.31 Cal Round Ball

[swedesteve]

Hi to All !! I am a complete newbie to black powder and have been shooting a 50 cal percussion rifle and two 44 cal pistols. I was recently gifted a 31 cal Wells Fargo and I am having problems with getting ahold of some round ball for it. Can someone tell me what the diameter is supposed to be for a tight seal ?? Will single 0 Buck work ?? Thanks in advance !!

 

[Zonie]

Welcome to the forum.

A .320 or .321 diameter ball is recommended and a #0 buckshot is about that size.

The problem as I see it with using buckshot is that it usually is alloyed lead making it harder than the pure lead normally used in a C&B pistol.

If your Wells Fargo is the style without a loading lever you will have to remove the cylinder and tap the balls into the chambers so the extra hardness should not be an issue.

If your gun has a loading lever on it, it may not be strong enough to use to ram the buckshot balls into the chambers without breaking it.

Dixie gunworks sells .320 diameter lead balls for a resonable price but I don't have any idea what shipping them up to Alaska would cost. http://www.dixiegunworks.com/advan...db46837b326f1e76c27e0&keywords=BA0705&x=5&y=7

 

[napolean]

The mold I have, one of the little brass jobs that cast a RB and a conical,is right at .320"
They shoot well in my son's little .31 pocket Remmy.
Jon D

 

[swedesteve]

I do not have a loading lever. No one up here carries 31 cal. Shipping for one box from Dixie is $35-$45 !! Thats why I want to try Single 0 Buck.

 

[rwiliff]

Swedesteve,

I have a Wells Fargo .31 and use Hornady 0 buckshot. I just fill the chamber to the top with ffg then tap in the ball. I use a brass door key and a hammer to tap in the ball, then use a short brass rod and hammer to drive the ball a bit farther into the chamber. It sounds complicated, but it really is not. Oh yes, do not rest the cylinder on a valuable surface.

Warmest Regards,
Robert

 

[Zonie]

I do not have a loading lever. No one up here carries 31 cal. Shipping for one box from Dixie is $35-$45 !! Thats why I want to try Single 0 Buck.

Well, we folks down here in the lower 48 all know you guys have so much gold up there that you won't mind paying a few flakes of it for a little postage. :rotf:

If the gold ever runs out though you're in big trouble. :hmm:

 

[paulvallandigham]

Normally, because Cap and Ball revolvers are loaded with Lead RBs, you need to use a ball diameter that is Larger than the diameter of the chambers, so that a good SEAL is made when the ball is pushed into the chamber. A ring of lead is commonly scraped from the sides of the ball as its seated in the mouth of each chamber.

Because the balls are NOT loaded with patches around them( as we do with rifles) even using a wool or fiber wad down the chamber behind the ball does Nothing to hold the ball IN THE CHAMBER until you fire the gun! :shocked2: :idunno: :surrender:

PLEASE, measure BOTH the actual chamber dimensions for all 5 or 6 chambers of that cylinder, and then ALSO measure the diameter of the Throat at the back of the barrel. The two diameters need to be close to the same size to get any kind of accuracy from such revolvers.

Sadly, its Not uncommon to find the throat in the chamber( the front part where the ball is seated) to be SMALLER in diameter than the throat of the bore, sending an undersized ball into the barrel, to rattle down, gas blowing by it in the barrel, and going who knows where once it leaves the muzzle. A basketball size group at 30 feet is usually the result.

These guns can be made to shoot accurate, but it takes some work, and money to do so. The Alignment of Each chamber with the barrel has to be first established. Its not uncommon to find one chamber in 6 to be WAY OFF Center. Then, the throats of the chambers can be reamed to the larger diameter of the barrel.

My brother has a .44 cal. revolver that ha chambers that didn't line up with the barrel well at all. They have been redrilled, and you can easily see how off-center the original chambers were made by the "shelf" that now appears in the sides of the cylinder after the new drilling, and reaming. Instead of shooting .445 balls, he now shoots .457" balls in that revolver, as that is what fits the barrel on the gun. Even .454" diameter balls would fall down that original barrel- that is how badly the gun was manufactured originally. ( .440 vs. .457"). :thumbsup:

 

[Dave K]

I have found that not all companies that make and sell buck shot, make them equal. I have found Speer brand to be a undersized by about .010 and Hornady to be accurately sized. Now, this was several years ago, so they may have changed their sizing since then. Don't go by what the box says it measures as that is a tolerance and not the actual size. If you are buying at a dealership, ask them to actually mic several from each brand and then determine what you need.

 

[russecv58]

check with Midsouth shooter supply. they have round ball in .310 & .315 for just under $7 a box :thumbsup:

 

[BrownBear]

Track of the Wolf has 31 cal round balls (your choice, .310, .311, .315, .319, .320, and .323) for $8.99/100. They've also got Lee .311 and .319 double cavity RB molds for $19.25.

In my experience shipping stuff up here, the shipping calculator on their site is kind of a joke, saying they'll charge you a lot more than you think it should be. But then they ship USPS flat rate, so the price isn't bad at all. Last time I had an order come in, including 4 bags of 62 caliber balls, the shipping was something like $9, IIRC.

Welcome to the site BTW from another Alaskan. I'm out on The Rock along with a couple of others here on the site, and there are several others from your neck of the woods.

 

[ohio ramrod]

I do not have a loading lever. No one up here carries 31 cal. Shipping for one box from Dixie is $35-$45 !! Thats why I want to try Single 0 Buck.

Well, we folks down here in the lower 48 all know you guys have so much gold up there that you won't mind paying a few flakes of it for a little postage. :rotf:

If the gold ever runs out though you're in big trouble. :hmm:

Gold is softer than lead just use the gold to make your balls! :idunno: :rotf:

 

[russecv58]

that makes sense, 'cause if the buck of a life time steps out in front of ya, the that round ball would be worth its weight in gold :grin: