margin of error in calculations. The formula is 150 X Diameter squared (in inches) divided by the twist rate = max length stabilized. To err on the short side of maximum, subtract 1" from the measured twist rate.
cheers mooncoon
cheers mooncoon
I pushed a brush down the bore, it seems to be a 1 in 36 or 1 in 38in twist, which should work with a round ball or a conical. The rifling is very shallow though, unlike my round ball 50 cal, so I think this was designed for conicals.
billbmcleod
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My first charcoal gun as a Hawkin and if you wanted accuracy of any kind you used a round ball due to the rifling. I tried all kinds of other bullets but had no luck. I didn't have a formula and was told that some guns just didn't like bullets. Scrounge a few from other shooters and try them. A round ball on a deer will still do the job.
Bill
Bill
Yep, shot a deer with a 50 cal round ball a few years back, did the job.
Just trying to see what would be out there, this is not a 1 in 66 twist, so not a round ball only twist, and compared to my round ball gun the rifling is minimal.
It is a euroarms from the 70s, so still working on the details of it.
Good to know mooncoon, will run the numbers on my TC and see what we get.
I picked up a couple of the Lee R.E.A.L molds in 50cal to try but it would make sense to run this calc first to make sure before I go any further .........
Thanks!
Get in touch with Jethunter. He's a custom bullet maker on this site and his boolits are very good. He may have what you're looking for.
Mind you, if you're only looking for 50 or so, he may not be willing to break out the molds and clean up the mess.
So my buddy sent me a message to let me know that he had some molds kicking around, round ball molds. He said one says "Lee 45 250", ha ha ha, so he said they were all round ball molds but one is actually a Lee REAL bullet mold. I will take a look at how that fits and shoots and go from there.
Conical 'picket ball'?
I have been down this bumpy road a couple of times. Tapered conical bullets called "picket balls" were used in ML rifles with a cloth patch. The reason they were tapered is that as the ball is seated in the barrel, the cloth bunches up around the bullet, requiring that it be tapered.
Where you get into trouble is that the taper of the bullet depends (obviously) on the thickness of the patch, while the thickness of the patch depends on the diameter of the ball. You can see that one can easily get into a situation where it is difficult to have the number of trials exceed the number of errors.
No doubt the originals were supplied with a mould and a sample of proper cloth from which proper loads could be achieved. Once properly loaded, their performance could exceed that of round-ball rifles. It is not uncommon to find choked barrels, wherein the diameter of the bore is smaller at the muzzle, which can add an additional complication.
AAR -- lots of luck with that rifle!
CHRIS
I have been down this bumpy road a couple of times. Tapered conical bullets called "picket balls" were used in ML rifles with a cloth patch. The reason they were tapered is that as the ball is seated in the barrel, the cloth bunches up around the bullet, requiring that it be tapered.
Where you get into trouble is that the taper of the bullet depends (obviously) on the thickness of the patch, while the thickness of the patch depends on the diameter of the ball. You can see that one can easily get into a situation where it is difficult to have the number of trials exceed the number of errors.
No doubt the originals were supplied with a mould and a sample of proper cloth from which proper loads could be achieved. Once properly loaded, their performance could exceed that of round-ball rifles. It is not uncommon to find choked barrels, wherein the diameter of the bore is smaller at the muzzle, which can add an additional complication.
AAR -- lots of luck with that rifle!
CHRIS
Not a picket rifle, this is a 70s era reproduction kentucky rifle.
I checked the twist and the rifling depth, seems as though it is a fast twist barrel with shallow rifling, so I suspect a conical will be the way to go, just have to source some or make some.
Is the bore 452 or 458? 452 would be the same size as a lot of pistol calibers.
458 is mmore along the size of a lot of rifle calibers.
Pm me your address and when i get home later this week i can send you some 250 grain
pistol boolit tgat i think dropped at 455 diameter.
I might have some hollow base LEE's in the 350 grain range, but i can't guarantee that
458 is mmore along the size of a lot of rifle calibers.
Pm me your address and when i get home later this week i can send you some 250 grain
pistol boolit tgat i think dropped at 455 diameter.
I might have some hollow base LEE's in the 350 grain range, but i can't guarantee that
