Conicals in revolver

[clowdis]

Is anyone here using a conical bullet in revolver competition? I've tried one but it shoots almost 2 ft. high at 25 yards and I'm wondering if it's worth the effort to try to work up an accurate load with it and recut the sight.

[Don Dixon]

In the late 1990s, Preston Hewitt and I did an extensive series of tests with various bullets in our Tom Ball built "1858" Remington revolvers - round balls, "unround" (enlongated) balls from a Hensley and Gibbs mould, conical bullets, and even some modern .45 caliber bullets that had shot very well in .45 Long Colt conversion cylinders we used in the same guns - and various powder loads - GOEX and Swiss in varius granulations and charge weights ranging from 15 to 30 grains with various fillers. Our primary interest was in finding a good, consistant, 50 yard load, since that is what wins revolver aggregates. A variety of solutions will work at 25 yards that don't perform consistantly well at 50 yards. Our best results were with 25 grains of Swiss or GOEX FFFg, two Wonder wads, and .457 round ball, and we used the same loads at both 25 and 50 yards. I should point out that prior to his retirement from N-SSA shooting Preston had the Pistol Distinguished Shooter and Distinguished Skirmisher badges, and I have the Pistol Distinguished Shooter and Distinguished Skirmisher badges, both in silver, so it might be we had figured something out. As usual, other people's experiance may vary, and guns like what they like.

Regards,
Don Dixon
2881V

[Jim_Burgess_2078V]

I shoot a Rapine conical that is a close copy of the original Colt new style bullet with 20 grains Goex FFFg in my Pietta Remington revolver. Following the KISS principle, I don't fool around with any fillers or wads. While I have found roundballs to work as well at 25 yards, the conicals are far better at 50 yards and I have a few 50-yard revolver medals to show for it. Unlike Don, I'm not distinguished at anything and tend to alternate between Expert and Sharpshooter class with the revolver (currently Expert).

Jim Burgess, 15th CVI

[Maillemaker]

In the late 1990s, Preston Hewitt and I did an extensive series of tests with various bullets in our Tom Ball built "1858" Remington revolvers - round balls, "unround" (enlongated) balls from a Hensley and Gibbs mould, conical bullets, and even some modern .45 caliber bullets that had shot very well in .45 Long Colt conversion cylinders we used in the same guns - and various powder loads - GOEX and Swiss in varius granulations and charge weights ranging from 15 to 30 grains with various fillers. Our primary interest was in finding a good, consistant, 50 yard load, since that is what wins revolver aggregates. A variety of solutions will work at 25 yards that don't perform consistantly well at 50 yards. Our best results were with 25 grains of Swiss or GOEX FFFg, two Wonder wads, and .457 round ball, and we used the same loads at both 25 and 50 yards. I should point out that prior to his retirement from N-SSA shooting Preston had the Pistol Distinguished Shooter and Distinguished Skirmisher badges, and I have the Pistol Distinguished Shooter and Distinguished Skirmisher badges, both in silver, so it might be we had figured something out. As usual, other people's experiance may vary, and guns like what they like.

Regards,
Don Dixon
2881V

I once tried using multiple lubed wads instead of cream of wheat filler, and when I compressed the ball into the chamber it squeezed the lube out of the wads and ruined the powder.

Did you have any problems with that? Does your loading stand have a positive stop to prevent compressing the wads?

Did you put a cardboard wad between the lubed wads and the powder?

Steve

[clowdis]

In the late 1990s, Preston Hewitt and I did an extensive series of tests with various bullets in our Tom Ball built "1858" Remington revolvers - round balls, "unround" (enlongated) balls from a Hensley and Gibbs mould, conical bullets, and even some modern .45 caliber bullets that had shot very well in .45 Long Colt conversion cylinders we used in the same guns - and various powder loads - GOEX and Swiss in varius granulations and charge weights ranging from 15 to 30 grains with various fillers. Our primary interest was in finding a good, consistant, 50 yard load, since that is what wins revolver aggregates. A variety of solutions will work at 25 yards that don't perform consistantly well at 50 yards. Our best results were with 25 grains of Swiss or GOEX FFFg, two Wonder wads, and .457 round ball, and we used the same loads at both 25 and 50 yards. I should point out that prior to his retirement from N-SSA shooting Preston had the Pistol Distinguished Shooter and Distinguished Skirmisher badges, and I have the Pistol Distinguished Shooter and Distinguished Skirmisher badges, both in silver, so it might be we had figured something out. As usual, other people's experiance may vary, and guns like what they like.

