So I took my BP pistol to the range.......

kokanee king

kokanee king

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Yes, today was the day that I took my BP pistol to the range. I finally got my FFFG powder, my #11 caps and my .44cal balls. I get to the range, load my pistol the way I saw on a youtube video on how to do it as well as with expert advice on this forum. Yup even down to the grease to prevent the nuclear explosion that could happen.
Anyway as i squeeze off the first round, well you couldnt wipe the smile off my face no matter how hard you scrubbed :D After i squeezed off a few more rounds I noticed strange anomilies coming out of my pistol. It appeared as though the lead balls were falling out BEFORE they made it to the barrel itself. I was wondering wtf so after I was done i really took my time. I noticed that after i pressed the ball into place with the ball seater the balls were becoming loose, as in loose enough they were almost rolling out again.
Now I know your going to ask what size ball was in there, well I got some Frontier .440 cal balls. I was told these were good enough. Apparently not as im thinking the ball is actually to small.
What do you guys think? Oh yeah, i was loading close to 30 grains of FFFG powder.
 
According to youtube you want a ball bigger than the chamber, so that when you force the ball into the chamber a thin ring of lead visibly gets shaven off.
 
If the gun is a .44, you should be using .450 balls roughly. Most definitely you should shave a ring of lead off of the ball when pressing it home. Also chain fires are primarily caused by a cap falling off of a nipple and flame from the cylinder firing "leaking" forward down the now open and uncapped nipple. Finally you will probably find you get best results with less than a full charge of powder and by using something like cornmeal or cream of wheat as a filler between the powder and the ball and with the ball seated to just below the front of the cylinder

cheers mooncoon
 
You should be shooting .454 balls. whoever told you .440 balls were good enough knows nothing about BP revolvers. Some ".44;s" shoot as big as .457 balls. 30 grns of FFFG and a .454 ball will make a satisfactory boom and give you surprisingly good accuracy
 
.454 is what you need will work in most .440 are for use in a 45 cal muzzel loader with a patch . chamber and bore size on a 44 cap and ball is actually 45
 
mooncoon said:
If the gun is a .44, you should be using .450 balls roughly. Most definitely you should shave a ring of lead off of the ball when pressing it home. Also chain fires are primarily caused by a cap falling off of a nipple and flame from the cylinder firing "leaking" forward down the now open and uncapped nipple. Finally you will probably find you get best results with less than a full charge of powder and by using something like cornmeal or cream of wheat as a filler between the powder and the ball and with the ball seated to just below the front of the cylinder

cheers mooncoon
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So do you not use a cotton wad on a black powder pistol? I had assumed you would load it the same as a rifle.
 
stuckon308 said:
So do you not use a cotton wad on a black powder pistol? I had assumed you would load it the same as a rifle.
Click to expand...

If its a single shot muzzle loading pistol you would load it the same as a rifle with a tight patched ball that is 5-10 thou undersize.

When you are loading a BP revolver you need balls that are OVER bore size - generally .452-.457 for a .44. A ring of lead should be shaved off the entire circumfrence of the ball as its seated (hence the need for very soft balls). This will give best accuracy and seal to prevent a chain-fire.
 
vagrantviking said:
If its a single shot muzzle loading pistol you would load it the same as a rifle with a tight patched ball that is 5-10 thou undersize.

When you are loading a BP revolver you need balls that are OVER bore size - generally .452-.457 for a .44. A ring of lead should be shaved off the entire circumfrence of the ball as its seated (hence the need for very soft balls). This will give best accuracy and seal to prevent a chain-fire.
Click to expand...

Ok thanks. I was taking for granted that he was using a single shot.
 
DAMN..........My balls are once again to small :D

Okay, all is not lost. I will have to buy a 45 cal muzzle loader with a patch in order to shoot these small balls :rolleyes: and acquire the CORRECT size balls .454 to shoot in my pistol.
Thanks so much guys :rockOn:
 
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