When I've looked online to see what's available for .36 caliber and .44 caliber lead free balls, nothing really shows up. Does anything exist for cap and ball? I've been thinking after doing my rifle build that I may get a Uberti cap and ball 1851 Navy .36 caliber just to have one to shoot every once in a while. Been a cartridge shooter my whole life, so cap and ball is new to me. It seems like finding lead is getting harder and harder. Just wondering if anything exists that doesn't harm the pistol at all.
Lead free ammo options for blackpowder revolvers?
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Bazoo
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Far as I know there isn't anything lead free available to purchase. With a revolver like that, the ball is slightly oversized and shaves a little when loaded. The loading lever can break if using too hard of an alloy. You could use an off pistol loading lever, and cast balls of tin, maybe bisthmus (never cast it so can't say how it acts as pure), to have lead free. No reason to go lead free though unless it's required for hunting.
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I had thought ITX sold lead free balls that would work in a cap n ball, but it appears as though it’s only in a patched application for muzzleloaders.
Have you looked at scrap yards? Many moons ago I bought a lot of recycled lead pipe. Got it at $1/lb. But we moved and don’t have a place that will sell scrap lead so I’ll likely bite the bullet and purchase a load of lead ingots from Rotometals. I’ll try their 2% tin to see if it helps with mold fill out.
https://www.rotometals.com/
Lead is where you find it. Some junk yards may still have some, x-ray rooms renew their lead shields every so often. Maybe a used machinery business. Back when I was still working our big presses were anchored with lead - big hunks of it. Or buy it online. Good luck.
Malachi Leviticus Blue
Member
Most folks don't, but you can shoot patched round balls in a C&B revolver.
I'll give that link a shot as well. I live within spitting distance of a scary yard, I may buzz over there on Saturday see if they have anything for scrap lead. My work only uses I believe Zinc wheel weights now, I think that's been the practice for like 10 years maybe.
windini
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Rotometals has a bismuth-based lead-free casting alloy, but you'd have to cast your own balls or bullets. I have never used it, just saw it online.
https://www.rotometals.com/lead-free-bullet-casting-alloy-bismuth-based/
https://www.rotometals.com/lead-free-bullet-casting-alloy-bismuth-based/
That's quite a bit of lead there with 240lbs if I am reading that correctly.
For what you get that's not a bad price in my mind.
Have a bit of a stupid question, but is it possible to do conical (spitzer) type bullets for these pistols, or is a round ball the best option? I had seen a couple people ask on various other places, but no one really gave an answer.
For what you get that's not a bad price in my mind.
Have a bit of a stupid question, but is it possible to do conical (spitzer) type bullets for these pistols, or is a round ball the best option? I had seen a couple people ask on various other places, but no one really gave an answer.
There are molds for conicals for these revolvers and back in the period I think that was the norm.
They will give you a bit better accuracy and retain their velocity at longer distance.
Nowadays we mostly shoot roundball because it's more about plinking, not manslaughter. Besides they're cheaper when you buy them.
Yes, I got four big ingots of lead under my workbench and chop off pieces with an axe as needed. I suspect they'll last me the rest of my life. They're sort of T shaped and meant to be bolted to the rear chassie of the forklift
They will give you a bit better accuracy and retain their velocity at longer distance.
Nowadays we mostly shoot roundball because it's more about plinking, not manslaughter. Besides they're cheaper when you buy them.
Yes, I got four big ingots of lead under my workbench and chop off pieces with an axe as needed. I suspect they'll last me the rest of my life. They're sort of T shaped and meant to be bolted to the rear chassie of the forklift
Looks like Lee is one of the sellers of the conical molds. .36 caliber would be .375" nominally correct? And .450 or .456 are for .44 caliber? https://leeprecision.com/bullet-casting/black-powder-molds/black-powder-conical-cap-and-ball/
Yes, 450 is too small so 456 would be best.
The bullets are supposed to be slightly oversized.
On a brand new revolver you should get a small ring of lead shaved off when you load the chamber.
And just a reminder, seat the ball firmly on the powder. NO air pockets allowed!
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If you want to shoot reduced loads, the bullet might be a bit deeply set.
Fill up the chambers with polenta or grits so the bullet is seated just under the chamber mouth.
The bullets are supposed to be slightly oversized.
