Cylinder and Ball Shaving

[oldwolf]

I thought that the shaving of the ball when rammed into the cylinder was a good thing. My understanding was the shaving sealed the ball and cylinder walls together, lowering the chance of a chain fire.

But when I read this entry on Track Of The Wolf, saying if you chamfer the cylinder you gain accuracy, I am confused. :hmm:

Is shaving preferable or not?

Walker

This is a quote from the url above:

Made for the serious shooter, the mouth of each cylinder has been deburred to remove the sharp edge. Most loading manuals recommend the .451" round ball, which works, but we strongly recommend the .454" round ball, which gives better compression and best accuracy. To load the .454" ball, without shearing lead, your cylinder mouth must be very slightly chamfered. If you new revolver shears lead during loading, polish the cylinder mouth with a marble and fine emery paper, until the ball is entirely compressed into the cylinder, during loading. This is one secret of success with the Walker revolver.

TOTW also mentions Clint Eastwood and his use of the Walker, but I don't remember for sure if 'ol Clint ever used one in a movie. :bow:

 

[mykeal]

The lead ring simply indicates that the ball is press fit into the chamber and is somewhat symmetrical; it suggests (but does not absolutely guarantee) that the ball seals the chamber from leaks. Once you know that a certain ball diameter routinely produces a lead ring, thus establishing a good tight fit of that size ball in that particular chamber, then the ring is not really very useful. One could then chamfer the chamber mouth as suggested by TOTW both making it easier to seat the ball and producing somewhat less damage to the ball, thus, at least theoretically making the ball more accurate.

One could also just use a lubed felt wad under the ball to create the seal if the chambers were already chamfered and it was not possible to ensure the chosen ball diameter was a true press fit.

Or use the legendary grease over the ball.

Lots of ways to skin that cat...or shave that ball...or, oh never mind, you get the idea.

In theory, the chamfered chamber mouth is more desirable for accuracy. However, my single action revolver shooting skills will never be good enough to profit from the incremental increase achieved with such a modification, thus making it's implementation not worth the effort or cost.

 

[slowpokebr549]

The Outlaw Josie Wales features Clint and his walkers.

 

[slowpokebr549]

 

[Blizzard of '93]

the ball has to be a press fit into the chamber or you risk chainfires, don't want that to happen!

 

[oldwolf]

I stand corrected.

 

[Dave Rosenthal]

God I love this poster! Makes me want to buy the DVD NOW! And buy my 2nd Walker too! :shocked2:

Dave

 

[Dave Rosenthal]

I read the TOTW stuff about chamforing. Very interesting! I currently use my Walker in competition at our local BP club match. I'm shooting another one tomorrow. I'll ask around to see if anybody else has ever heard of this modification to the cylinder. I do pretty well with my gun right out of the box.

Currently doing the NRA Black Powder Pistol Qualifications course and have attained the level of Marksman. Shot first half of next leg for Marksman 1st Class, scoring a 148-200 with the big Walker in duelist style. Only need a 110-200 to qualify, so it looks like Sharpshooter shouldn't be too hard to make. If I run into trouble and can't make Expert, I'll reconsider attempting to widen my chambers. For now though, I'll not tempt fate and continue as is :grin: . Next Qualification Match is in two weeks...I'll do a post to let everybody know what's up.

I can just here it now at the firing line: I'm going to announce that I'll stop shaving my balls and the place will roar with laughter :rotf: :rotf: :haha: :shake:

Dave

 

[Blizzard of '93]

Don't break yer rammer! :haha:

 

[John Taylor]

I have been working over BP pistols for a while and find a lot of them have oversize bores. Just had one in last month that had a groove diameter of .458" and a cylinder diameter of .451". This don't help them hit the target. First time I found one like this was over 30 years back. Not sure why some companies would do it this way other than to keep the pressure down. Sometimes I ream and polish the cylinder to .001" over groove diameter and bevel the edge just enough to keep from shaving lead. Ball diameter should be .002"-.003"over cylinder diameter. Other times I make a new barrel with the right size groove. On the smaller caliber Colts a liner can be used sometimes. With the Remington it's easy to make a new barrel.