Help

[achysklic]

I went out and bought 2 new .44 remingtons from cabelas. One is blue one is stainless.
I started casting my own lead. I cast .454 round ball and .450 conical.

Here is where I need help. the cylinder on the stainless is bigger than the blue. The conical drop right in and the .454 go in easy with a slight push. on the blue one both conical and round ball fit snug.

Is this normal? It is driving me nuts!

 

[Busyhands94]

I had the same problem with my Lee 200 grain conical bullets, it drove me crazy. But I found out how to remedy this problem. You need to size the heel of the bullet, you don't need to get any fancy tools to do that. I made a youtube instructional video on how to do that, and I hope it's some help to you:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tu1mB_CusPg&feature=channel_video_title

Also remember that a little lube makes it even easier to put in the chamber.

Levi

 

[junkman_01]

It's not normal, but it does happen. You will have to find bullets that fit the stainless gun more snugly.

 

[J-Bar]

A .457 ball would be more snug. Can't advise you on conicals...don't use 'em in a front-stuffer!

 

[Omnivore]

Several options there.
Lee sells a larger conical mold, intended for the Ruger Old Army. That one should fit your larger chambers. As stated above, .457" ball should work nicely.

Alternatively, slug both bores, find out if they're the same. If so, get the larger cylinder for the other gun, so they both fire the same projectiles. That is, assuming both guns are made by the same manufacturer.

If both barrels' groove diameters are the same, some would say go ahead and ream the chambers in the smaller cylinder, so they match the larger one, then get the larger molds and use the same lead in both. A 29/64" reamer is .453" or just about a perfect chamber for a barrel groove diameter of .450" to .452". You might want to contact a competent gunsmith. 'Course if you want spare cylinders, you'll need to have those reamed too.

My Pietta '58 has chambers smaller than the groove diameter, which I understand is common for Pietta. Uberti makes the chambers and the groove dia. about the same, but those who claim to know say the chamber, and thus the bullet, should be .001 to .003" larger than the barrel's groove diameter. This is commonly stated in bullet casting manuals for metal cartridges also.

 

[Busyhands94]

Wait... I misunderstood what you said there and mistook the problem you were having for another problem, sorry about that! I would suggest a larger conical like the others mentioned. Maybe slug your cylinder, that would give you a more accurate measure of what you should use.

 

[arcticap]

One method that's used to cast a slightly larger projectile is to place a single layer of aluminum foil in between the inside flats of the mold halves. That foil should add fractionally to the diameter of the bullet.
That's worth a try if there's not another problem with the temperature of the mold during casting or the lead mixture itself.
Also, a harder lead alloy will cast a slightly larger projectile from the same mold.
It's also possible to very lightly polish the inside of the mold to try to enlarge the cast projectile if one wanted to try, but that might be risking the quality of the mold.
However placing a sheet of foil between the mold halves is reversible.

 

[achysklic]

Thanks for the responses. I was just wondering if I should contact cabelas and have them replace the stainless gun both guns are only a couple weeks old.

I just can't believe how both guns bought 1 week apart are the same exact guns except one is blue one is stainless, and the stainless is cylinder is so much bigger.

 

[achysklic]

Update called Cabela's they are sending me out a replacment cylinder.

 

[Smokin'Joe]

Knurl Conicals

Conicals can easily have their diameter increased by a technique called knurling



Notice original size of .453"



Place projectile on 80 grit sandpaper and roll it between the sandpaper and a file while applying downward pressure.



Projectile gained .004” in diameter and a nice texture that retains lube very well.

 

[scrat]

you could also hone out the mold. take a finishing nail measure the diameter usually a 1/16 of inch will do. drill a hole in one of the bullets. Use some JBWeld to put the finish nail in the bullet. Then after its dry put it in a drill (dremel works better). Then put some tooth past in the halves insert the bullet and spin it for about a 30 seconds. Then clean the halves and try inserting another bullet if its a little loose then Perfect now cast a bullet and try loading it in the revolver if it shaves a good round ring then your good to go. if it does not shave a good ring then repeat it. Cost to do about 4.99 if you dont have any jb weld

 

[achysklic]

update, Got replacement cylinder from Cabelas today took a conical bullet and it fit snug just like on my blue model. I can't believe how much the orginal cylinder was off. They over machined it to death. I will take measurements of both and post them.

 

[4v50 Gary]

Neat knurling trick Smoking'Joe.

 

[robhof]

robhof

That technique makes the bullet look like the buffalo bore bullets and seems to be more precise than my process; place bullet on steel plate or anvil, place plate on top of bullet at 90 degree angle and strike with hammer, requires uniform strike for consistant bullets and leaves bulets with flat point, but it does work, as I have several .454 REALs that are now .457/458 and shoot with reasonable accuracy in my ROA without creap.

 

[Busyhands94]

I just tried that Knurling trick on some Minnie balls and some .450 conicals, I like it! I have been kinda paranoid about Minnies sliding forward down the tube away from the powder, but this might make me more comfortable. I also think this will improve the accuracy, I think the knurling will grip the rifling or maybe get compressed a little bit and engrave the rifling marks onto it before it even reaches the powder. this might be like those REAL bullets that are engraved, we'll see. I think this is worthy of a paper shooting test. I will try and shoot some paper next time I'm out shooting.

 

[jimrbto]

I would not like to roll the bullets on 80 grit sandpaper. The grains of grit will break and get stuck in the bullets, then when you shoot them they will gouge the steel of the barrel.
Have you seen the scratches left on steel by 80 grit?
It would be better to roll the bullets between two similar files, this should accomplish the same thing and leave the bullets cleaner.
Dragon6

 

[Norton Commando]

Hey Dragon6,

You're spot on with your recommendation to roll the bullet between two files. In fact, "knurling" pistons between two files was a po-boy method of getting rid of piston-slap in worn out motorcycle engines, long ago mind you. Instead of spending money on re-boring cylinders and purchasing over-sized pistons, you could simply tighten up the piston-to-cylinder-wall clearance with a trusty pair of files!

Good stuff, thanks for the memories!

 

[Busyhands94]

I used a piece of softwood instead of sandpaper, it seems to have worked well. it bumped up the diameter and no worrying about the little abrasive pieces of sand getting stuck on my bullets.

 

[Smokin'Joe]

Before submitting my post on knurling projectiles I experimented with various combinations of materials and techniques. I tried the double file roll method, single file on hard surface and the file on various grits of sandpaper. The file on 80 grit provided the best results of knurling quality and projectile diameter gain. Grit in the lead did not happen.
I did not, however, experiment with all possible combinations and did not try the combination of file on soft wood. Levi tried this combination and says it shows promise. Levi, please share your results with us. Photos would be appreciated.