Regards,
Don Dixon
2881V

Very interesting Don, thanks a lot. I haven't tried the wonder wads, I may do that if I can find any.

[ChrisWBR]

Most of my teammates and I shoot conicals in our revolvers and have for decades. The Ball revolvers were setup specifically for round ball. The Pietta Remington Deluxe model will shoot a short (in my case) Colt bullet with 16gr of Goex 3F no wad or filler quite well. The regular Remingtons will also work well with a conical. At 50 yards I use 22 gr. Performance results speak for themselves. It does take time to find the right bullet and size for the revolver and you may have to adjust the front sight.

[Mike McDaniel]

I won every one of my 200+ revolver DSCA points with round ball. I?ll add that the MLAIC checked bullets at the 2018 World Championships?of nearly 140 competitors, I think one was not shooting round ball.

[Don Dixon]

I once tried using multiple lubed wads instead of cream of wheat filler, and when I compressed the ball into the chamber it squeezed the lube out of the wads and ruined the powder.

Did you have any problems with that? Does your loading stand have a positive stop to prevent compressing the wads?

Did you put a cardboard wad between the lubed wads and the powder?

Steve

Steve,

I never had a problem with the lubricant in Wonder wads squeezing out and contaminating the powder. When shot over a chronograph, the load produced consistant velocities from shot to shot, which it wouldn't if the powder was contaminated. Having said that, when I first started using Wonder wads it is my impression that they had more lubricant in them than they do now. Two dry cleaning patches run down the bore after shooting 50 or more shots in practice gave the appearance of a clean bore, so there was plenty of lubrication in the load. Ten years ago or so, that stopped and it seemed that Ox-Yoke had reduced the amount of lubricant in the wads. So, back to experimentation. I now load a standard Wonder Wad over the powder followed by one which has been saturated with Wonder Lube 1000 Plus, followed by the .457 round ball. I haven't had any problem with powder contamination with that combination and once again two cleaning patches gives the appearance of a clean bore. I don't use a cardboard wad to avoid powder contamination, or any sort of stop to prevent over-compression of the load. With 25 grains of Swiss FFFg, the two wads, and the ball, the load is always somewhat compressed. If one were to saturate both wads with lubricant, one would have a powder contamination problem. One might use other lubricants in the top wad, but Wonder Wads were conveniently available at the time Preston and I developed the load and we didn't see the need to experiment much with other lubricants.

Don

[clowdis]

I haven't seen wonder wads for sale at the fort in recent years. I think they were prohibited for over bullet use. I'll order some and try them over the powder with round ball and conical. Never ending search for a better mousetrap I guess.

[Maillemaker]

Steve,

I never had a problem with the lubricant in Wonder wads squeezing out and contaminating the powder. When shot over a chronograph, the load produced consistant velocities from shot to shot, which it wouldn't if the powder was contaminated. Having said that, when I first started using Wonder wads it is my impression that they had more lubricant in them than they do now. Two dry cleaning patches run down the bore after shooting 50 or more shots in practice gave the appearance of a clean bore, so there was plenty of lubrication in the load. Ten years ago or so, that stopped and it seemed that Ox-Yoke had reduced the amount of lubricant in the wads. So, back to experimentation. I now load a standard Wonder Wad over the powder followed by one which has been saturated with Wonder Lube 1000 Plus, followed by the .457 round ball. I haven't had any problem with powder contamination with that combination and once again two cleaning patches gives the appearance of a clean bore. I don't use a cardboard wad to avoid powder contamination, or any sort of stop to prevent over-compression of the load. With 25 grains of Swiss FFFg, the two wads, and the ball, the load is always somewhat compressed. If one were to saturate both wads with lubricant, one would have a powder contamination problem. One might use other lubricants in the top wad, but Wonder Wads were conveniently available at the time Preston and I developed the load and we didn't see the need to experiment much with other lubricants.

Don

Did you still put lube over the top of the bullet with this combination?