My 1862 Pocket .375 vs .380 ball

[Pocket]

I have had a blast with my 1862 (uberti)
I have worked through the cap jams and cap sucking, and working on tbe hammer sight. All has been great but every now and then I would hear a dull pop instead of that loud thunder and smoke.I figured I was just getting old and bad eyes or something and just measured the power wrong.

I had bought a loading stand and modified it to work with the 36 cal. cylinder.

While loading the cylinder off of the gun I noticed that a few of the round balls dang near rolled out of the cylinder when I laid it on its side to load it back onto the gun.
I pushed the balls back down and went out side to shoot. ONE GOOD BANG and then some dull pops.
No Compression one might say. Those .375 balls were to small. I shot another box of a diffetent brand and still got some weak dull pops.

I ordered .380 mold and melted down the remaining .375 balls and a roof jack and made some new .380 balls

These were much tighter and now I have a small ring after loading each cylinder.
FIFTY rounds of the .380 ball and every shot was load and felt stronger.

Between this site and youtube, it sure hepled to speed up the learing curve on this black powder addiction.

 

[rodwha]

According to my notes it has .372” chambers and a .376” bore (grooves). FYI the lands are about .370” in case you wondered, though I’d love to hear your own measurements for comparison. Tools wear out and dimensions could change for certain.

I’d also like to hear about max loading numbers. My understanding is that it’s roughly 20 grns of 3F with a ball. Of course 20 grns of volume can vary from person to person. Weight is about the only way to more accurately figure charge size.

 

[44 Dave]

Have a Uberti '62 (shot it today) and another Uberti and a Pietta in .36 and .380s work best in all. My thought is a larger ring means more surface to engage the rifeling .

 

[TTv2]

Have a Uberti '62 (shot it today) and another Uberti and a Pietta in .36 and .380s work best in all. My thought is a larger ring means more surface to engage the rifeling.

More pressure and better seal for a more consistent burn.

Even in the .44 calibers, I always use .454" balls because if in the future I pick up another .44, be it a Uberti or Pietta, if one or two chambers are .452... it's just better to have the larger ball than a smaller ball.

 

[Tommygunn]

Loading a ball in a cap 'n' ball revolver should always leave a lead ring, or you're risking having a loose ball.

 

[expat_alaska]

Pocket, that is a nice set you have! I really like the wood on the Pocket, but I would prefer it as the Pocket Police with that extra barrel with the rammer. I have a repro ASM 1848 Pocket .31 6" octagonal barrel and it gets lost in my hand because of long fingers, so I can't imagine shooting that size pistol in .36.

I am much more partial to that Pietta 1851 Navy .36 you show as those fit my hand best, and I have several Pietta types.

Mine mike out at .380" groove so a .380 ball swaged into the chamber while loading (and producing a nice lead ring) produces a flattened horizontal surface on the ball, as others have pointed out, and it grabs the lands very well.

BTW, where is your "non-replica" 1851 .44 in that display?

Jim

 

[Saddlebag Preacher]

Pretty much every Uberti .36 needs a .380 ball that I've ever owned. But, work up a good load and you'll be surprised at what these old 19th century copies can do if you do your part.

 

[Pocket]

If I had only read the Uberti instructions all the way. It clearly has .380 listed. I just figured .375 because that is the only size BPS and Cabelas sells for 36 cal.

I have read the post about 0000 Buck (.380)
Has anybody actually used it?

 

[Pocket]

Ps, the 44 wanna be replica, doesnt get much attention, since I got the 1862.

I can't decide which barrel that I like best on the Pocket, the 3.5 or the 5.5. I like both.

 

[TTv2]

If I had only read the Uberti instructions all the way. It clearly has .380 listed. I just figured .375 because that is the only size BPS and Cabelas sells for 36 cal.

I have read the post about 0000 Buck (.380)
Has anybody actually used it?

Can't say I have, but from what responses I got about why the Italians don't offer .36 caliber cap/ball revolvers in .357/.358 diameter so 000 Buck could be used is because buckshot is harder than pure lead and it might be difficult to seat the balls or cause higher pressures due to the hardness.

Trackofthewolf.com sells .380 balls and for a good price too. Part # is BALL-380-X

https://www.trackofthewolf.com/List/Item.aspx/127/1

Dixie also sells .380 balls, but as usual with Dixie, it costs money.

https://www.dixiegunworks.com/index...336/product_name/BA0401+Dixie+Cast+Balls+.380

 

[Caliper_Mi]

Loading a ball in a cap 'n' ball revolver should always leave a lead ring, or you're risking having a loose ball.

Worse, risking a potential chainfire!

I got a chance to fire my Uberti 1862 pocket for the first time yesterday. The balls from my .375 mold only shaved a partial ring, will be measuring the chambers and probably getting a .380 mold. I guess this agrees with your experience. My .45 Ubertis have harger chambers than my .45 Piettas as well.

 

[Tommygunn]

Worse, risking a potential chainfire!

I got a chance to fire my Uberti 1862 pocket for the first time yesterday. The balls from my .375 mold only shaved a partial ring, will be measuring the chambers and probably getting a .380 mold. I guess this agrees with your experience. My .45 Ubertis have harger chambers than my .45 Piettas as well.

When I first got started in B.P., Pietta instruction manuals stated .375 balls for .36 and .451 for .44, while Uberti said .380 and .454 respectively. I think they're still the same. And yes, loose balls can invite chainfire; good point there.

 

[Crawdad1]

Chain fire using an under sized ball. Go to :56 if you just want to see the chain fire.

 

[44 Dave]

Had some under size lead balls, think they were.366 or so, I flattened them in a small "hobby vice" up to about .380. I had just got the gun they were the only ones he included and I just had to shoot it !!

 

[Pocket]

I shot my Pietta 36 Navy this afternoon with my .380 balls. Got nice shaved rings when each cylinder was loaded.
The rest of my .375 balls are gonna get melted down this weekend.

 

[Don Kenna]

I quickly learned the hard way that most, if not all, of the Italian replica .36 caliber revolvers do much better with .380-inch balls. I suspect that might hold true for original .36 caliber revolvers as well, although I’ve never fired one. In fact, before I acquired the wisdom to remove the sharp edge from the business end of some rammers, I had some .375-inch balls stick to them and pull out of the chamber when the rammer was withdrawn.

Being a lazy fellow—not to mention being overworked in casting bullets for black powder cartridge rifles—I’ve thus far contented myself with purchasing .380-inch diameter balls from Track of the Wolf. However, I did notice a curious notation in the original instruction booklet for Colt 2nd Generation percussion revolvers (made from raw Uberti parts) which stated that their .36 caliber revolvers required a .378-inch diameter round ball. No commercially cast balls of that diameter are available. A couple of years ago, though, I stumbled upon a long-discontinued Ohaus mould for. 378-inch diameter balls on Ebay. I bought it, but I’ve yet to get around to casting any balls with it. Although .380-inch balls work just fine for me, judging from the amount of lead shaved from them in seating, I suspect the .378-inch diameter balls from that Ohaus mould might be ideal.