Round ball cartridge queries

[Come On Christmas]

I have heard tell of shooting round ball from a 45 Colt Cartridge in a pistol?  I’m thinking Black Powder, Cream O Wheat, Wonder Wad, 454 Round Ball then crimp.

 

No Guessing Please.  Has any one done this?  PLEASE ONLY THOSE THAT HAVE DONE THIS.  No Lumpy Grit eaters.

 

Would 457 ball work okay?  I got a bunch run up.

 

—————-

 

Next query, how big a black powder load could you/ do you use in a normal 45 Colt Bullet in a conversion pistol.  I have some filled up to the base of the bullet.

 

Thank you for your ACTUAL EXPERTISE.

 

Your Somewhat Obediant Servant,

 

Shameless Womanizer 

[Tyrel Cody]

I have in my Kirst Conversion cylinder installed on a 1851 Pietta .44. Nice light load:

 

25gr FFG

1.2cc Lizard Litter

dab of crisco

.454 round ball

 

[J-BAR #18287]

Just remember ammo covenants requires that part of the projectile be visible  above the case rim (page 26, Shooter’s Handbook).  

 

I have not tried it myself.  I’m more comfortable with lube and crimp grooves, but I hope you can get them to work ok.

[Come On Christmas]

10 minutes ago, J-BAR #18287 said:

Just remember ammo covenants requires that part of the projectile be visible  above the case rim (page 26, Shooter’s Handbook).  

 

I have not tried it myself.  I’m more comfortable with lube and crimp grooves, but I hope you can get them to work ok.

 

Good to know.  I rested a ball atop an empty hull and it looked like a normal bullet only shorter.

 

Thanks

[irish ike, SASS #43615]

The bore is actual OK with .452. Round balls are .457 for Rugers so you cut off some of the "round" as you press the ball into the cylinder. 457 may not go int a 45 Colt case well. I have done this as you describe. I also was able to use a tapered crimp die to insure the ball stayed in the case!

Ike

[Come On Christmas]

33 minutes ago, Tyrel Cody said:

I have in my Kirst Conversion cylinder installed on a 1851 Pietta .44. Nice light load:

 

25gr FFG

1.2cc Lizard Litter

dab of crisco

.454 round ball

 

 

Ha ha!  Googled it, there actually IS lizard litter.  Ha Ha!

[Come On Christmas]

4 minutes ago, irish ike, SASS #43615 said:

The bore is actual OK with .452. Round balls are .457 for Rugers so you cut off some of the "round" as you press the ball into the cylinder. 457 may not go int a 45 Colt case well. I have done this as you describe. I also was able to use a tapered crimp die to insure the ball stayed in the case!

Ike

 

[Come On Christmas]

Lee Prescision has a sizer of sorts that I think I may use rather than remelting the .457’s

[The Original Lumpy Gritz]

UMC at one time loaded a round ball in many pistol calibers as a 'gallery' load.

The case had 2 crimps. 1 at the mouth, and the other about 1/4" below the case mouth. This was done to keep the ball in place.

About 1/3 of the ball is above the case mouth.

These were loaded with DuPont Number#2, smokeless powder.

OLG

 

[Prairie Dawg, SASS #50329]

Hey Shameless:

I loaded them all the time when I was shooting conversion cylinders with my Colt Open Top cap guns.

I wanted a light projectile that wouldn't stress the arbor-frame connection when I shot it.

I used 5 grains less than Tyrel, filled the case with cornmeal, pressed in a 454 round ball, and crimped it just past center.

Wouldn't go in because of the full case of powder & cornmeal, wouldn't go out, because of the crimp.

Satisfied SASS requirements by having some of the round ball protruding from the case

I could hit the rifle targets every time with these loads in my  8" 1860 Army.

After every cylinderful, when I took the gun apart to load/unload, I would wipe the cylinder face & forcing cone.

Since I put no lube in my cartridges, I would also pass a bore snake thru my barrel.

Only took 10 seconds once the barrel was off the gun, and made sure there was no fouling to reduce accuracy.

Hope this helps

--Dawg

[Guest Grass Range #51406]

Why were round balls loaded instead of regular bullets?

[Come On Christmas]

Have tons of them.

[Prairie Dawg, SASS #50329]

21 minutes ago, Grass Range #51406 said:

Why were round balls loaded instead of regular bullets?

 

cheep & plentiful.