On a brand new revolver you should get a small ring of lead shaved off when you load the chamber.
And just a reminder, seat the ball firmly on the powder. NO air pockets allowed!
Edit:
If you want to shoot reduced loads, the bullet might be a bit deeply set.
Fill up the chambers with polenta or grits so the bullet is seated just under the chamber mouth.
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whughett
Member
Depending on the revolver it may be difficult to load conical bullets. I’ve numerous , very numerous cap guns in 36 and 44 and for the most part on gun loading is fiddley at best and downright impossible on some of them. Roundballs not a problem.
Many of the Italian made guns just don’t have a large enough opening and the rammer is shaped wrong for conicals.
That's why I was kind of wondering with conical bullet. So Italian cap and ball unlikely that they'll fit and work.
Well, actually some of the bullet molds are the original spitzer shaped pointy conicals and people like them for their historical aspect.
Some, like myself, are hunters and so my designs wear a wide meplat. Pointy bullets at low velocity creates smaller than caliber permanent wound tracks, and is likely why Civil War soldiers claimed a ball took the fight out of a man better. A ball or RN bullet at low velocity will only create caliber sized holes (all of this assuming no expansion from hitting bones, which isn’t guaranteed, some looking like they could be reused.
What I’ve found is that both my ROA and NMA seem to have a preferred powder charge and shoot any projectile so far equally well, so they make for cheaper practice and testing ammo. I have a better powder measure and will be fine tuning their more accurate hunting charges. With the numbers I have so far shows my universal bullet will likely weigh 215-230 grns and wear a 0.375-380” meplat with enough oomph from either as the weighed charges are 33 and 38 grns of 3F Olde Eynsford powder for a sidearm.
As to manslaughter, well, these aren’t guns anyone really would opt for if that was their goal. One interesting thing I came across was a fellow BP enthusiast who’s made and tested many things, one being custom hollow points and then a spare ram to modify with epoxy. Seems maybe a few chambers of solids and a few HPs all depending on what you might need sounds appealing, but tedious with ram swaps.
You only need grossly oversized balls, it’s the area that creates the bearing surface giving it friction to stay put under recoil. A bullet has these already, and depending on the design, such as mine, they creates very long upper driving bands. My ROA has .453” chambers and my NMA has been reamed to .449”, though I’m considering opening them up a bit more. Regardless my next design will just be 0.454-5” but my NMA is also chamfered so it doesn’t cut rings.
For a Pietta the .450” is oversized as the chambers tend to be around .446” whereas the Ubertis around .450”. The .456” version was designed for the Ruger.
True where my Pietta NMA was concerned. I had to modify the loading port to make my bullets work. I’ve heard the Lee won’t load either, but that the pointy traditional conicals sometimes does.
Mike OTDP
Member
Use round balls. At the 2018 World Championships, they did a survey...of 140 competitors in the revolver match, one was using a picket bullet.
Malachi Leviticus Blue
Member
I'd also guess none were using bisthmus, but I could be wrong.
Regardless of using round ball or conical, I was mainly curious if anything existed and if they would work. Since lead is starting to get harder to get a hold of in certain circumstances, I wanted to know what the alternative was. So a bismuth-tin alloy seems to be the way to go. As far as what I'll get, Uberti clones/replicas are what I've mainly looked for. Just something different to use. Honestly, never thought I'd ever have a slight interest in cap and ball, let alone black powder arms. But as I'm in the last year of my 20s, I'd figure I'd try something different.
whughett
Member
Oh my! A life time to left to play with guns..........
I’m in the last year of my 70’s but didn’t discover the fun of black powder until my 60’s.
arcticap
Member
Many folks have found ways to recycle their lead.
They place their target in the middle of a tire which acts like a collection trap.
Or they build a box type trap, buy a commercial trap, shoot into a steel plate angled toward the ground or a berm.
They place their target in the middle of a tire which acts like a collection trap.
Or they build a box type trap, buy a commercial trap, shoot into a steel plate angled toward the ground or a berm.
whughett
Member
I “mine” the 25 yard back stop at my member owned gun club. Just the position I normally shoot into yields enough lead to last a life time. The sheer amount of jackets would indicate that most of the lead is pure core material (?) and the bullets thrown from the melt would be softer.
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