Conicals?

[Rebel]

Any of you shoot the Lee conicals in your Remingtons or Colts? I shot some of the 180 gr Buffalo Bullets today in my Remington and they shoot pretty good. Was wondering if the Lees might do as well. Do they center and load easy? Accuracy good with them? How much do they weigh? Thanks for any info.

 

[arcticap]

I've read that in general, while conical bullets including the Lee 200 grain round nose revolver bullet can perform well in some guns, most usually don't shoot more accurately than round balls. They might provide some additional punch due to being heavier though.

 

[Blizzard of '93]

Yes, I have molds for both my ROA and '58 Rem 'Buffalo' model that I cast the reduced-heel conicals with. At longer ranges the conicals group better than RB in both and I use both for hunting hogs (buddy has a 12 ga. BP muzzler sidelock for back-up) with max charges. They are easy to load due to the reduced heel which I pack lube into the grooves (2). Have a different POI than RB. With both pistols a lightly loaded RB is more accurate (tighter group) at close range - go figure? I also make 1/16th" felt wads for overpowder. ROA mold is 220 gr slugs. Can't recollect but believe same for the Rem mold. I also just got a .45 REAL mold that I am going to cast slugs for both revolvers when time permits and will post shooting results, it is 200 gr. I hardly ever shoot RB's anymore. I recommend the slugs. Is there anyone near you that casts them you could scrounge some off of to experiment with?

 

[Rebel]

Thanks guys. Nope, no one around here close that i know of even shoots BP except me. The Buffalo Bullets shoot good out of the Remington, so i thought i might get a mould for the Lees, but don't know why. All i use it for is Fun shooting, not hunting, so i don't really need bullets. Just something else to play around with though.

 

[smokeblower]

The Lee molds are hard to beat. I blacken the cavity with a lighter or match and the bullet is easily removed without preheating the mold. They last forever as long as you do not start tapping or knocking them to release the bullet.
I would like to find a reproduction mold that makes a bullet close to the Civil War era Remington .36 cal "football" bullet.

 

[Tight_Wad]

I experimented with the LEE conical in my ROA some time back. They tended to load reasonably trouble free with a clean gun but as the chambers got fouled it became increasingly difficult to start them straight. Sometimes they would cant over slightly and shave more lead from one side than the other. I didn't see any appreciable difference in grouping between the conicals or RB at 25 yards, so in the end I returned to the RB due to ease of loading.

A friend once offered me a buffalo ballett (or whatever they call them) and due to the high price I took just one from the box. Popped it in my ROA and it went straight through the bull at 25 yards! Just a fluke but I'm sure they're good fodder. If you want to use something heavier than the RB I'd suggest a box of those. Pricey though - especially here in the U.K.

Regards

Tight Wad :hatsoff:

 

[Jac Spring]

I think you've seen my post with target pics from my Uberti dragoon - it likes the Lee 200 grain conical's a lot. I use a 30:1 mix and they drop from the mould at around .458" - they are NOT perfectly round, but shoot very well regardless - I think this is because they size when seated.

They seat about the same as roundballs for me.

My 58 didn't like em much but I honestly didn't try but one load - I think it was 35 grains of Pyro P with a wad. They were a bit tricky to load too - had to jiggle them a bit to get em under the ram, but hey did seem to center nicely. Might do real well with 25 or 30 grains...

 

[Wes/Tex]

In the article I mentioned recently where percussion revolvers were tested to determine their actual capabilities compared to modern cartridge pistols, the results were that conicals in percussion revolvers gave deeper penetration but were 17% less potent (across the caliber board) than round balls. It was strange that these results were so consistant from .36 Navies to Walkers. The old times stayed away rom the conicals unless they needed them for head shots on boars, etc.

 

[Rebel]

Thanks for the info Wes. :hatsoff:

 

[mec]

The conicals can work really well. Generally don't group quite as well as ball but the buffalo are close:

These come from the iron scissor mould sold by dixie. the ram has been coned to fit the bullet nose. Kind of a pain as there is no sprue cutter and you have to file off the nub.

the Lees have a nose profile a lot like a round ball and generally fit the standard replica rams very well.

 

[Rebel]

Thanks MEC. The velocity and energy figures are interesting. Not a bad load.

 

[rebel727]

Has anybody tried hollow based conicals in a revolver? Seems like they ought to be very accurate. Don't know how easy they would be to load tho.

 

[Jac Spring]

hollow based conicals would shoot great I bet - the only problem is that you gain too much length or lose the weight of the bullet which is kind of self defeating IMHO.

 

[Blizzard of '93]

Going from cylinder into the forcing cone the slug 'skirt' would take a beating. might do OK though.

 

[flibuste]

Hello,

As for conical efficacy one point is to be considered : twist rate of the barrel.

A faster twist (standard in revolver is approx 1:32) is more efficient for conical and there are not so many percussion revolver with it :
ROA : 1:16
Remmy 1858 and R$S manufactured by Euroarms with the optional Lothar Walther barrel : rate 1:18
Pedersoli Rem and R$S which are very similar of the Euroarms ones but with additional manual gunsmithing.

Pietta progressive twist Remmy.

Apart from those (and Feinwerkbau in Germany) most of replica have slow twist barrel and most of time, ball are more efficient in precision.

However some may have different experience......

Regards