Conicals in BP revolvers?

dixda

CGN Regular
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Location
Kamloops B.C.
Anyone ever shoot conical bullets in their black powder revolvers? I just cast some in .36 cal. I used a tong type brass mould, like the original colt mould. I plan on trying them out on Sun. So far I got about thirty 92.5 gr bullets. Any advice on shooting conicals would be appreciated. KD
 
When shooting conicals, fouling is more of an issue. Best to use a lubed wad. Are they hollow base? If so, fill the hollow with Crisco. You don;t want air pockets under the bullets when the powder goes off and it'll help with the fouling. Also, the farther out you can seat (ie thick wad) the more accurate a conical will be.
 
if it's the little brass mould i'm thinking of - casts 1 round ball and 1 conical- used to come with some b/p revolvers, it's a solid base- i've never used a wad at all, just right tight has hard as you can over the powder, then fill the rest with crisco and level the cylinder off-you will find you need considerably more powder with conical, but you're throwing a heavier slug and you should get a better powder seal
 
Not a hollow base, here's a pic. I got this from another CGN. I've read that conicals take less powder, I figured because they're heavier.KD
 
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So Grasshopper, do you like what I sold you??
I always ended up getting sloppy or careless with the brass nutcracker mould and ended up burning my fingers.
Try the Lyman yet?
 
Yes, I'm quite happy with them. I used heavy leather work gloves, and managed to fumble through the casting procedure without any real burns. That brass mould does get pretty hot though. Thanks,again.KD
 
dixda said:
Yes, I'm quite happy with them. I used heavy leather work gloves, and managed to fumble through the casting procedure without any real burns. That brass mould does get pretty hot though. Thanks,again.KD
- a couple of screws and a couple of pieces of hardwood fixes that pretty quick- the mould is too short anyway- i use welders gloves to insulate my hands- but i've only been casting since 73- use ingots from the scrap yard, and an old coleman stove for heat- you have to run it wide open, but you can get it hot enough to melt with the 1 burner
 
I shoot conicals in both my 1847 Walkers (a .44 Armisanmarco and a .475 (rebored) Uberti) and they work great. I haven't found fouling to be an issue until I have put 30 or so shots thru them and then it is the basepin fowling that is the issue.
 
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