I used the Lee conical mould for over a year when I first got the pistol. I thought I was shooting pretty good until I gave ball a try and straight away my average group size halved. I never went back to conical.
Registered User
I used the Lee conical mould for over a year when I first got the pistol. I thought I was shooting pretty good until I gave ball a try and straight away my average group size halved. I never went back to conical.
Registered User
Thanks for the responses that have confirmed my suspicions that there would probably be no benefit from using a conical bullet rather than a round ball in the ROA.
Brian
Banned
Sure there is, IF you have the chambers opened out, as a lot of people over there have done, AND stuff that cylinder with 40gr of 3Fg, and need it to shoot hogs in the chest at ten feet or less.Originally Posted by Abasmajor
Over here, though, killing paper, I've stuck to the ball except when a guest, who may have heard of a conical, wants to try. Usually just one shot is enough.
One of the Blackhand Gang
I've tried conicals in a Uberti Police and they move forwards out of the chamber with the recoil. I had to check them everytime after a couple of shots. They were tight to squeeze in and I did not expect them to move under the recoil. I find ball much easier to load, not as much strain on the loading lever, and they are more accurate.
Dialling code: 01344
No-one at my muzzle loading club who have tried conicals have had any success. The general view is that the twist rate suitable for a ball (typically 1 in 40") is just too low for a conical.
True freedom includes the freedom to make mistakes or do foolish things and bear the consequences.
TANSTAAFL
Registered User
Thanks guys, well worth a discussion to clarify the reasons why ball is preferable to a conical bullet in the muzzle loading revolver.
Brian
Banned
i am sure i have some, some where,
as with the others i went back to round ball
PM me your address and i will send you some to try,
stay safe
T
Banned
Yup. At ten - fifteen feet, shooting a hogs with a chamber crammed up and 300gr conical - fine....but anything further than that. Nope.
Registered User
The Ruger Old Army has a 1:16 twist rate. Uberti have also gone to this now. Pietta and older BP revolvers have a 1:30 rate.
Registered User
The Lee conical does not work very well in the Old Army, but it can be acceptable. Issue in the U.K. is that most people will try to shoot it with 15-20 gns of a BP substitute, inert filler and a wodge of grease!
35gns of Real BP will make a heck of a difference.
RCBS make a .458 300gn flat point mold. Casting with pure lead will see it drop from the mold just under .457. It's a gas checked design, so the heel for the check helps getting it true in the chamber. If you want, resize them to .456, but as soft lead you might as well do this on the gun during loading, it does not excerpt undue pressure on the rammer. But too many actually struggle keeping the loading lever and rammer true themselves when operating it!
Again, don't do with, "I'm only punching paper so only need a gnats cock worth of powder" and a load of other cr@p sending up the bore. Use a proper load over 32gns of real BP.
Yes it's stout, yes it is a little more expensive, but yes it works.
Dialling code: 01344
All ROAs have the same twist rate? Mine is approximately 1 in 38" as near as I can measure it.
True freedom includes the freedom to make mistakes or do foolish things and bear the consequences.
TANSTAAFL
Banned
Yup, the conical requires that maximum or almost maximum loads be used, there is, after all, a lot more surface engagement on the conical than there is with the 'belt' around the ball.
As for shooting it with a nitro load, I'm not sure about that, as I was always of the mind that the nitro conversion was designed to shoot ball, rather than conicals. You might like to talk to Mr Westlake about that, if he is the one who converted your ROA.
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