baby dragoon

[Don]

I ordered an 1848 Baby Dragoon yesturday and called Deer Creek to order some balls for it. I ordered .320 balls but they called me back to say they were the wrong size(too big) and that they would break my loading lever. I've read in a few places that the .315 that I ended up ordering are too small. I'm a little confused, what do you who own them, shoot in your .31 cal revolvers?

Thanks,

Don

 

[mykeal]

.320 balls might result in damage to the loading lever, but not because they're too big. It's because the loading lever is too short and can't produce enough moment to load the ball without a great deal of force.

.315 may or may not be too small; I suggest you mike the chamber throats and see how big they really are. If you don't have a set of calipers perhaps you can find a local gunsmith who will do it for you.

I don't own a .31 cal revolver, so I have no direct experience that can help; I'm just recounting the experience of friends who have shared their experiences with me. For what it's worth, they tend to shoot .320 rbs. I don't know how they get around the loading lever problem.

 

[Zonie]

For the Dixie 1849 Pocket pistol and the 1855 Root Model they recommend a .321 ball.
Their Catalog says their 1849 has a .319 chamber diameter and the Root has a .315 chamber size.

Same .321 size ball is recommended by Dixie for the Uberti 1848 Baby Dragoon (.319 chamber)and 1849 Pocket pistol (.319 chamber).

As was mentioned, the chamber of the new gun needs to be measured to determine its size before knowing what size balls to use it it.

 

[Doc Arroyo]

I bought a 5 pound bag of buck shot when I bought my '48. Sorry...never miked it, just shot it. I did buy a '49 because I thought the loading lever would make life easier, but I have yet to shoot it. :wink: