Lee conicals for .44 revolvers

I recently bought the 220g .457 lee mold and found it impossible to load without completly mashing the bullet into the cylinder with a mallet on the bench. hard to get them straight but I essentually swaged them into the cylinder. completely mashed. even if it started crooked as heck I hammered it in there and reformed it to the cylinder. total PINTA but they actually shot pretty straight. Seemed like not a great plan though and arduous. lots of recoil and very high impact. I then ordered the 200g .450 mold. this one seems to work pretty good. The bottom band is .443 while the start of the conical is .450 they load really easily. Set nice and low in the cylinder and then seat easily with no shaving. I wish that shoulder was a bit tighter. .452 would be nice but they seem to work. I have shot about 50 of them. no backing out under recoil. accuracy seems about the same as RB but with very high impact point. I have a new front sight on order as the one on the gun was filed down for RB. Hoping the new sight will be tall enough. They hit a LOT harder than RB. really sends my steel flying. Makes it feel a lot more like modern power. nasty big soft slug.

I use the Lee REAL .451 on top of a wad a 30 grains for my hunting load. They really pack a punch!

nick_1 said:

I recently bought the 220g .457 lee mold and found it impossible to load without completly mashing the bullet into the cylinder with a mallet on the bench. hard to get them straight but I essentually swaged them into the cylinder. completely mashed. even if it started crooked as heck I hammered it in there and reformed it to the cylinder. total PINTA but they actually shot pretty straight. Seemed like not a great plan though and arduous. lots of recoil and very high impact. I then ordered the 200g .450 mold. this one seems to work pretty good. The bottom band is .443 while the start of the conical is .450 they load really easily. Set nice and low in the cylinder and then seat easily with no shaving. I wish that shoulder was a bit tighter. .452 would be nice but they seem to work. I have shot about 50 of them. no backing out under recoil. accuracy seems about the same as RB but with very high impact point. I have a new front sight on order as the one on the gun was filed down for RB. Hoping the new sight will be tall enough. They hit a LOT harder than RB. really sends my steel flying. Makes it feel a lot more like modern power. nasty big soft slug.

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Is your gun an Uberti or Pietta?

Pietta 1858

You should only use soft lead. If force is needed, don't do it.

I have the .450 lee, it does alright in my revolvers, still need to play with it more. I really like the lee REAL 200gr. On some of my revolvers the bottom ring needs a light push, then the second ring lines the bullet up straight.

They both shoot high but the REAL give better groups. Like you said, they do have a good thump to em, i can just squeeze 40 gr of 3f under them in my ruger. Little over 35 gr in my remy's. Been wanting to get a couple molds from accurate but haven't gotten around to it yet.

I use soft lead. The label on my mold is 450-200-1R so perhaps it is the Real? it does exactly what you said in my pietta cylinders. first ring fits in the cylinder and the 2nd ring straightens it out. I checked and it does load fine in the revolver but I usually load on the bench with my loader press. I find that to be much faster.
My new front sight was in my mail box when I got home from work today. wasted no time installing it. The new front sight makes it shoot low by about 6 inches @ 25yrds. I got my windage figured out just before I lost daylight. will work on the elevation the next chance I get. might not be until Monday after work but we will see. Just as it was getting dark I did a free hand cylinder. got a coupple of bullseyes and two 5inch steel plates at 10 yrds with a 12 oclock hold. it hits the steel twice as hard as .50cal RB. Very impressive!

I had problems with those backing partway out the cylinder under recoil and jamming the cylinder.
The Kerrs from erasgone seat,shave a ring and stay in place.
Still like balls better though.

so far I have not had any troubble with them backing out. I was disappointed that I wasted money on the .457 mold, I had allready ordered the .450 mold when I read about your experience with it. Then I found the link to the Kerr mold and wanted to order that but had allready ordered the Lee .450 and starting to feel pretty stupid about how much money I had into this. Then the Lee 200g showed up and I gave it a try. Unlike the lee .457 220g the 200g bullet dropped right into the cylinders and loaded perfectly. seems to shoot good and so far no problems . I have only shot about 100 of them. That will change. I have 196 of them on deck.

nick_1 said:

