Just entering the world of cap and ball

[celem]

Been bag - slug your bore and chambers, if possible. My Pietta chamber slugs at .450. I use .451 balls which load easier than .454 but still leave a nice lead ring when loaded.

 

[Dframe]

Slugging the chambers is fairly easy. Remove the nipples then press a ball into the front of each chamber. It's a good idea to write or scratch a number on the ball and mark the cylinder with some tape so you can keep track of which ball came from which chamber. Then using a brass rod through the nipple hole poke them back out and measure around the ring you will find on the ball.

 

[Crawdad1]

Last summer I ran up an $800.00 dollar bill buying cartridges for ground hog hunting. This year I changed to loose powder and ball and the bill for all of that was around $100.00 dollars. I hunted and shot about the same. You can't beat the price and I had a lot more fun!!!

 

[BullSlinger]

Crawdad, I agree with you. For the past few years I rarely shoot my cartridge guns. Not only is it usually less expensive to shoot cap and ball but I really seem to enjoy them a lot more.
The ammo panic did not effect ML shooters for the most part. For a little while #10 caps were hard to find but they are once again available and now I keep enough on hand I don't worry about finding them. A couple of guns I did switch to #11 nipples.

 

[BowerR64]

Slugging the chambers is fairly easy. Remove the nipples then press a ball into the front of each chamber. It's a good idea to write or scratch a number on the ball and mark the cylinder with some tape so you can keep track of which ball came from which chamber. Then using a brass rod through the nipple hole poke them back out and measure around the ring you will find on the ball.

Did you find that the chambers were all different?

I did that to only 1 gun and i didnt find the chambers off enough to do it to the next one. I guess if its used maybe they could be a little different but new out of the box?

I found a few of my guns have a stamp on them like a date code stamp. It was between the chambers though i would hope that wouldnt affect their size. I used this as a mark for "chamber 1" then i went around from there. The code on mine kinda indicates 1 and 6

 

[Crawdad1]

Bullslinger, what you said about the ammo panic sure hit the nail on the head. Looking for 38 or 45 Long Colt or 45 Schofield was darn near impossible, except for places that were selling them, with the cost of shipping, for almost a dollar a bullet.

So my 1860 Army does double duty, for hunting and target shooting I use loose powder and ball. For home defense, I replace the cylinder with an R&D loaded with 45 Long Colt or 45 Schofield.

She gets it done.

 

[BullSlinger]

Ouch. Maybe I should not feel so bad about paying $27 for a 50 round box of 45 Long Colt (Magtech). I am so thankful that I had 5 bricks of 22lr I picked up on sale in June of 2011. I shot 3 brinks so far and will wait for prices to come down and shelves to fill up again before I buy more. Actually my daughter and her husband shot them as I watched.

 

[rodwha]

Reloading is your friend!

 

[Dframe]

BowerR64 I was simply addressing those who believed they had oddsized chambers. If yours are all in spec........well thats what my sizing post was about. If they're all in spec, you have just eliminated one potential problem. All of my revolvers came out the same way, but there is always the possibility of getting one a little off. It's good to know you have one thats "right". As far as marking the cylinder for testing I just use a piece of masking tape for testing which is easily removed afterwards.

 

[BullSlinger]

I have never checked any of mine but you got me thinking. I have a Pietta cylinder for a 1860 Colt and seems like every time I fire it I have one flyer. Always assumed that maybe I loaded one charge heavier/lighter than the others but maybe not. Guess it's time to check it out.