cylinder loading press

[M. De Land]

That was my extra cylinder for my 58 Remington Pietta,it has bigger chamber mouths than the one that came in the gun and it has a chamfer on each chamber.
The load was in the range of powder(11 to 20 grains of 3F) I wanted after talking with several of my target shooting friends. I had a fifteen grain spout so started there and filled up the rest with cream of wheat for a flush ball seat. That turned out to be 20 grains of cream of wheat so I went looking for a 20 grain spout. I started shooting it in a practice match we have once a month and it was so accurate in that gun I just kept using it.
You hold an X and it will give you one!
The same load works equally well in the ROA with a .457 ball.
There might be a better load for each of them, I didn't test any farther than when it would give me 10s or X's at the trigger break,and it was at 6 o'clock on the bull.Just wasn't necessary as that was better than I could routinely hold for. I'm doing well if I break into the low 90S. I have a friend up here that is having a bad day if he shoots a 95. He always beats me.
After one shoots targets for awhile you can learn to call your score with in a few points just my remembering where it broke, if you have a good load and gun.
When you get shots that break an 8 and you get a ten then you've got trouble. MD

 

[M. De Land]

Sorry, I forgot to answer one of your questions.
I filed the stop block angle at the corner until it gave me a flush ball seat with that load of powder and filler. I like the cream of wheat better than the corn meal I tried because it won't compress as much and seems to have a scowering action that holds down fouling somewhat. I use Crisco for lube over the chamber mouths. MD

 

[Rick Son]

Would not a spud make it easier to load the cylinder by spinning or turning on the spud,and if the bottom was longer would that not keep it from lurchin forward?

 

[M. De Land]

In a word , no on both accounts. The spud is useless and is not needed at all. You saw me load six balls and the cylinder did not tip in the least.If a person wants they can clamp the base to the bench but personally I prefer it movable.MD

 

Thank you MD, a very informative video! :thumbsup:

 

[JJCASTINGS]

I can't make it run on my puter can any of you? My son is trying to help me get it up but so far no video on my end.MD

Download QuickTime. Link

 

[JJCASTINGS]

Nice stand. Added it to my must make list. I watched your video, what size glass marbles do you use for tumbling the balls?

The lee mods are great. I have one for .311 and the .454.

 

[M. De Land]

Just regular size. They are smooth and hard and you only need to run them for maybe an hour. I tried steel balls about an inch in diameter but they tended to grind the lead balls up.
Actually I had good success just tumbling dissimilar sized balls together,lead against lead.
I think a lot has to do with how fast they turn so you will need to experiment with your tumbler to see if the marbles or dissimilar balls work best. MD