This morning I tried some of my cast Kerr .44 bullets (225 gr.) in my stock Pietta 1860 Army. It has always been a great shooter with round balls. Now, I have shot 100's of the Kerr bullets through my Pietta 1858 Remington with great results, but today was the first time trying them on the 1860.
Started off with 25 grains (volume for everything) of 777 3f, shooting over the chrono. First shot 917 fps, second 883, but then velocity fell off rapidly with remaining 4 shots, below 600 fps by the sixth shot. Hmmm. Maybe oil in the chamber, even though I popped caps. Tried another cylinder, same results. Must be bad powder, so I switch to Pyro P. First shot 815 fps, then falling to 583fps by sixth shot. I guess I'm slow today, because I have never had these kind of results before, and I should have realized something "Wonky" was going on. But instead, I decide maybe my Pyro P is bad, even though I have used it for decades with no issues. Go and retrieve some brand new, unopened, Swiss 3f. First shot 807 fps, then the same reduction in velocity until the 6th shot. Go to cock the hammer, and it will not come back. Cap jam? Nope, the Kerr bullet is halfway out of the cylinder, rattling loose! They all shaved lead when loaded, but apparently they are coming loose under recoil, losing their gas seal, and I'm getting the results I have reported. Very fortunate not to have a chain fire. Once I finally figured out what was going on, I loaded another cylinder, and checked the bullets after each shot. They were wiggling around and I could move them with a small stick in the chamber. Usually, I'm a faster learner than that. DUH!! Lucky nothing more unfortunate happened.
I have shot hundreds of the Kerr Bullets in my Pietta 1858, no issues with accurate and consistent results. Learned I should never make assumptions, same manufacturer, you would think the chambers are sized the same. They are not, and I measured to ascertain that fact. The 1860 will be a round ball shooter (.457, which it does very well with) from here on out. Don't be a dummy like me, if something odd is happening, get to the bottom of it while you still got all your eyes and fingers!
Started off with 25 grains (volume for everything) of 777 3f, shooting over the chrono. First shot 917 fps, second 883, but then velocity fell off rapidly with remaining 4 shots, below 600 fps by the sixth shot. Hmmm. Maybe oil in the chamber, even though I popped caps. Tried another cylinder, same results. Must be bad powder, so I switch to Pyro P. First shot 815 fps, then falling to 583fps by sixth shot. I guess I'm slow today, because I have never had these kind of results before, and I should have realized something "Wonky" was going on. But instead, I decide maybe my Pyro P is bad, even though I have used it for decades with no issues. Go and retrieve some brand new, unopened, Swiss 3f. First shot 807 fps, then the same reduction in velocity until the 6th shot. Go to cock the hammer, and it will not come back. Cap jam? Nope, the Kerr bullet is halfway out of the cylinder, rattling loose! They all shaved lead when loaded, but apparently they are coming loose under recoil, losing their gas seal, and I'm getting the results I have reported. Very fortunate not to have a chain fire. Once I finally figured out what was going on, I loaded another cylinder, and checked the bullets after each shot. They were wiggling around and I could move them with a small stick in the chamber. Usually, I'm a faster learner than that. DUH!! Lucky nothing more unfortunate happened.
I have shot hundreds of the Kerr Bullets in my Pietta 1858, no issues with accurate and consistent results. Learned I should never make assumptions, same manufacturer, you would think the chambers are sized the same. They are not, and I measured to ascertain that fact. The 1860 will be a round ball shooter (.457, which it does very well with) from here on out. Don't be a dummy like me, if something odd is happening, get to the bottom of it while you still got all your eyes and fingers!
