.44 Colt Dragoon what ball size

[discovery00]

I have recently acquired a .44 Colt Dragoon.
It is made in Italy but I can't find a makers mark, is there any way to tell if it's a Uberti or Pietta?
Can anyone recommend what size ball would be best suited, I would like to mold my own.
I have measured the chambers in the cylinder with calipers and they are .444
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-V...219_215617.jpg

[acmsarh]

A ball size of .454" should be your choice for the dragoon.

[tacfoley]

Could be ASM [Armi San Marco], now defunct.

Most Dragoons I've ever come across, including my own ASM 3rd model, shoot .454" ball, as suggested above. Do you know anybody that you can cadge a few different sizes from?

Many guns are stamped under the loading lever with a cryptic letter/Roman numeral date stamp in a square box, also PN - [Pulvero Nero - black powder], so have a look there and tell us what you have. All Uberti firearms have a capital letter 'U' in a representation of the end of the muzzle - looks a bit like a gear wheel with the U inside, and their name. Pietta are usually marked up with the name, and all are stamped Gardone Val Trompia - the address of the Italian Proof House.

tac

[discovery00]

I think it might be a San Marco as you said.
On the barrel it has SM BLACK POWDER ONLY .44 MADE IN ITALY
There are the proofing marks PN with a star above and another that looks like crossed muskets with a star above.

Thanks

[tacfoley]

I think it might be a San Marco as you said.
On the barrel it has SM BLACK POWDER ONLY .44 MADE IN ITALY
There are the proofing marks PN with a star above and another that looks like crossed muskets with a star above.

Thanks

Yup, ASM or simply SM - Armi San Marco. The company has long gone out of business, but you can get most replacement parts from Dixie Gun Works over in Tennes.

tac