Reloading Lever Damaging Balls

[RATKAS]

About ball and bullet damage - Hornady did some testing to determine the effect of bullet damage. They found no bad effects from nose damage, even going so far as to file the bullet nose at an angle. However, a very small defect in the base caused accuracy problems. Now, this was with jacketed center fire bullets but I suspect it would apply to round balls also. It could be tested if anyone wanted to burn the powder and lead but I'm just not going to worry about balls with a ring on the nose.

That's actually nice to know that face damage doesn't do much to accuracy, but base damage does. Thanks for the info.

 

[M. De Land]

Hi guys! Quick question from a noob in the sport. I have a Pietta .31 Remington Pocket Revolver. The cylinder chambers measure .314" or 7.975mm. I have made a brass mold to cast my own ammunition. My ammo comes out as .324" or 8.23mm. When I load it a firm pressure is needed and a nice lead ring is shaved off, but the reloading lever makes a round ring indentation on the ball when pressed in. I presume this is because the underside of the reloading lever is hollowed out for a diameter of .31. That means my slightly oversized ball does not snugly fit inside that hollowed out section of the reloading lever and leaves that ring indentation. Something I need to worry about?

Nope !

 

[RATKAS]

Nope !

Thanks!

 

[Smokerr]

I will deferr to Mr. Deland on that, its an appearance thing and for whatever/some reason it bugs me.

The 47 Walker also distorts some and its shooing 2 inch groups (some a bit more some a bit less) at 25 yards, not going to mess with it but I sure hated what the Pietta Ram was doing. Even worse on a Conical though I have given up on conical s. Fun to try but saw no future there, either worse or no better than balls.

 

[M. De Land]

I will deferr to Mr. Deland on that, its an appearance thing and for whatever/some reason it bugs me.

The 47 Walker also distorts some and its shooing 2 inch groups (some a bit more some a bit less) at 25 yards, not going to mess with it but I sure hated what the Pietta Ram was doing. Even worse on a Conical though I have given up on conical s. Fun to try but saw no future there, either worse or no better than balls.

I've always gotten best accuracy from balls as well in percussion revolvers but the Walker may be an exception with the ACP bullet at 200 grains. They shoot like a house afire in my Colt gov't model.
I'm gonna monkey around with the load some more before giving it a ream job when I get the new sight on as it showed some promise out of the box at 25 yards the first time I tried it.
The aiming point was a six o'clock hold on the green circle for all shots the conicals being the high group.
This was with balls and bullets mixed and have no idea about the wild shots which most likely were me being out of practice at bench shooting over sand bags although I did not call/see any wild shots over the sight alingment . The bore/chamber alignment on this gun is excellent each checked with a 2" plug gauge that would just pass down the barrel to the bottom of each chamber of it's own weight..

 

[RATKAS]

I will deferr to Mr. Deland on that, its an appearance thing and for whatever/some reason it bugs me.

The 47 Walker also distorts some and its shooing 2 inch groups (some a bit more some a bit less) at 25 yards, not going to mess with it but I sure hated what the Pietta Ram was doing. Even worse on a Conical though I have given up on conical s. Fun to try but saw no future there, either worse or no better than balls.

Interesting to read about those conicals. Haven't tried them before though.

 

[RATKAS]

I've always gotten best accuracy from balls as well in percussion revolvers but the Walker may be an exception with the ACP bullet at 200 grains. They shoot like a house afire in my Colt gov't model.
I'm gonna monkey around with the load some more before giving it a ream job when I get the new sight on as it showed some promise out of the box at 25 yards the first time I tried it.
The aiming point was a six o'clock hold on the green circle for all shots the conicals being the high group.
This was with balls and bullets mixed and have no idea about the wild shots which most likely were me being out of practice at bench shooting over sand bags although I did not call/see any wild shots over the sight alingment . The bore/chamber alignment on this gun is excellent each checked with a 2" plug gauge that would just pass down the barrel to the bottom of each chamber of it's own weight..

Seems like balls are the way to go!

 

[Felix the Cat]

Sounds to me like a lead problem.. you need to use the purest lead you can find as this is the softest. Be very wary of using range scrap as most breech loading lead bullets are alloy with added tin. With a muzzle loading revolver, you are looking for a rim of lead being shaved off as the ball goes into the cylinder. This needs a sharp edged cylinder with NO chamfer. You should not need to add any further leverage to the rammer, If you do then the lead is too hard! *

Whatever you do, don't ever ream a gun unless you really know what you are doing.. you are just creating 100+ years of wear at a single stroke. There is a zero chance that "the gun is wrong" it is either you or the bullet size. NEVER remove metal from a gun unless you are 100% sure it should not be there, and even then it is better to hammer the metal back to where it was rather than cut it off.. Dremel is responsible for more gun history lost than any war or politician!

* On second thoughts, just go ahead.. I need the income from replacing and repairing broken rammers!

 

[RATKAS]

Sounds to me like a lead problem.. you need to use the purest lead you can find as this is the softest. Be very wary of using range scrap as most breech loading lead bullets are alloy with added tin. With a muzzle loading revolver, you are looking for a rim of lead being shaved off as the ball goes into the cylinder. This needs a sharp edged cylinder with NO chamfer. You should not need to add any further leverage to the rammer, If you do then the lead is too hard! *

Whatever you do, don't ever ream a gun unless you really know what you are doing.. you are just creating 100+ years of wear at a single stroke. There is a zero chance that "the gun is wrong" it is either you or the bullet size. NEVER remove metal from a gun unless you are 100% sure it should not be there, and even then it is better to hammer the metal back to where it was rather than cut it off.. Dremel is responsible for more gun history lost than any war or politician!

