Author Topic: Ball size (Read 937 times)

gheld · « **on:** August 07, 2004, 12:24:22 PM »

I'm about to buy a 44 1858 and I was wondering about the correct ball size. Instead of buyinh different size balls and seeing which fit better would be possible to take a micrometer and measure the inside of the cylinder to get the size? If so, how much larger than cylinder should the ball be?

Wynn · « **Reply #1 on:** August 07, 2004, 01:32:01 PM »

My Pietta 1858 Remington shoots best with .457 dia. roundball, wonderwad & 30 grains of fffg Goex. I have tried .451 and .454 RB and as little as 20 grains of powder but it is most accurate with the .457's.

JS44 · « **Reply #2 on:** August 08, 2004, 01:14:29 AM »

Wynn your gun and mine must have been made at different times.
I tried .457's with my Pietta 58 Remington too but it was so hard to get the balls pressed in that I bent the loading lever slightly. It bent to the side and not in the direction of force. I gave the rest of them to someone that has a Ruger Old Army. The .454's seem to be just right and they shave off a little ring of lead when they go in the chamber.
JS

Wynn · « **Reply #3 on:** August 08, 2004, 02:26:14 AM »

I purchased mine about a year ago from Cabela. The .451 did not shave a ring at all and the .454 barely would. I cast my own RB's using very soft, pure lead and that may be making a difference.

gheld · « **Reply #4 on:** August 08, 2004, 03:41:11 AM »

I said the wrong thing. I meant a caliper. What I want to know is if I measure it and let's say it is .452, should I use a .454 ball or go to a .457? How much larger should the ball be than the diameter of the chambers or is it just a guess?

mec · « **Reply #5 on:** August 08, 2004, 08:47:57 AM »

I have two ubertis both with caliper measured chambers of .450. So,I use either .451 or 454. Both work very well and even though the small size doesn shave a ring of lead, the balls don't creep forward with recoil.
Pietta recommends .454 with their LeMat but mine measures .448. The 454s are way too big and the .451s shave a healty ring of lead.

The caliper thing works very well.

gheld · « **Reply #6 on:** August 08, 2004, 09:19:22 AM »

So you basically want to do to the next higher size ball from what the chambers measure? I am just trying to take out some of the guess work so i don't have 4 different size balls floating around and having three that don't work very well

mec · « **Reply #7 on:** August 08, 2004, 05:04:39 PM »

Yeh. measuring with a caliper gets you there. It might be more precise if you had a chamber plug to measure but just using the inside blades will work fine. There is a general feeling that the bigger the ball, the swaging will take place upon loading and the more bore contact will take place. I've actually shot marginally better groups with the .451 in a .450 chamber than with the .454s. If my chambers were exactly the same measurement as the balls however, I would expect the balls to move forward as the gun recoils and this wouldnt be good.

Gatofeo · « **Reply #8 on:** August 08, 2004, 07:21:06 PM »

If I were you, I'd buy a box of .454 inch balls. Preferably those made by Speer. Every time I buy a box of Hornady balls I always seem to find a few out-of-round balls in a box of 100. It likely makes no difference with a cap and ball pistol but it irks me.
I stopped using .451 inch balls years ago. I got beter accuracy with .454 and .457 inch balls in my .44s.

mec · « **Reply #9 on:** August 09, 2004, 07:52:58 AM »

Gatofeo just reminded me of something. I've found some .451 balls that were either uneven or smaller than nominal and they load a lot easier than the average. By following his practice of using .454s, you avoid any or most negative consequences.

J.W.Neely · « **Reply #10 on:** August 12, 2004, 01:02:03 AM »

mec, those are some nice photos, very professional, are you writting a book?
I love those Ubertis , I have several 1860 Ubertis and they have given me great service.
I always use 454 as they shave a nice ring.

mec · « **Reply #11 on:** August 12, 2004, 04:40:15 AM »

JWN

That's what's going on. SAAMAN and I are trying to cover the entire caplock era with special attention to shooting what's available. We have a few Armys of different vintages around and the 2004 vintage Uberti has an extremely light action- factory original but like somebody had engineered it for optimum shooting. I'd like to hear about your experiences with them.

Ive been putting this down in ms word on a 6x9 paginating template and, on screen, it looks like a book. It should be a straightforward thing for a printer/binder to run if off on a 1200 dpi machine but there's probably some complications I don't know about.

Book's main purpose is to keep us interested and occupied. I don't think there is a big market for it but it will be different as it is not a product of the shooting industry or press and says things you won't find there.

HWooldridge · « **Reply #12 on:** August 12, 2004, 11:53:44 AM »

MEC,

My 1860 Uberti (2003 vintage) shoot groups like that but about 12 inches high. I assume your groups were closer to point of aim?

mec · « **Reply #13 on:** August 12, 2004, 12:32:24 PM »

From the bench, I was holding on the middle of the square below and left of the one with the group in it. I tend to shoot a few inches higher off hand. I have tooled the notch over a bit to correct windage and have trimmed the height of the rear hammer notch a little. Still shoots a bit high but not as high as you report. I usually get those results with the Navys and others with the little bead for a front sight.

J.W.Neely · « **Reply #14 on:** August 13, 2004, 12:48:35 AM »

I have been shooting the 1860 Ubertis about a year and the only
modification was the Thunder Ridge nipples, other than that they are factory,they have nice smooth actions, and nothing has broken.
I have been using Elephant FFG, enough to fill the cylinders,
and they just keep on going, nice boom and on target.
Seems like the trick is keeping the lube over the balls and the things will shoot all day.
I have used 3f, and with the cylinders full it makes one hell of a boom, but...I have a cache of ffg so that is my powder of choice. ( might try some of the Goex Cowboy I got fer free)
I figured Col. Colt made those cylinders to be filled up!

HWooldridge · « **Reply #15 on:** August 13, 2004, 10:02:15 AM »

Even from the bench with two hands, I have to hold 12 inches low to get the balls to strike POA. I have gotten somewhat used to it but it would be nice if they shot closer. I just don't want to spend the effort to raise the front sight at this time. However, I cannot complain about the groups - often times, I have gotten cloverleafs at 25 yds. and they are centered on target.