bobthemotorcycle
40 Cal.
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Is it ok to put hard cast lead thru my colt clone?
Hardcast
- Thread starter bobthemotorcycle
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Woody Morgan
62 Cal.
Since the normal procedure is sizing the ball so that it shaves a ring of lead when loading you may have issues there...not to mention unnecessarily stressing your loading rod. Leave the hardcast to unmentionables.
wm
wm
Can’t say yea or nay. All my bullets and round balls, with some exceptions come from scrounged lead. As I have no way of knowing hardness I let the gun decide. It is lead regardless of its hardness. The Colts with the ratchet designed loading lever should fare better it would seem. Try a few if it takes too much effort to operate the lever do t do it.
Woody Morgan
62 Cal.
Or use a tabletop loader.
wm
wm
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I’ve used 40 to 1 alloy bullets in 1860 Army revolvers. Sized a couple thousand over chamber size. They shot ok. No recoil creep and they weren’t unduly difficult to seat.
The forcing cone and barrel will take it. The damage happens when loading the cylinder.
How hard do ya wanna try to bust those thin walls?
You've heard about how "shaving a ring" is supposed to be best right?
Well, "hard" lead don't do that so easy in them guns
You decide. It's your gun,,
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Back when I had a '60 Army 44 I had a friend give me a bucket of wheel weights. I cast them and they were too hard to load. It became a serious pain to do.
I gave up and melted them into modern pistol ammo.
Now I use softer lead for my 1858 44. Life is good.
Ymmv
I gave up and melted them into modern pistol ammo.
Now I use softer lead for my 1858 44. Life is good.
Ymmv
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Same here. I used to use the hard stuff back in the day before it was banned here in Europe. But only for mechanically-fitting Whitworth bullets made with a mould from George Arnold on Jersey C.I.
Hard cast will also increase wear and tear on the standing breech and the wedge when that hard pill slams into the forcing cone and bore. Use them for tooth fillings and find some proper lead for the pistol.
The ball has to go through the forcing cone. Because of the Colt's design it is not a good idea. If you like your Colt, use only pure soft lead. You can get it on Amazon.
And yet using a conversion cylinder I shoot 45C thru that same forcing cone using 452 cast bullets.
Depending on the quality of the clone, just sayn'.
Uberti, although I do have an old Traditions from the 80’s also. Pietta I think. No conversion cylinder for that.
My father had a 1860 Colt navy and it was the best make he could get at the time. It survived the teenage me cramming as much powder into it as possible and a couple of chain fires. I believe that Uberti made the pistols that the Colt company sold sometime recently, maybe they still do. That said, I personally don't think I would try it with a Pietta made gun. My experience is that they are simply not as high a quality gun and the cylinder pin might shoot loose. Indeed, I have had lesser clones of Colt's wind up doing exactly that with only 30gr of 3f and a soft lead RB. Your mileage may differ though.
Well they can’t be high dollar steel at the price they sell for. Heck that Traditions in 1989 or so was only $99.
I
RotoMetal supply's 99% pure lead that is my source. Last purchase was abou $4.00 a pound
Bunk
Using an alloy harder than straight lead will put more stress on the loading lever and mechanism.
Bullet alloy would make no measurable diffence in the gun when it is actually fired.
Bullet alloy would make no measurable diffence in the gun when it is actually fired.
