.44 Walker issue

[Scott Glover]

Fired my Remmie and Walker for the first time yesterday. Remmie did well except for the #11 caps wanted to fall off after a shot was fired. 3 fell off on the first shot. Pinched them a little and that solved that problem. Now to the Walker. Loaded and fired the first cylinder with no problems. Started loading the cylinder again and on some of the chambers the ball came back out with the plunger. Had the small ring of lead from pushing the ball in but still came back out. I noticed that on the Remmie the ring was ever so slightly bigger. I was using the .454 balls. TOW has the .457 and .480 balls, so which should I go to? Dont know if the .457 will fix the problem, and I am sure the .480 balls will be a bear to load if its even possible. This is a great site with lots of knowledgeable people. I really appreciate all the advice and info I have received. :bow:

 

[ihuntsnook]

I would be more concerned about the loose caps. Sounds like a good recipe for a crossfire.

 

[Scott Glover]

No disrespect, but the ball being loose in the chamber is much more of an issue to me. Dont want the balls in the chambers sliding down during recoil. The #11 caps fit the Remmie but not real snug like on the Walker, so a little pinch, as I said, solved that problam.

 

[user 922]

I always used .457s in my Uberti Walker. Shaved a nice ring of lead and the ball always stayed put.

 

[necchi]

I'd go 457.
The 480 are usually used buy folks with rifles that have an undersize bore, I haven't seen anyone recomend the 480 in pistol/revovler.

Do ya have a friend that's a mechanic or machinist? Or someone with a caliper? Take the cylinder out and have someone measure the cylinder bore,,
A ball .002-.003 over the bore size should do, :idunno:

And keep an eye out for #10 caps,,

 

[Rifleman1776]

ball came back out with the plunger

Did they fall out, stick to the rammer and get pulled out, or pop out?
If pop out it could be air pressure. You don't cap first do you?
Fall out, the balls would be too small.
Stick to rammer, that would be really weird.

 

[Adui]

ball came back out with the plunger

Stick to rammer, that would be really weird.

Ive had this happen with my .36 before. Weird, but it can happen. I just re-rammed and this seemed to solve it.

 

[Scott Glover]

Actually they stuck to the rammer. Checked it to make sure didnt have anything unusual on it and found nothing. I did the same on the balls, just rotate somewhat and reset. Might throw off the accuracy some (not sure).Probably will go with the .457 balls and see if there is an improvement. Thanks everyone. Glad to see I am not the only one that has seen this.

 

[tripe1917]

I shoot .454 Hornady's and I don't have this problem with my Walker. Your rammer may have a sharp edge and it is biting into the ball. I had this happen on a .36 cal. Navy and I smoothed the edge slightly with a sharpening stone and it fixed the issue.

 

[Adui]

:hmm: interesting thought. As I said, my .36 does this from time to time. Perhaps I will try this!

 

[Jim Langel]

I used a bit of accra glass to make the business end of the rammer conform to the ball. It's shaped for a conical bullet from the factory. Be sure to grease the ball first.

 

[Jim Langel]

I used a bit of accra glass to make the business end of the rammer conform to the ball. It's shaped for a conical bullet from the factory. Be sure to grease the ball first.

 

[rwiliff]

Like King Bee, my dragoon has a rammer that is shaped for a conical. It would pull balls from the chamber most of the time. I pounded a chunk of lead into the face of the rammer into a flat face. Problem solved. It hasn't fallen out yet.

Warmest Regards,
Robert

 

[Gatofeo]

When I first got my Colt 2nd generation 1851 Navy in 1982, I bought a box of .375 balls with it.
Colt's instructions at the time suggest a .378" ball, but I didn't see that until later (I'd already had experience with cap and ball revolvers, but not the .36 caliber).
At the time, I still used grease over the ball.
Well, the .375 balls were nearly a slip-fit in the Colt's chambers. The balls seated fine the first time, no pull-outs. Then I slathered Crisco over the seated balls.
I fired six shots, then set to reloading again. During firing, Crisco was blown all over the cup-end of the rammer. I didn't think it would matter.
The second loading, some of those ill-fitting .375 balls got pulled out again after seating: the grease on the rammer created a suction, pulling the bullets back out with it.
Later, when I began using hard felt wads soaked in Ol' Zip Patch Grease (still sold today by Dixie Gun Works), I no longer had a problem with grease all over the rammer.
The lubricated felt wad between the ball and powder eliminated grease all over the revolver (and me).
Going to a .380" ball (cast in a Lyman mould) also solved the problem. The larger ball held tenaciously to the chamber balls, resisting movement by the rammer or recoil.
The cure for your revolver: Use a slightly larger ball. Ensure there are no burrs on the rammer face to snag the ball. Keep the rammer face free of lubricant (cotton swabs are handy for this. Dampen the swab with a bit of lighter fluid for effective grease-cutting).
But overall, I believe you'll find your problem cured if you simply use a .457" ball. Some Walker shooters have reported good results with .460" balls, but I don't know where they obtained them. Perhaps they cast them from a custom-made mould.
I wish that Hornady or Speer, or both, made swaged balls in .380 and .460 inch, for oversized .36 and .44 chambers. Seems like chambers have larger dimensions than when I first started shooting cap and ball revolvers about 1970.

 

[sffone]

I had the problem of the ball coming back out with the ram until I determined that I was putting too much pressure on the ram, causing it to cut too deeply into the ball. I started applying just enough pressure to properly seat the ball and my problem went away.