[Bezoar]

I know alot of the walker fans here use .45 acp bulelts, but what kind of bullet?

Im just curious as the only 45a cp bullets ive seen in bulk have been jacketed, and the cylinder conversion people say jacketed bullets make gun go boom.

Im thinking on a navy or army in 44, and just want to see what fun modern projectiles i can use.

[Tommygunn]

I would not use modern bullets in a BP gun. Absolutly NO jacketed rounds. Even lead bullets in modern calibers are a lead/antimony alloy or mixture and are really too hard. Trying to ram the bullets down the cylinder will strain the ram and lever, and the gun will be quite strained when the bullet enters the forcing cone.
Use soft pure lead balls that are designed for cap & balls, or mold your own with lead that is as pure as possible.
You don't want a BP revolver to do an imitation of a fragmentation grenade -- it can be really, really annoying. And unhealthy.

[jacobhh]

I agree with Tommygun. If you must use a bullet, cast
your own from pure soft lead. Even if your friends convince
you that the gun won't go boom, it will still be hard on it
and your accuracy won't improve.

I believe even with a conversion a pure lead round ball cast
and weight selected for consistency is the way to go.

[bigbadgun]

I am a firm believer that BP guns are for shooting BP and balls only if you want to use modern ammo buy a modern gun.:D

[DuncanSA]

I completely agree. We shoot these replicas because we enjoy playing around with 150 years old technology. If people want to shoot hot FMJ loads, they should get a Glock!

[mykeal]

I'm a firm believer in spending my money any way I damn well please. I am free to use soft lead round balls, copper jacketed semi-wadcutters or pieces of tinfoil. And your opinion of what I should do with my money is of infinitesimal importance.:neener:

Of course, I'm not really stupid enough to use 2 of those options, but I can if I want to...:evil:

[dstorm1911]

the barrels are not as hard as modern guns, if ya want to see what accelerated wear looks like run some jacketed or even hard lead down the bore a couple hundred times, The italians making the replicas cust every possible corner they can and since C&B guns are supposed to be shooting soft pure lead thats what they build em for, hard lead can be really bad if ya get a newer replica with a progressive bore...

[Norseman_01]

I have never heard of a Walker owner shooting 45acp bullets (cast lead or otherwise) in their guns...

Maybe using a 45acp MOLD to cast up some with soft lead.

I use 20:1 (or abouts) with my Lee conical molds for 44 in Walker, 1860 Army and 1858 NMA.

For cartridge conversions, I look for a supplier with SOFT lead for CAS.

[bigbadgun]

Everybody on this forum knows I own a Walker I would never dream of sending a 45 acp down its barrel. 50-60 grains with a .454 ball is a really beautiful thing for a day at the range.:banghead:

[frosty]

I'll throw everyone a curve...I have two stainless Ruger Old Armys, And have had great results shooting some modern cast bullets in them...For example, a 225gr full wad cutter bevel base, 200gr rnfp, 250gr rnfp, etc. Lube and powder space are always an issue, but straight loading is the most critical. There will be no wear in the bores, and most shot great out of both guns. I buy the bullets unsized/unlubed, and depending on the design, the generally run around .455 diameter, which is sufficient to stay down on powder. I made a basic die to size the bottom band to ease loading...:evil:

[Misfire99]

I don't understand the concept that something that is softer then the barrel will wear the barrel. The steel of a gun barrel is a LOT harder the any alloy of lead or of any jacket matterial. Even if it's the cheapest steel one can buy it's A LOT harder then lead or jacket material. There is some war time production of steel jackets but you will never see one in store bought bullets. But even those didn't wear the barrels. The thing that wears out a barrel isn't the bullet but rather the flame of the powder. That's why the throat is always the first place you will see wear on a barrel.

I think that if the bullet is bore size or less it will shoot. If it is over bore size then firing the bullet causes it to be swaged in the bore and this will cause pressure to raise a great deal. But it won't wear the barrel. Although it might split the barrel if the pressure is high enough.