Cylinder bore

[Sorry Dude]

The cylinder bore on my 1851 Navy is .3725 and I'm having a heck of a time seating .380/.36 cal conical bullets, the kind from eras gone. I know the cylinder bore is undersized and would like to have it enlarged a few thousandths. Looking for a gunsmith/machinist that could do this, any recommendations? Thanks in advance.

 

[Smokerr]

Others can weight in, what I find puzzling is that the 44 (45 Cal) JD Conical is .460. It does not go into a .454 ball cylinder at all well.

It does fit the ROA decently but that was designed for a .457 ball (bullet).

So were cylinder chambers larger back in those days? In theory that is a direct copy of recovered conicals. Its unfortunate you have to get yours bored out to get to fit. The should offer some size difference.

 

[2 shots]

can the bullet be sized?

 

[Sorry Dude]

can the bullet be sized?

I guess I'm sizing it as I seat it. I wonder what the original bore dimension was.

 

[Jim in Wisconsin]

Any machine shop could easily set up and precisely ream the cylinder holes to .375 (3/8 inch) because they will certainly have this size reamer.
Some other diameter would be a little more complicated but still not hard to do. They should only be reamed far enough down to allow the bullet to sit flush.
Ideally the bullet should end up sized to just fit the groove diameter of the barrel or very slightly over that.