I recently bought the 220g .457 lee mold and found it impossible to load without completly mashing the bullet into the cylinder with a mallet on the bench. hard to get them straight but I essentually swaged them into the cylinder. completely mashed. even if it started crooked as heck I hammered it in there and reformed it to the cylinder. total PINTA but they actually shot pretty straight. Seemed like not a great plan though and arduous. lots of recoil and very high impact. I then ordered the 200g .450 mold. this one seems to work pretty good. The bottom band is .443 while the start of the conical is .450 they load really easily. Set nice and low in the cylinder and then seat easily with no shaving. I wish that shoulder was a bit tighter. .452 would be nice but they seem to work. I have shot about 50 of them. no backing out under recoil. accuracy seems about the same as RB but with very high impact point. I have a new front sight on order as the one on the gun was filed down for RB. Hoping the new sight will be tall enough. They hit a LOT harder than RB. really sends my steel flying. Makes it feel a lot more like modern power. nasty big soft slug.

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I used those in my ruger old army no issues. Are they soft lead? I have 6 cavity round ball for the ruger old army. The 457 round ball 6 cavity for all my 44 piettas slightly harder to start on those but shoots awesome. I hae two era gone for the 44. The dowes .460 ruger likes those. The kerr not so much. But drops at .457.

soft lead.

If its round nose then its the normal lee pistol conical. The REAL has a semi pointed tip, like a t/c maxi.

The 220 grain .457" is intended for the Ruger Old Army. I use the 200 grain version in both my 1858 and 1860 with excellent results and easy loading. I find it load better than the heeled bullet and I can use more powder.

I have the round nose.
anyone know what the weight and charge of a .36 conical was in a standard service paper cartridge? same with a standard union army paper .44 pistol cartridge?

just answered my own question..

Union Army ordnance manuals of 1861 specify a load of 30 grs of powder with a .46-caliber, 216 gr. conical ball in Colt M1860 revolvers.
The same manual specifies a .39-caliber conical bullet of 145 grs., over 17 grs. of powder.
An official Confederate States publication specifies a 250 gr. conical bullet over 30 grs. of powder for the Colt M1860 revolver.
The Confederate specification for the Colt Navy is the same as the Union (.39 caliber conical of 145 grs. over 17 grs. powder).
In the 1860s an average load for the Colt M1860 .44 revolver was 25 grs. of powder with a 146 gr. (about 460" diameter) round ball or a conical bullet of about 230 grs.
The average load for the Colt Navy was 15 grs. of powder with an 81 gr. (about .380" diameter) round ball or a conical bullet of about 146 grs.
Old loadings will occasionally list a 218 gr. conical bullet with a 40 to 50 gr. powder charge. This is intended for the Colt Model 1847 Walker or the later Dragoons, which have a larger capacity than the Colt M1860 .44 revolver.
Of great interest in this article is the apparent dissection of original paper cartridges and the weighing of their powder charge and conical ball weight.
The results follow:
COLT ARMY .44
Hazard Powder Co. - 211 gr. conical / 36 grs. powder
Bartholow's - 260 gr. conical / 19 grs. powder
Johnston & Dow - 242 gr. conical / 35 grs. powder
Unknown - 257 gr. conical / 17 grs. powder
Unknown - 207 gr. conical / 22 grs. powder
Hotchkiss - 207 gr. conical / 22 grs. powder
COLT NAVY .36
Hazard Powder Co. - 141 gr. conical / 21 grs. powder
Bartholow's - 139 gr. conical / 14 grs. powder
Johnston & Dow - 150 gr. conical / 17 grs. powder
Unknown - 155 gr. conical / 12 grs. powder
Unknown - 149 gr. conical / 13 grs. powder

I use soft lead. Johnson-Dowe conical cast with mold from ERAS GONE.
Or plain old 454 RBs.

Sparkplug said:

I use the Lee REAL .451 on top of a wad a 30 grains for my hunting load. They really pack a punch!

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What Sparkplug said, work fine in my Colt and Rem.,

with a 200g conical that is a bit light to be historically accurate but I feel pretty good about it. its a conical and pretty close to what would have been used.

Not HC but very effective…

nick_1 said:

Pietta 1858

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Mine is an original 1865 build New Model Army. I only use RB.