.44 Caliber Pistol Ball?

[grant]

I have two .44 caliber pistols that I haven't fired yet but I haven't made up my mind what ball size to use. I guess a .430 ball would be ideal to start with, but the closest thing I've seen to buy is .429. Close enough? or should I try .433 or drop down to .424?

 

[renovato]

What kind of guns are they? If they're revolvers, you'll be looking at .451, .454 or .457 balls, as they need to shave a bit of a ring as they seat. I find .454 perfect for stock Ubertis and .457 for Rugers or reamed Ubertis. At least for the 1858 models.

 

[TFoley]

The answer you get will depend on whether you have single-shot pistols, in which case you may well be on the right track - with appropriate patching - or revolvers, in which case the respondent above has given you the right answers. :hmm:

tac in Tokyo

 

[grant]

I'm sorry I should have specified that they are single shot muzzleloading pistols.

 

[Blizzard of '93]

Any of the sizes you mentioned will do well with the right patch thickness, but genenraly best results are obtained with the ball closest to bore size and tight lubed patch

 

[mec]

The Pedersoli LePage uses .433 -435 balls while some others use .440-.445.

 

[crockett]

Ditto on all being do-able. Be sure to try different sized/thick patches as well. For example I have a 50 caliber. With .010" patch it shoots 6" groups at 25 yards, with a .015" patch it shoots 2" groups. Generally you go .010" under bore size for a ball that will be shot for a single barrel pistol- not revolver, ie .490 for a 50 caliber, .530 on a 54 caliber, etc. but test out what you have. You may also want to build some sort of loading stand if you are shooting at a range.

 

[grant]

I think I'm leaning towards the .429 balls. I use pillow ticking in my rifle with Lehigh Valley lube. I'll give that a try. I don't have any max load info on these pistols so I thought I'd try 22-25 grains of 3F, that should be safe enough.

 

[TFoley]

Not being much of an expert but having shot a .44 cal Moore pistol for the last 29 years, for me it works best with lighter loads than those you mention. My best grouping, consistently, was shot using 15gr of FFg. The usual target for these weapons is a piece of paper, and you are not trying to knock it off its feet. :winking:
My Keuchenreuter, on the other paw, prefers even lighter loads of 12gr of the same stuff, and is even more accurate.

Your results may differ.

tac in Tokyo

 

[philo426]

I use .451 roundballs when I load my .44 1860 Army.When you seat the ball in the chamber with the loading lever,you should shave a thin ring of lead off of the ball.This ensures a tight fit and helps with accuracy.

 

[Zonie]

Pyrodex: That's true and as it should be with a revolver.
I think the gun that is being discussed is a single shot muzzleloader so the ball must be undersize.

zonie

 

[grant]

Hey I could try 15 grains too. You usually use 2F? I thought pistols loads are generally 3F.