New 45 Kentucky, ball size?

[firedogross]

Picked up a FIE Italian 45 cal. Kentucky rifle made in 1976 for $100. Never had a .45 long gun. I do have .44 pistols though. My question is what size ball is the biggest I can go in this rifle with say a .10 patch? If you haven't guessed, having interchangeable ammo between my .44 pistols and .45 rifle would be nice :hmm: . If not I'll head to gun store. At work, but I'm pretty sure my pistol balls are .454 and .457.

Generic image of same gun found online

 

[bpollock_sr]

A .440 ball with pillow ticking patch always shot well in mine,over a load of 70grns of 3f.

 

I had the exact same gun as my first rifle. It ate .424. If yours is the same, a .440 will be too big. Good news, is that .424 molds seem to be fairly common on Ebay.

 

[junkman_01]

If it is truly a .45, then a .440 ball with a .010-.015 patch is the preferred ammo. Start with a 45 grain charge of 3F BP and work up. Mine prefers a 60 grain charge.

 

[rafterob]

Some of those early Italian rifles were marketed as .45s but were really .44 ( or whatever the metric equivalent was) so you really need to measure it to be sure. Good news is, you could get a .440 ball and .10 patch down even if it is a .44, it would just be really tight.

 

[junkman_01]

That's why I said "If it is truly a .45"

 

[paulvallandigham]

Sorry. These guns have been around for awhile, and you have to actually measure the bores( or cylinder chambers) to know what diameter ball to use.

Put a length of brass rod down an oiled bore, then hammer an oversized ball into the muzzle and drive it down far enough into the bore until it begins moving easier. Now, upend the barrel and shake the rod up and down to knock the lead "slug" out of the barrel onto a soft bed of cloth. Use a micrometer to measure the diameters.

On that cylinder, take the nipple out, and find a rod small enough to fit through the hole into the chamber, . Oil the chamber, and hammer or lever a ball into the mouth of the chamber. It should shave off lead in the process . Now, use that rod to gently tap the slug out of the chamber. Use a micrometer to accurately read the diameter of the slug.

Don't be shocked if all the chambers are not the same diameter. Do not be shocked if you find that the chamber diameters are WAY undersized compared to your revolver's bore diameter. :idunno: :shocked2:
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With some guns, we can get away with using CALIPERS to measure these inside diameters.Howver, the most accurate wayis to slug the bores. :hatsoff: