Hollow Bases

[nkbj]

Got an adjustable length .366 diameter hollow base mold that works well in Pietta .36 caliber revolvers.
Somewhere in the funatorium there's a Lyman #45468 hollow base mold that hasn't been hot since I got it. Sized to fit the Pietta undersized .44 chambers it might make a pretty good bullet. But I don't know (yet).
Any yall tried hollow base bullets in your percussion revolvers? Were they sized to slip into the chambers without loosing alignment? What kind of results did you get?
Did you use lube in the hollow?

 

[TFoley]

Not something I've ever encountered, I have to admit, but then, I'm a plain ball-shooting man, me.

As for putting lube in the base, that is not a good idea to me. Contamination of an already small powder charge seems to be the way to go to ensure irregular velocities, to say the least, but hey, I'm here to learn, right?

Is there any historical basis for shooting HB bullets out of muzzle-loading BP revolvers? If there is, I'd be happy to read about it, but right now, I can't find anything. Hollow-base bullets in handguns seem to be the things to shoot in a cartridge-firer, like my old and long-gone Webley .455 Service revolver, not a loose-loader.

tac

 

[nkbj]

Sh-h-h, don't say to people who put lube wads and lube cookies on their powder charges.

For "historical basis", what are you after?

 

[TFoley]

Well, 'historical' as in who used hollow-based bullets in their C&B revolvers back in the historical days when people actually used C&B revolvers, is what I mean, historically speaking. :idunno:

I'm asking simply because in over fifty years of shooting BP handguns, here in UK, in the USA and on the Continent, I've never encountered anybody actually doing it.

I sorry that I can't make myself any clearer. :idunno:

tac

 

[hanshi]

It works in rifles so it might also work in revolvers.

 

[nkbj]

The wall thicknesses for skirts have to be scaled to suit light bullet weights and light powder charges as compared to rifles. Deep cavities don't seem to be important.

 

[rodwha]

I haven't tried lube cookies myself but someone who does quite a bit says the Gatofeo cookies he makes do not contaminate the powder charges.

This was a concern of mine as well figuring one would want a cardboard wad between them.

However I'd think the lube would get blown into the cavity and not lube the bore very well.

 

[nkbj]

Something demonstrated by experiments with .445 minies is that a little lube gets atomized and distributed in the bore even when using a cloth divider.
Lyman #445599... Now there's something I hadn't thought about before. Making that mold a Pietta .44 straight sided hollow base with a shear ring at the front might not be too much of a todo. I'm gonna look at that.

 

[theoldredneck]

Question on the hollow base in a 44 revolver. I had thought about making a short bullet for plinking with round nose and flat base. Over all length about ball diameter with short straight sides. Would making a dome shape hollow base of ball shape be of any advantage? This is a light load plinking setup using just enough powder to punch paper or roll cans. Have played with the hollow base in rifle a little never thought about revolver.

 

[nkbj]

The biggest problem I've run into in loading for accuracy with percussion revolvers is how the base of the bullet exits the muzzle. If a flat base is flat to the muzzle you can probably achieve acceptable results. If the bullet design is difficult to keep straight during loading then it won't be straight when it exits the bore. Round ball of course side steps the issue by not having a flat base. And doesn't that mean that bullets for percussion revolvers need rounded bases? Shooting the Lyman bevel base design #45266 in .44's makes me think so.
In .36 caliber I've experimented with round ball with an added cylindrical tail (undersized with hollow base) to have the bullet load straight and that works pretty well.
In .40 bore the molds intended for .41 mag have been tried out again with varying degrees of success. The trick there is to size the bullets to slip into the chambers, shear off up front the same as you would have with round ball and have chambers bigger in diameter than the rifling grooves.

 

[Loyalist Dave]

Any y'all tried hollow base bullets in your percussion revolvers?

Yes but they were hollow-based .357 wad cutters, and they were loaded into .38 specials to use in a .36 Remington 1858 that had been converted to cartridges. The hollow base flared enough to engage the rifling when a flat based .357 would not do very well.

As for lubing the hollow I'd say NO as given sufficient heat the lube would melt and perhaps contaminate your powder charge.

LD

 

[theoldredneck]

So if I understand, staying with a slightly over size ball that shaves a little lead as seated, would probably be best in the long run even with very light loads for plinking? Would probably load easier in cylinder?

 

[cynthialee]

Yes, you want to shave lead unless you have chamfered cylinders that allow for seating of a snug ball without shaving lead.
Right when you get to the point where it shaves lead there is some resistance then a sudden give as the ball seats and the lead shaves.

Even with a plinking load it is important to have a secure ball.

 

[azmntman]

:hmm: if your balls are not secure (you didn't seat fully on the powder charge) would this act as an obstruction and possibly damage the cylinder or barrel? Couldn't be much space but I could see it happening? As some use filler after powder there cold be a fraction of an inch available for this to occur??

 

[nkbj]

If your revolver has taper reamed chambers then the deeper the bullet (short or long) is seated the smaller its diameter can become. Depends a lot upon the length of the taper on the reamer but also whether each chamber is reamed to the same depth (all chambers are not created equal). Fillers help keep the taper from becoming an accuracy problem by keeping the bullets forward with reduced charges.

 

[azmntman]

Say a load of 17 grains and a ball seated just below the edge of the cylinder? Is the space left a danger? I know in a rifle you could get a burst or bulged barrel?

 

[Grenadier1758]

The space left might not be dangerous, but I would fill that space with cornmeal, cream of wheat or cream of rice.

 

[cynthialee]

I was taught to always seat the ball all the way till it is tight. A gap with BP is never a good thing.
Getting the ball close to the forcing cone is a great idea so many pistol shooters use a filler as one can put more powder than needed in most of these pistols. Loading it to the point of max powder is a waste of powder and likely a bane to ones accuracy. A lower powder load with a filler works well for me. I use corn meal or cream of wheat. One may even use grits and thus finally putting them to a good use.

 

[azmntman]

grits is good eatin :grin:

 

[Grumpa]

One may even use grits and thus finally putting them to a good use.

:stir: :wink:

Richard/Grumpa