No need to size or lube

Push them in with your thumb

And for what we have to hit -- large pistol targets at 7 paces -- accuracy is just fine

--Dawg

[Abilene Slim SASS 81783]

3 hours ago, Prairie Dawg, SASS #50329 said:

After every cylinderful, when I took the gun apart to load/unload, I would wipe the cylinder face & forcing cone.

Since I put no lube in my cartridges, I would also pass a bore snake thru my barrel.

Only took 10 seconds once the barrel was off the gun, and made sure there was no fouling to reduce accuracy.

Hope this helps

--Dawg

Dawg, could you smear some Bore Butter or a grease cookie bits over the loaded cartridge?

[Cusz M. Dutch SASS Life 55326]

5 hours ago, The Original Lumpy Gritz said:

UMC at one time loaded a round ball in many pistol calibers as a 'gallery' load.

The case had 2 crimps. 1 at the mouth, and the other about 1/4" below the case mouth. This was done to keep the ball in place.

About 1/3 of the ball is above the case mouth.

These were loaded with DuPont Number#2, smokeless powder.

OLG

 

What we use to carry for grouse loads when big game hunting.   A light load of Red Dot, a square of TP to hold the powder over the primer and set the crimp so it would catch half way.   Done just right and they make almost no report. 

[Prairie Dawg, SASS #50329]

3 hours ago, Abilene Slim SASS 81783 said:

Dawg, could you smear some Bore Butter or a grease cookie bits over the loaded cartridge?

 

Hi Slim:

Yep, that works very well.

Several soot lords I know use smokeless boolits with BP in the pistols, and dip the nose of the cartridge in a small can of soft lube just before they put them in the revolver.

Works very well

--Dawg

[Driftwood Johnson, SASS #38283]

Howdy

 

My old Lyman Pistol and Revolver reloading handbook lists loads for Red Dot, Unique, and SR-7625 with a .454 (142 grain) #2 alloy round ball.

 

No I have never done it myself, and no I am not going to list the charge weights, but the data is in the book.

 

Also, there is no advice given on crimping the round ball. It would be fairly easy with Black Powder, as crimping over the ball would keep the ball in contact with the powder, but not with Smokeless. The technique stated by OLG would probably work, but it would require a custom made crimping die.

[Driftwood Johnson, SASS #38283]

8 hours ago, Shameless Womanizer 57929 said:

Ha ha!  Googled it, there actually IS lizard litter.  Ha Ha!

 

You doubted this? I have been using Lizzard Litter for years, for tumbling my brass. You buy it in pet stores. The same crushed walnut shells that are sold for tumbling brass, but much cheaper.

[Kid Rich]

Round balls can be used in 45 Colt easily. If you have 457 balls and are having problems with them being to large just run them thru the Lee sizing die. Works great. I also use 457's for my wife 45-70 loads in Plainsman, no problem with accuracy out to 50 yds.

KR

[John Boy]

Quote

The case had 2 crimps. 1 at the mouth, and the other about 1/4" below the case mouth. This was done to keep the ball in place.

Adding to Grits post:  Where noted to crimp 1/4" below the mouth - Cannelure the case instead of crimping = 1 step removed in the reloading process

[Jimmy Reb, SASS #54804]

I have no experiance with 45's, but, I used to load 30 cal round ball in my 32acp derringer (very light load of 231). What I ran into was that they would not 

always stay in the case even with a heavy crimp. Sometimes I would pull a cartridge out of the box and the ball and powder stayed in the box. gave up on the round ball and got 32 bullets from molton lead.

[Come On Christmas]

11 hours ago, Driftwood Johnson, SASS #38283 said:

 

You doubted this? I have been using Lizzard Litter for years, for tumbling my brass. You buy it in pet stores. The same crushed walnut shells that are sold for tumbling brass, but much cheaper.

 

Yeah I noticed it twas inexpensive. I was at a loss for what it was.

 

i wonder if used Lizard Litter would clean the brass mo better? :~>=

[Driftwood Johnson, SASS #38283]

1 hour ago, Shameless Womanizer 57929 said:

i wonder if used Lizard Litter would clean the brass mo better? :~>=

 

Mo better than what?

 

Fresh Lizzard Litter?

 

Regular walnut shell media?

 

Lizzard Litter is the same as crushed walnut shells, it cleans just as well. After a while, particularly with brass that has been fired with Black Powder, the Lizzard Litter, or crushed walnut media, gets dirty and needs to be replaced. It lasts a lot longer if you tumble brass in it that has been shot with Smokeless. You can add different types of polish too, but I never do. Lizzard Litter is cheap enough that I just throw it away when it gets dirty.

[Come On Christmas]

I was kidding