Pietta 1858 New Army revolver and conical sizing

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smokedout

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Purchased a Pietta 1858 New Army revolver and want to develop a Conical bullet load
having issues getting my head around sizes of projectiles being recommended and what my cylinder and barrel slug at

so here goes I see recommended bullet sizes of .452 and .454
My Cylinder bore size is .445 and my barrel slugs .445 x 448

am I correct in thinking that any bullet size OVER .445 will be swedged down to .445 when pressed into the cylinder?
If so why would i want a cast bullet drop size to be anything over .448 to .450

What am I thinking wrong here

Thanks for any and all responses
 
Your thinking is not flawed but you want to shave off enough of a lead ring to seal the cylinder totally. Your cylinder interior may have rough machining marks that may not be filled with a projectile that is only a few thousands larger than what you have measured. Also, the other chambers may measure differently. It is best to err on the larger diameter than be undersized diameter. I'd go with the traditional wisdom of using a larger size projectile than a smaller one - and use pure lead for your cast bullets. Good luck.
 
smokedout said:
Purchased a Pietta 1858 New Army revolver and want to develop a Conical bullet load
having issues getting my head around sizes of projectiles being recommended and what my cylinder and barrel slug at

so here goes I see recommended bullet sizes of .452 and .454
My Cylinder bore size is .445 and my barrel slugs .445 x 448

am I correct in thinking that any bullet size OVER .445 will be swedged down to .445 when pressed into the cylinder?
If so why would i want a cast bullet drop size to be anything over .448 to .450

What am I thinking wrong here

Thanks for any and all responses
Click to expand...
My 2013 Pietta NMA measures .442 x .4535” but I reamed my chambers. I assumed they were there .446” like I’ve commonly read.
 
I champhered my cylinder but feel like I should have found the correct bullet first. correct bullet and likly no need to alter the cylinder?
 
You'll want a cap&ball specific conical bullet for your revolver.

"Eras Gone" makes reproduction conical molds that are heeled to load in C&B revolvers. They also make wonderful paper cartridges. Lee also makes a specific conical designed for C&B revolvers. A 450-200R I believe (?)

The learning curve of casting, lubing, and loading conicals is a little frustrating(!), and after all the work getting them cast and loaded, you discover that heavy bullets (over 200gr) will often cause the Remingtons hit very high.

Roundball is usually much more enjoyable for an afternoon of shooting.

For roundball I prefer a chamfered cylinder and a big .457 ball in every revolver...except the small Sheriff's models.
 
Most Pietta revolvers like a .454 bullet. My Uberti Walker likes a .457 so I shoot that in everything.

What you want to see is a shaved ring of lead when you drive the bullet into the chamber.
 
I shoot .454 roundballs and .457 conicals(kerrs)in the pietta 58's.
No reaming or chamfering and don't feel the need to they shoot pretty good as is for me.
 
Track of the Wolf sells conicals for .44 cal revolvers, 0.450 diameter, cast from the Lee mold. I ordered some over the weekend and hope to try them out with both my Uberti and Pietta revolvers. First time for conicals.

https://www.trackofthewolf.com/Categories/PartDetail.aspx/130/1/ball-450-200

BUT .... I use 0.454 roundballs, and based on that and what I'm reading here, my conicals are going to be undersized, aren't they?
 
thats what I thought but the lee loaded easy and did not cause any problems being loose. does Not shave any lead but does shave a wax ring after I lubed them. shot perfectly. I did put on a new front sight and then files that down gradually to get the proper elevation.
 
wiscoaster said:
Track of the Wolf sells conicals for .44 cal revolvers, 0.450 diameter, cast from the Lee mold. I ordered some over the weekend and hope to try them out with both my Uberti and Pietta revolvers. First time for conicals.

https://www.trackofthewolf.com/Categories/PartDetail.aspx/130/1/ball-450-200

BUT .... I use 0.454 roundballs, and based on that and what I'm reading here, my conicals are going to be undersized, aren't they?
Click to expand...
Yes, they will probably be undersized to the chamber.

If you want to shoot conical bullets, I recommend Eras Gone Bullet Molds.

https://www.erasgonebullets.com/
 
I thought they would be but the work well in my Pietta 1858. I have used them in two different cylinders with no problems.
 
hope the 200g lee works well for you. seems fine to me. I lubed them with lyman black powder bullet lube and no issues with chain fire or backing out of the chamber. I use 25g T7 3f I think the folks complaining of this bullet backing out are using max loads?
 
nick_1 said:
hope the 200g lee works well for you. seems fine to me. I lubed them with lyman black powder bullet lube and no issues with chain fire or backing out of the chamber. I use 25g T7 3f I think the folks complaining of this bullet backing out are using max loads?
Click to expand...
I do tend to fill the chambers.
😆
 
The ring of lead itself is not the goal.

What you are after is a band on the bullet, be it ball or Conical that seals from the powder flash leading to a chain fire.

The lead shaving can be an indicator your are achieving that. If the cylinder is oval below that, then you still can have a gap.

I have gone as low as .451 ball, but I put a lubed want behind that. It sure is not as good as sealing as a .454.

JD Conicals on line are .460 (I have some) so that is more a ROA bullet. Interesting as in theory those would be for the BP era revolvers.
 
Smokerr said:
The ring of lead itself is not the goal.

What you are after is a band on the bullet, be it ball or Conical that seals from the powder flash leading to a chain fire.

The lead shaving can be an indicator your are achieving that. If the cylinder is oval below that, then you still can have a gap.

I have gone as low as .451 ball, but I put a lubed want behind that. It sure is not as good as sealing as a .454.

JD Conicals on line are .460 (I have some) so that is more a ROA bullet. Interesting as in theory those would be for the BP era revolvers.
Click to expand...
They’re an original design for Colt and Remington revolvers and they work just dandy.
 
They’re an original design for Colt and Remington revolvers and they work just dandy.

The JD Concials I got are .460. They do not fit into my 47 Walker at all happily. Its a fight to get them moving to get seated.

They do fit the ROA fine with its larger chambers.
 
the larger 220g lee mold in .457? did not even begin to have a chance of fitting in my 1858 cylinder. the 200g .450 seems to work well.
 
Smokerr said:
They’re an original design for Colt and Remington revolvers and they work just dandy.

The JD Concials I got are .460. They do not fit into my 47 Walker at all happily. Its a fight to get them moving to get seated.

They do fit the ROA fine with its larger chambers.
Click to expand...

My Johnson and Dow mold puts out pure lead bullets at .461-462, which are quite difficult to load in all my 44 revolvers.

Got a cheapo Lee .457 sizing die, it's really fast to use, and makes the bullets load easily in all my revolvers. I throw them in a ziploc bag with a little alox lube before sizing. Works great.

https://www.midwayusa.com/product/1018523537?pid=427269
 

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