Caliber question

[burch]

I have an older Pedersoli Kentucky[url] pistol.Made[/url] in 1968, I`ve used dial calipers to determine what caliber I have and come up with 4.40. I have 4.40 balls and cannot for the life of me get a ball and patch to start down the barrel. You`d literally have to hammer it down. Am I using too thick of a patch .010 or am I using a ball that is too big in dia.

Burch :cursing:

 

[Rebel]

You have one of the .44 cal pistols. You need a .427-.430 rd ball. I think Speer and Hornady still make balls for them. The .440 would work if it was a .45 cal.

 

[cougarmagnum]

Ditto on what Rebel said, ball must be undersize, patch takes up difference.

 

[jdixon]

You sound like you may be a little new to muzzleloading. With that in mind here are a couple of other pointers that you will want to remember.
Don't short load the ball, ensure it is all the way down on the powder charge. Short loading can damage the barrel or if everything goes wrong, damage you.
Start out with no more than 25 grains of Fffg.
Using the balls recommended above, use a good cotton patch and a good patch lube like T/C Bore Butter or something similar.
If you are having to force the ball down the barrel as hard as you were saying, something is wrong. Pistols are a bit of a bugger to load if you don't have a loading stand but, it should never be so difficult that you have to hammer a ball down the barrel.
Run a cleaning patch moistened with your saliva up and down the barrel a few times between each shot, gets that fouling out, makes loading easier.
Go slow, these old guns are fun, but they certainly are a different animal.

 

[burch]

Thanks to all. Accually i`m not new to this beloved sport. Everyone I showed it to said it`s 45cal. I`ll give the balls you guys recommend a try. I wish I could get just a few to see which ones I need instead of buying a whole box and find they don`t shoot good.

Thanks again,
Burch

 

[Don]

Go with a .433 size ball. That should work with a .010 patch just fine.

Don