Chamber vs bullet size

[Sarsaparilla Kid]

I bought a package deal that consisted of a Pietta .44 cal revolver, 200 Hornady .457 round balls, and a Lee conical bullet mold sized at .452. I measured the chambers and came up with .445 inches. Seems like much over .451 or .454 round ball would be tough to load. Should I just buy all available round ball sizes and try them out for accuracy and loading difficulty and find a happy medium? Is that conical bullet size going to be about right, or should it be closer to the chamber measurement?

 

[Smokerr]

The chamber is going to squeeze the bullet down to whatever size it is.

I have been discussing that with another guy, its the barrel size that is going to determine things.

If the Chamber is enough smaller than the barrel, you would need to have the cylinder reamed to get accuracy. Otherwise it does not engage or fully engage the rifling and you have a semi musket.

I have tried conical bullets (JD type) and found them a lot worse than ball.

I need to do a full workup data wise, slug the barrel and measure the chambers and get it in a table.

 

[Sarsaparilla Kid]

Thanks...I'll check the bore and see what the delta is between the two and report back!

 

[Bad Karma]

I bought a package deal that consisted of a Pietta .44 cal revolver, 200 Hornady .457 round balls, and a Lee conical bullet mold sized at .452. I measured the chambers and came up with .445 inches. Seems like much over .451 or .454 round ball would be tough to load. Should I just buy all available round ball sizes and try them out for accuracy and loading difficulty and find a happy medium? Is that conical bullet size going to be about right, or should it be closer to the chamber measurement?

The chambers are probably undersized for the bore. Bore dimensions should be .450 or so with grooves at .454-.458”.
I hear this concern about loading difficulty and somehow I’m missing something, most of the time I load on the gun and many of mine are 5-6” barrels of I have never thought, “wow! That’s hard to load!” I use dead soft lead and yes, many of mine have been reamed to .454-.456 but even stock Uberti revolvers with .450 chambers are not difficult enough to raise any concerns.
Generally revolvers are most accurate if the throats are .001 or .002” over groove diameter but I have had pistols that showed very fine accuracy with .450/.456 chambers and groove measurements. The soft lead bullets or balls do expand into the bore under the pressure of a kick in the pants from a charge of blackpowder. I always shoot new guns a bunch before beginning any permanent mechanical alterations.