Balls vs conicals for a 1858 Rem Revovler

[NJCOP]

For fun and accuracy any suggestions for the 44 cal?

[Eggman]

I've always had better consistancy with round balls over conicals since 1972. Normally a .451 will suffice unless you get it accurized.

[Gary Van Kauwenbergh, 101]

I shoot a Lee conical out of one of those Remington 'Shooters Model' revolvers from Navy Arms. It's a larger bullet, the same one that's used for the New Army. I shoot 24 grains of FFg GOEX (yes, FFg). The tip of the bullet comes just below the rim of the cylinder (read: no filler). The first time I shot it was in a Revolver team competition, and I hit six out of six hanging clay pigeons.

Right now I'm experimenting with this bullet: http://www.biglube.com/BulletMolds.aspx?ItemID=d3fb4508-70e1-4d9b-87bd-6d9c2d504d33 Early indications are excellent, and it's a six cavity mold.

[Eggman]

I defer to Gary. I'm still trying to hit six targets in a revolver match.

[ms3635v]

I have found that shooting a Remington in .44 caliber that has not been accurized shoots a .454 roundball with more accuracy. Initially I tried a .451, but that diameter ball does not shave a thin ring of lead when loading the cylinder. When I went to the .454 roundball, the accurracy improved. I shoot 20 grains of 3f with a cream of wheat filler and the revolver performs well.

[hp gregory]

i did a lot of work out of a ransom rest with rogers revolvers. the one thing i learned was a round ball becomes a round nose round bottom wad cutter if it shaves much lead when loaded. i found that along with a proper powder charge you need to use cream of wheat filler to keep the ball close to the end of the cylinder. the cow also compresses the powder the same each time. to add to the consistant loading i found that using a loading press with a stop on it would make sure all 6 loads were the same by setting the depth of the ball in the cylinder. when doing all this i never found a bullet that would shoot as good as a round ball. all the bullets seemed to do was create more recoil which makes the revolver harder to hold and it just beats the crap out of the gun compared to the round ball. however im sure there are some folks shooting a bullet well. i just never found one that would out do a properly loaded round ball in my guns.

hp

[NJCOP]

Cream of wheat filler? Man this is all new to me. Being a Confederate gun sympathizer what do I use in mine grits? Cream of wheat really not wonder wads?

[Frog]

I use whatever I can find in the kitchen cabinets. Cream of wheat, grits or corn meal will all work.
Each person you ask will have a different opinion.
I currently am using course ground corn meal, and if you find worms in it, don't worry, they go down range also.

[hp gregory]

the cow is used for two reasons. first it keeps the ball out near the edge of the cylinder so it doesnt have to jump very far before engaging the barrel. reason two is cow wont compress like corn meal so it compresses the powder the same each time. when i was trying corn meal you could hear the sound of the round change when it went off. it would vary shot to shot due to the differant compression of the powder. with cow you get a nice solid crack each time a round is fired. there may be other fillers that works fine but cow seems to be what a lota guys use with good results.

hp

[Muley Gil]

It's good that cream of wheat makes good filler, 'cause it sure ain't worth eatin'!!!! Yuck!

[xring2245]

It's good that cream of wheat makes good filler, 'cause it sure ain't worth eatin'!!!! Yuck!

Geez, nothing wrong with Cream of Wheat. I eat it 2-3 times a week. Eggs and grits the other days... Still trying to figure out how to use eggs and grits for a filler. Maybe not.

James

[Ron/The Old Reb]

Worms in your corn meal is a good thing. When you fire your revolver they fry up real crispy. When you go down range to check your target you can pick out the ones that are embedded in the target and have them for a snack between relays.Their real crunchy and tasty.

[Gary Van Kauwenbergh, 101]

..." I'm experimenting with this bullet: http://www.biglube.com/BulletMolds.a...d-6d9c2d504d33 (http://www.biglube.com/BulletMolds.aspx?ItemID=d3fb4508-70e1-4d9b-87bd-6d9c2d504d33) Early indications are excellent, and it's a six cavity mold."

I tried the Big Lube bullet out at the range yesterday. It's shoots just as well as my conical, even a little tighter at reduced charges, but lands about seven inches lower at 25 yards than my conicals, and I'd need to start using filller. I don't think I want to file that much off my sights or start using filler, so I'm going to keep what I've got.

[Francis J. Miller Jr, 02601]

HP,

Sent you a PM.

[Rlevin]

I could not get mine to shoot reallybwell with 3G goes or Swiss. I finally settled on 23 gr of 4f goex and corn meal filler. I will try cow does not compress anywhere near the amount of cm.I have another 1858 that was accurized by Charlie Hahn. It loves 23 gr 2f Swiss and almost one hole at 25 yd bench rest. Again it did not like 3f or 4f. One reason i like black powder so much is that the guns are more finicky then an angry woman. Keeps an old man on his toes just trying to figure these out.Happy thanksgivingRussBerdan C2