Conicals in cap-n-ball revolvers: why so inaccurate?

[rodwha]

That is a very good idea Surculus! Why not see if it will fit under the ram before you do anything. And it's possible it may not be too stressful on the lever assembly as is as long as you use soft lead.

Chamfering the chambers may also be an idea, though I'm not sure if it would actually reduce much stress or not to make a difference.

 

[Bezoar]

most every rammer you will find is made for a ROUND BALL. thats why conicals get tipped.
its also why companies make money by selling replacement rammers that are ground for conicals.

 

[rodwha]

Who makes aftermarket rammers? I've been considering having my Pietta Remington's ground flat as my bullets are flat.

 

[Curator]

The Lee conical moulds made for C&B revolvers are actually pretty good. Unfortunately, many repro C&B revolvers are made with cylinder chambers that are less than groove diameter. The "typical" .44Army revolver is made with .447" diameter chambers and .452 diameter grooves in their bores. This is of itself is not conducive to fine accuracy if there is any miss-alignment between chamber and bore. Sometimes using a filer like cream of wheat can help in the accuracy department because it will seal off the high-pressure gas that escapes past the under size bullet until it has a chance to obturate sufficiently to seal the bore on its own. Felt wads won't give the needed seal but do help to keep fouling down.

Once I reamed all of my C&B cylinder chambers to .0015 over groove diameter, my accuracy improved with conicals and round balls alike. The Lee 130 grain .375" conical is very accurate in my Uberti 1851 Colt Navy replica. The base band on this bullet allows it to drop into each chamber about half way so it clears the loading port nicely. It loads straight and is not deformed by the loading lever-plunger. I use the Lee .456-220 conical is almost as good in various .44 repo C&B revolvers that have had their chambers uniformly reamed to .4525". They also load straight, centering on their .452" diameter base band. They do shoot a bit higher than their round ball counterpart due to their additional weight.

 

[EljaySL]

Who makes aftermarket rammers? I've been considering having my Pietta Remington's ground flat as my bullets are flat.

I'm not sure this totally helps you, but the external loaders typically just take a regular jag and you can pretty much slap anything you want on there. Flat's easy.

 

[Rattus58]

You could get a Lee sizer kit that fit on their cheapy single-stage press. Not much more expensive than buying another mold, and then you've always got the ability to size boolits down to fit your C&B if you want to try experimenting w/ a different mold...

I actually was thinking the same thing... I have sizers for a press of .451, .452 and a push through at .450 for a mallard style sizing.... I'll try the .451 first... as its liable to size more evenly than a mallet...

 

[rodwha]

Eljay: I don't have any room in my shooting box for any more gadgets. Plus I want to be able to load in the field without more stuff.

The Pietta puts a very odd indention into the nose of each bullet. Were it flat it couldn't do it anymore.

 

[ExMachina]

Guess you could always use a conical and some JB Weld to custom form the recess in the face of the rammer

 

[rodwha]

Someone else had mentioned something along those lines, and it does sound good. But I don't care for how Pietta's ram protrudes so far into the loading window. I've been considering have Accurate Molds create me another bullet that's a cross between 2 of the styles I had him make but with a weight of 240-255 grns. I'm not sure I could get it under the ram.

 

[RPRNY]

Boring voice of caution here.

This reaming of chambers is dangerous in the Italian repros, especially the older ones. Tolerances to the outer cylinder wall are minimal. A 0.025" ream to the outer wall simply cannot be recommended.

 

[BigHunt 1981]

I bought a new old stock carbide tipped chucking reamer off of Ebay. It had a small step down to get it started straight in the hole. It wasn't made for reaming cylinders, but boy does it do a good job!

A 29/64 ths is the size you need. Reamed 2 of my cylinders out and now a .454"-.457" round ball slides easily into the chambers that mike out at about .4535" still getting a small ring all the way around the ball.

Some people say recoil is enhanced by this procedure, but I can't tell a difference since reaming. But conicals are much easier to start and are already bore size or .001" over when they are pushed into the barrel. Roundballs are a breeze to seat. Accuracy seems a little better, but I haven't had time to really put them through their paces.

As for being dangerous, I only removed around .006" or .003" from each side, leaving plenty of steel around the edge of they cylinder and between each chamber.

 

[rodwha]

I certainly don't know much about older repros, but I've not heard of anyone having issues with a reamed cylinder. Not this it's very common, but I've heard of more than just a few doing such, but it's typically to groove diameter or slightly more. Of course I have no idea what they shoot through theirs.

 

[Hellgate]

I got all "gunsmithy" once and decided to ream a bunch of cylinders out to .450. I managed to ruin several and fortunately I was able to buy replacements for them (Uberti Remington & ASM 44 cals). I found that I had a cheap drill press vise that did not hold the cylinders exactly vertical so my reaming was off. Anyway, I have one ASM 44 "Navy" that is reamed and the other isn't. There is a noticeable difference in recoil if you feel for it. In the heat of passion when the buzzer goes off during a match I don't notice the difference but there is a difference in recoil between the reamed (heavier recoil) and the unreamed.