* On second thoughts, just go ahead.. I need the income from replacing and repairing broken rammers!

Hi Felix. Thank for the reply. I was just concerned about the marks the reloading lever is leaving behind on the ball face. My lead is soft enough to the point where I can run my fingernail across it and it leaves a line in the lead ball. When I seat the ball it shaves of a nice lead ring, so no problem there. I was just concerned about the oversized ball I am using in conjuction with the reloading lever. Like I said, I will not be using that small reloading lever to seat the balls. I will be using a small press outside of the gun to get them balls in there. I also agree about the reaming of the chambers. I won't go there. Cheers!

 

[Felix the Cat]

Hi Felix. Thank for the reply. I was just concerned about the marks the reloading lever is leaving behind on the ball face. My lead is soft enough to the point where I can run my fingernail across it and it leaves a line in the lead ball. When I seat the ball it shaves of a nice lead ring, so no problem there. I was just concerned about the oversized ball I am using in conjuction with the reloading lever. Like I said, I will not be using that small reloading lever to seat the balls. I will be using a small press outside of the gun to get them balls in there. I also agree about the reaming of the chambers. I won't go there. Cheers!

Good Man!

 

[French Colonial]

As others have mentioned...

Take a ball and coat it liberally with wax, a couple of coats at least and then set it in the cylinder.

Clean the cavity in the loading lever with alcohol or acetone and put a small (Very small) drop of slow set epoxy in the cavity.

Lower the cavity onto the ball and, insuring no epoxy gets any where it is not wanted, let it set over night.

No more marks on your balls.

Edit....
This works for loading jags, unmentionable reloading top punches etc. etc.

 

[RATKAS]

As others have mentioned...

Take a ball and coat it liberally with wax, a couple of coats at least and then set it in the cylinder.

Clean the cavity in the loading lever with alcohol or acetone and put a small (Very small) drop of slow set epoxy in the cavity.

Lower the cavity onto the ball and, insuring no epoxy gets any where it is not wanted, let it set over night.

No more marks on your balls.

Edit....
This works for loading jags, unmentionable reloading top punches etc. etc.

Thanks for the advice French

 

[Juice Jaws]

Hi guys! Quick question from a noob in the sport. I have a Pietta .31 Remington Pocket Revolver. The cylinder chambers measure .314" or 7.975mm. I have made a brass mold to cast my own ammunition. My ammo comes out as .324" or 8.23mm. When I load it a firm pressure is needed and a nice lead ring is shaved off, but the reloading lever makes a round ring indentation on the ball when pressed in. I presume this is because the underside of the reloading lever is hollowed out for a diameter of .31. That means my slightly oversized ball does not snugly fit inside that hollowed out section of the reloading lever and leaves that ring indentation. Something I need to worry about?

No problem be happy

 

[RATKAS]

No problem be happy

Hehe cool stuff

 

[Wncman]

My Remington replica is .44 and loads with a .451 so it reforms as It enters the cone end of the barrel. It been suggested the I could get a conversion cylinder and use .45 colt cowboy ammo.

 

[Bad Karma]

Deformed balls or bullets are not a problem. Unless you somehow mangle the base of the ball it will fly true at handgun distances.

 

[RATKAS]

Deformed balls or bullets are not a problem. Unless you somehow mangle the base of the ball it will fly true at handgun distances.

Thanks. Yeah I have gathered that so far. Looks like accuracy won't be affected at these short distances.

 

[hanshi]

My first thought after reading your post was that you were going to break that tiny loading lever sooner rather than later. SDSmlf gave a good answer to your question. And marks on the front, or nose, of a bullet/ball have absolutely no effect on performance. Damage to the base is a whole, nother story. As long as your lead is soft and easily scratched with a fingernail it will work. But you would be wise to use a smaller ball for the sake of the loading lever.

 

[M. De Land]

Deformed balls or bullets are not a problem. Unless you somehow mangle the base of the ball it will fly true at handgun distances.

Ever wonder why so much is made about shaving a lead ring with a ball but no mention of it when shooting conicals ? I would think a conical not seated perfectly straight (cock eyed and they often are) and not shaving lead off would be at least as vulnerable to chain fire as a ball that will always self center.
This is the main reason balls are usually more accurate in my opinion.
Makes me wonder about those who feel chain fire is always from the front end !

 

[M. De Land]

Sounds to me like a lead problem.. you need to use the purest lead you can find as this is the softest. Be very wary of using range scrap as most breech loading lead bullets are alloy with added tin. With a muzzle loading revolver, you are looking for a rim of lead being shaved off as the ball goes into the cylinder. This needs a sharp edged cylinder with NO chamfer. You should not need to add any further leverage to the rammer, If you do then the lead is too hard! *

Whatever you do, don't ever ream a gun unless you really know what you are doing.. you are just creating 100+ years of wear at a single stroke. There is a zero chance that "the gun is wrong" it is either you or the bullet size. NEVER remove metal from a gun unless you are 100% sure it should not be there, and even then it is better to hammer the metal back to where it was rather than cut it off.. Dremel is responsible for more gun history lost than any war or politician!

* On second thoughts, just go ahead.. I need the income from replacing and repairing broken rammers!

Have you ever done any chamber reaming,forcing cone cutting , barrel re-crowning or shot lead alloy with some tin in it in a percussion revolver ? None of those cutting operations are left sharp and they will be sharp enough to cut you very easily after machining. The sharp edges are always broke/chamfered enough to remove the fins and ragged steel left from reaming, turning or milling.
Also you won't be able to tell the difference when shaving lead at loading between pure lead at a bit under 5 BHN and an alloy of tin/lead at 8-9 BHN from home cast balls.