1860 Army?

[Partisan]

The last question

What caliber of RB will fit better for .44 Colt Army?

There were mentioned .451, .454, .457.

Which is better?

 

[Father Knows Best]

It depends on the gun. You want a ball that's just wide enough to seal the cylinder. Some guys say that a tiny ring of lead should be shaved off when you seat the ball -- others say that if you're shaving lead off the ball is actually too large. You should never go too small, though. A ball that is too small won't stay in the chamber, and worse -- leads to chain fires because the chambers aren't sealed.

Most Italian .44 cap and ball revolvers take .451 balls just fine. Some may require .454 -- you won't know without experimenting. The .457 balls are almost certainly too big. The only cap and ball revolvers i know that take .457 balls are Ruger Old Armies.

 

[Partisan]

Thank you, "practice is the best truth critеria"

 

[Mk VII]

.457 is the correct size for the Ruger. I don't think the .460 ball offers any advantage; it's just harder to ram.

 

[robert garner]

Ruger old army

I've got several pistols but ONLY have one Pair and they are
Ruger Old Armies, excepting only combat these are my choice
of pistols if I would have to go with only one!

 

[Malamute]

Elmer Keith, in his book Sixguns, mentions that he knew several Civil War veterans, and learned about percussion pistols from them. The consensus was that the round balls were a better "manstopper" load than the conicals. The conicals gave better penetration, as when shooting cattle or hogs for meat, but little shock effect, being pointed. The soft, pure lead round balls, being more blunt in shape, AND having the nose flattened out when being loaded, tended to have a greater effect on men. He went on to say that those that had used, and seen used, both the 38 spl and 36 cal percussion Colts, considered the 36 percussion Colts a better manstopper. Remember that the standard 38 spl load was a 158 gr round nose. A load renowned for poor performance on about anything.