1858 pietta new army revolver

Asking MCgunner or swathdiver,

Do .454" balls shave a lead ring when you seat them?

I agree that .457" are difficult to seat but they sure shave a nice lead ring.

If the round balls are sized to fit in the chambers with a swedge fit then they are most likely to be under bore size. If the correct alloy is used (dead soft lead) these balls will bump up to bore diameter when fired.
Been working that way for over 100 years now.

Been working that way for over 100 years now.

Click to expand...

I don't think so. Were the chambers on the original Colts and Remingtons under bore size? I realize the contemporary replicas all (it seems) have that problem - at least, most of mine do - but I've not seen evidence that the originals suffered from the same malady. It seems to me that's an incredibly unlikely mistake for the people who were smart enough to design these guns to make.

BSA1 said:

Asking MCgunner or swathdiver,

Do .454" balls shave a lead ring when you seat them?

I agree that .457" are difficult to seat but they sure shave a nice lead ring.

Click to expand...

In my guns, yes! My chambers average .448, they shave a nice ring with .454s and a skinny one with .451s.

A .454 would probably not shave a ring in a .453 chamber. One would go with .457 balls in that case.