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lstrickland

32 Cal.
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I have what apears to be a 1960s production of a Navy Arms M1851 .36 cal. The only rounds i have found are conicals. Are they safe for this weapon, or are they more a rifle round ? Thanks in advance.
 
.375 roundballs should work fine. What conicals did you find? Just curious.

steve
 
Are they made by TC? Can you measure the diameter? I'm thinking(not a good sign) you have rifle conicals if they look like maxi-balls. Might be kinda long and heavy if they are indeed rifle projectiles. Can you weigh them? Sorry for all the questions, i'm easy to confuse.

steve
 
Im thinkin the same thing,they are a shad over a half inch long. Im thinkin they want leave much room for powder.dont really want to shoot rb.
 
Buffalo ball-ets weigh 120gr IIRC. Claim they are the only commercial manufacturers of conicals for cap&ball revolvers.
Lee still makes a 130gr conical mould. Cast your own or find some cast bullets on flea bay. They should be .375 diameter.
steve
 
FWIW the rb is and was the typical projectile for this gun
 
Chicken factor really. Keep hearing about chain firing due to improper loading. I guess the real issue is that an issue?
 
You can get chain fires with conicals too! Using a .375 roundball should seal the cylinder. If you use a overpowder wad then the projectile it will pretty much eliminate a chain fire. Some use grease over the projectile after loading the cylinders. Chain fires just make you have to reload sooner :grin: , and pry the ball off the loading ram :grin: , and clean the lead streaks off the side of the barrel.

steve
 
Yes, the number 11s might be big, just squeeze them a little if they are, try to find number. 10s if the 11s are too big. I use the felt wads, lubed over the powder. I don't use grease over the projectile, haven't had a chain fire in years. Have fun with it. I have found roundballs to be the least expensive and most accurate in any .36 i've shot. If you can find 0000 buckshot, it's less expensive and you get a bizzillion balls in a 25 lb. bag (bizzillion might be an exaggeration if it was a real number).

steve
 
I believe they are .380", work fine. Shave what looks like the same ring off when loading. Very hard to find them, not a popular size i suppose. I use pre-lubed felt. Some use milk carton or vegetable wads over the powder. Triple7 powder wants you to use cushion wads, the pre-lubed makes it easy. Sorry, i hogged this thread. Didn't even realize it till now. Again, sorry.

steve
Don't get #4 buck, not the same
 
As long as im learnin, hog away! Thanks again guys,this has been a huge help. This is a great site.
 
Grease over the ball with good fitting caps and you should not have a chain fire issue.
Crisco works fine! :v
 
If you wind up wanting to play with the Buffalo conicals made for the revolver at some point, both Cabela's and Dixie sell them. I used some and they were a tad difficult to load properly. The Cabela's website did warn that the smaller area for loading on the 1851 would make it an issue. I wound up turning them around and loading them with the round end toward the powder. They hit their target like a 38 spl wadcutter. :)
 
Chainfire is really a non-issue, provided you follow two simple rules:
1) Use either grease (Crisco, etc) over the end of the ball or a greased wad (Wonder Wad) over the powder. Some use both. I use just the wads and have zero problems.
2) Use the PROPER SIZE cap (i.e. tight fitting) Many shooters advocate using #11 caps and squeezing them to hold them in place....BAD IDEA. I would estimate the majority of chainfires are result of loose/displaced or missing caps rather than improperly sealed round balls. Mic out your chamber diameters and choose a RB .003-.005 larger than that. Seating the ball should shave a nice lead ring which pretty much indicates a tight seal (and eliminates the chainfire worry) I have fired many hundreds if not thousands of round balls and never experienced a chainfire.
(PM sent)
 
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