Round Balls In CTG Case

There was a magazine article that I read a long time ago where roundballs were loaded and fired out of a custom built single action Ruger. It was a specially made and designed paradox gun from Bowen I believe. They designed the gun to shoot both round balls and shot from brass shells, with the barrel being partially rifled only at the top end of it, in order to be able to optimally shoot either load without totally losing the shot pattern due to the rifling.
I thought that it was a .44 magnum, although it could just as well have been a .45 LC.
It was a memorable article because after much experiementation, they succeeded in designing the barrel to shoot both loads very well. But this gun was built for smokeless powder.

I loaded some .32 long cartridges full of 777 and thumb pressed a ball on top. They were accurate but I couldn't figure out how to crimp them so the balls wouldn't dislodge from recoil. I'd say experiment away, BP and the subs produce less pressure so safety would be less of a concern around overloading. Good luck

Don

One of the Lyman Manuals (Cast Bullet Manual?) used to have some data for RB cartridge loads... Haven't looked recently, but I recall trying bottom end .45 LC RB loads from there that wouldn't even put the ball flush with the surface in plywood target backing and sometimes came back instead of sticking.

Speer #10 shows round ball loads for .45 LC, but all are around 550-600 fps. Wonder why that is?

I've loaded black powder round ball loads in both .45 Colt and 45/70. It was an interesting experiment but the accuracy wasn't good enough to make a practice of it. The 45/70s grouped about 6 inches at 50 yards and the .45 Colts shot real low since the pistol is sighted for 250 grain bullets. I don't recall specifically how the .45s grouped. I had no trouble with keeping them seated, though. I just crimped the case mouth a little.

Steve

Loading round balls In CTG case is an old idea. French people using french 1873 revolver use it a lot, with good accuracy.
This is only for short range ( 25 yds ), because of the round ball, but it can be very accurate at this range if you find the good load.

The long 45 Colt ctg may need a wad, I think, because you don't have to use too much powder.

Yeah

this is perfectly OK and should give decent accuracy using .454" balls and that lubed felt wad as described. The black powder makes it easy to ensure that the ball stays put too.

The reason most rb cartridge loads are low velocity is due to the pure lead content of the balls - to prevent leading. These loads usually don't have any provision for lubrication and use a crimp under the ball to keep them in place.

O.S.O.K.,

I am considering loading .452 RB under ~8 grains of Trailboss. There is no load data for Trailboss using 141 gr RB's so I am extapolating the load from a 161 grain LRN load.

Thoughts?

I loaded some roundball over felt and Pyrodex P. Not a bad load, but I obviously got something wrong as the accuracy was pretty horrid. I probably should have taper crimped the cases.

How I did do it, was load it up with black, drop a couple felt wads under, and then press the ball on top. I adjusted the bullet seater so it would compress the midline of the ball past the mouth of the case, which I gave a fairly light roll crimp. (setting up the die to do this is a lot easier if you wrap the ball in a layer or two of duct tape as it will 'hold' the set of the ball in the case without having it drop all the way to the bottom). It was fairly easy to load that way, but I believe the roll crimp was shaving too much of the ball off when I shot things. Had lead all over the frame and the long sleeves of my shirt when I was done.

I'm going to try it again some time, when I get around to buying a taper crimp for .45.

I've used the data in Speer #10 as a starting point. My best success was using .457" round balls, cast from wheel weights, then run through a .452" sizer, essentially producing a double-ended round-nose bullet. I crimped, gently, just over the front shoulder of the ball. I don't recall the charge or velocity, but it was slow, and it was strictly a short-range load. It can be done, but it may not be what you're looking for.

This will work well in some of the old .32 Cal. hand guns. This is fine in 32-20s mild loads, .32 S&W Longs the old Swiss Nagants Etc.