Revolvers: which was used more often: Conical or Round Balls

[Cauterizer]

Does anyone have any facts, figures or just general rumors about revolver bullets used in civil war battles? My question is this....was one or the other preferred by either side? and any idea what the ratio was of conical vs. round ball usage? At this point even a S.W.A.G. would be a good starting point (SWAG is sniper jargon for a Scientific Wild A** Guess)

Thanks!

[Jim Mayo]

All the Issued ammunition I have seen for the pistols was conical. From my experience, conical bullets are dug quite frequently, more so than round balls of the same cal. Several 1862 camps I hunted had both but as the war progressed and the depots issued premade ammo the conical became more prevelent. My WAG would be conical.

[jbarber]

Most, if not all of the issued revolver ammo was in cartridge form encased in foil, skin, or paper wrappers. The six rounds were protected by a bored-out wood block with the cartridges inserted into the holes, and the whole enclosed in a paper wrapper with a label stating the caliber and charge. All the bullets in these packets were conical, having a "sugar-loaf" design - a sharp pointed nose with an arching ogive all the way to the base. It's hard to imagine that these bullets could be as accurate as a round ball. They were hard to seat concentrically into the cylinder chambers and had very little bearing on the barrel grooves when fired. The preponderance of revolver bullets recovered from battle sites, especially cavalry engagements, are conicals, but round balls are found also. I would speculate that the Confederates made more use of hand-cast revolver balls just as they made more use of cast minie balls rather than swaged.
Jon Barber 1483V, 110th OVI

[David K. Fox]

Some few years ago a special ran on TV relating to proving Jesse James was buried as...Jesse James. Part of the proof was a round .36 Navy-size ball found in the grave. James was shot at or soon after the end of the war by Union calvary and the bullet never removed. He was also reburied w/ his corpse face-down. Dave Fox

[Claypipe]

He was also reburied w/ his corpse face-down. Dave Fox

That's an old Indian custom, so the Spirit could not go to the Happy Hunting Grounds. Some people do it so the dead won't rise from the grave. Others believe it means the interred go straight to "L". Then some have it done so the living may "kiss their backside."

CP

[Southron Sr.]

Elmer Keith, the 20th Century "Pistol shooting Guru," (he was instrumental in convincing Remington to develop and market both the .357 Magnum and .44 Magnum pistol cartridges) started his pistol shooting as a young man with an old 1851 Navy Colt.

According to Keith an old Confederate veteran that tutored him in pistol shooting said that during the Civil War, Rebs preferred using round balls because they "hit harder."

[MR. GADGET]

Elmer Keith, the 20th Century "Pistol shooting Guru," (he was instrumental in convincing Remington to develop and market both the .357 Magnum and .44 Magnum pistol cartridges) started his pistol shooting as a young man with an old 1851 Navy Colt.

According to Keith an old Confederate veteran that tutored him in pistol shooting said that during the Civil War, Rebs preferred using round balls because they "hit harder."

You do see this is a 9 year old thread correct?

[Southron Sr.]

Well, we have a lot of interesting conversations on this BB. I felt my post could add to the conversation and would be of interest to some of our newer members.

By the way, I met Elmer Keith at the NSGA Show in Chicago in 1976. The man was a living legend then. A monthly column under his byline was still appearing in Guns & Ammo magazine in those years. When I met him, I was disappointed to realize that he was senile or suffering from Alzheimers because his conversation with me was confused and forgetful. He was very old.

I was very polite and respectful to him, but it was rather obvious to me that either G & A was either "recycling" articles he had written years before or his column was being ghost written.

[MR. GADGET]

Yes sir.
Always good to add to it.
Just point out that as some of the people have not been on the site for several years.


Side note, I'm a big fan of his bullet designs and use some of them in my wheel guns.

[John Holland]

Wow, at that time Elmer Keith would have only been 77 years old, but truly what a Legend he is, and was, even in his own lifetime!