44 Pietta Army

[dlimoges]

What size round ball? I bought 44 cal .433 and it just rolls down the cylinder of a of a Pietta army.It should work patched in a 44 cal Jukar rifle.

 

[CoyoteJoe]

Yep, rifles need undersize balls to allow for the patch thickness. Revolvers need oversize balls to fit tightly and seal the chambers. I'd try a .454" ball. Cap&ball revolvers called .44 caliber actually have the same bore diameter as modern guns called .45 caliber.

 

[CaptainKirk]

I assume we're talking about a Pietta C&B here?
They usually use a .451 or .454 RB...in some instances a .457 but that's usually reserved for the Ruger Old Army (ROA).
I would go .454 unless it seats too hard; then try a .451 if that's the case.

 

[Dave Rosenthal]

:thumbsup: That's right on the money!

Both my Pietta Stainless Buffalo '58 Remmy as well as all of my Uberti revolvers take .454's.

You'll know that the balls are undersized if they start to "jump" forward under recoil and you don't shave a tiny ring of soft lead off of them as you push them into the chambers :wink:

Dave

 

[Pete44ru]

FWIW, Both of My 1860 Army/Pietta's take the same Speer .457" RB as my ROA, shaving about the same size lead ring, at seating.

.

 

[rafterob]

I'll add another vote for the .454. That is what my Pietta '58 Remmy target model prefers.

 

[Greenmtnboy]

Yep, rifles need undersize balls to allow for the patch thickness. Revolvers need oversize balls to fit tightly and seal the chambers. I'd try a .454" ball. Cap&ball revolvers called .44 caliber actually have the same bore diameter as modern guns called .45 caliber.

I switched to 457 a couple of years ago and all my 44's groups tightened up.

 

[CaptainKirk]

FWIW, Both of My 1860 Army/Pietta's take the same Speer .457" RB as my ROA, shaving about the same size lead ring, at seating.

.

I can stuff a .457 down my Remmy if I try. But it take a he!! of a shove on the loading lever to do so, and it shaves off a rather large ring of lead. I'd rather not abuse my guns in such a way. :idunno: The .454s take a modest amount of effort but I don't feel like I'm forcing them. With rings that large, one can only wonder how accurate a "flying egg" might be? :youcrazy:
Plus, it hurts my hand....
Your gun will tell you what it likes. :bow:

 

I can stuff a .457 down my Remmy if I try. But it take a he!! of a shove on the loading lever to do so, and it shaves off a rather large ring of lead. I'd rather not abuse my guns in such a way. :idunno: The .454s take a modest amount of effort but I don't feel like I'm forcing them. With rings that large, one can only wonder how accurate a "flying egg" might be? :youcrazy:
Plus, it hurts my hand....
Your gun will tell you what it likes. :bow: [/quote]

Actually, I would think it more of a football shape. And a football is fairly aerodynamic. But, I do agree with you about not wanting to over stress the loading lever.

 

[Pete44ru]

FWIW, I don't have to use any inrodinate amount of pressure on the loading - I just finger seat a ball on the chamber mouth after charging and cycle the lever the same on the Pietta .44's as on the ROA using .457" RB's (as marked on the Speer box).

Only a small/thin ring of lead,, about 1/32" thick or less, is shaved off.

Maybe it's easier for me because I load/reload my C&B revolvers in a stand the holds the butt with the barrel "up".
(I use the same loading stands for display)

.

 

[freekforge]

I use .451 rb in my pietta and it has tight groups at 25-50 yards but that may be the shooter :grin:

p.s. careful shooting hotloads out of a pietta you might blow the loading lever catch off i know from experience :cursing:

 

[Tralfaz67]

I finished and assembled several of these back when you could get the kits here and found that you will often need a different size ball from one pistol to the next. Ideally, you want the smallest ball that leaves a little ring shaved off when it's pressed into the chamber. If the ball is too large, you'll put excesive wear on the lever assembly as well as the frame if it's brass. Too small and, even if you think it's a nice snug fit, you're just asking for a chain fire, even with the chambers greased. This is from first hand experience :redface: . It was with a steel frame model so all I got was a good scare and one of those kinds of lessons you couldn't forget if you tried. The retailer I used to buy the kits from kept a brass framed .58 Remmington with the backstrap blown apart on display as an example of what a chainfire can do on a bad day. Hope this helps,

Tim

 

[mykeal]

This is the first time I've heard of a Remington backstrap failing catastrophically due to a chain fire, even a brass framed one. Would that retailer still be around and have the gun?

 

[Norinco]

I'm guessing the chamber at 6 o'clock detonated and the ball couldn't go anywhere, so the frame broke.

 

[Poor Private]

I'm guessing the chamber at 6 o'clock detonated and the ball couldn't go anywhere, so the frame broke.

You must mean 12 O'clock since 6 O'clock would be at the bottom of the frame, where it is the most massive. But if it was 12 O'clock it would just go out the barrel. :hmm:

 

[Norinco]

I was thinking that the ball at 6 o'clock would have nowhere to go while a powder charge burned behind it, causing the frame to rupture. However, that would not explain how the topstrap broke, not the bottom.

 

[mykeal]

I have read about all 6 going off in a Remington with no damage to the frame. The round at 6 o'clock should do no more than abrade the ball into pieces. Unless it was hard cast lead which would have been very hard to load. Perhaps that's the reason for the chain fire - hard cast balls that were undersize so they could be loaded. But its still hard to believe that would fracture the top strap. Interesting incident. Wish there was some documentation.

 

[Norinco]

Oh yeah, I forgot about that recess under the loading ram.

 

[rdstrain49]

I've seen a number of failures such as the one described above. In each case the individual had used smokeless.

 

[Blizzard of '93]

obviously any smokeless powder load in a c&b revolver is a no-no.
can you imagine 25grs of BullsEye under a .454 ball in a repro Navy? blow it to smithereens.
welcome to the MLF rdstrain49