Wheel weights for a caplock?

[Stubert]

I just picked up a used (but never shot) Ruger Old Army for $300. It came with about 50 balls already cast, however they are harder than pure lead. I assume they were cast from wheel weights. Can I do any damage by shooting them or should I cast up some pure lead? They are .457 diam. Thanks for the help, Stu

 

[bingo1952]

The hard balls will not hurt the gun by the shooting of them but they are very hard to start in the cylinders. Unless you are using a cylinder loader of some sort I would recommend against it. You will be putting undue stress on your pistols loading lever if you try to use it on these hard balls. Get some Hornady or Speer swaged balls and go shooting. :thumbsup:

 

[Poor Private]

And congrats from me on getting the old army at a very decent price!

 

[Oldnamvet]

Those wheel weight balls would make nice slingshot ammo.

 

[rebel727]

Stick on wheel weights are fine. Clip on weights are too hard and come out of the mold too big.

 

[Zonie]

The .457 diameter balls are the right side for a ROA and the Ruger is hell for stout so loading the hard balls shouldn't be a big problem.

Because of their size and hardness, those balls might damage the loading levers on most of the Italian reproduction guns but if you get them into the chambers shooting them shouldn't cause any damage to the Italian guns.

 

[rebel727]

I tried the clip on weights for my .44's. They work ok but are kinda hard to load. They come out of the mold at .457 with a .454 mold. I use stick on weights all the time for everything bp.

 

[JackAubrey]

If I may interject something here.Could it be possible that shooting these "harder" balls could pose a safety hazard? To my understanding, when one loads a ball in a chamber it should be such a fit as to shave a ring of lead off the ball.All things being equal,could this not happening allow for a poor "seal" at the chamber mouth.Just something to consider.I have heard of some people using hardball in rifles to get better penetration but I would think obturation plays a more significant role in a revolver.

 

[rebel727]

They shave lead just like the soft balls do it just takes more pressure to load them. I've tried them and it doesn't take so much pressure that you're liable to break anything using the loading lever.