Bullet and Ball Information.

To maintain consistency use the same ball or bullet all the time. The only way to find out what works best is to experiment. You may decide to develop a load for use with a particular gun. After trying different combinations of ball, bullet and powder speed, brand and charge, you will find one combination which works the best. Stick to it. A different gun may need a different load completely, different bullet, different powder etc . Once you have found the best combination for each gun then stick to it. I love experimenting, it's part of the fun of shooting!

Ken tells me to forget bullets in these guns, and to use only round ball, so do Adam and Nick. They claim the ball is the most accurate. They use Bullseye powder.

Alan finds the bullets are very accurate, he uses Herco powder.

If you are using cast lead, check every ball/bullet for fine lines of lead, like little fins where they were in the mould and sprue marks from where the lead was poured into the mould. These may be carefully removed with a knife if necessary. For solid base bullets I always carefully check the circumference of the base. Removing the lead fins here makes loading them straight so much easier!

For best results with cast ball load it with any sprue mark upwards and in the centre.

 This shows .457" round ball and .454" bullet for the Ruger.

The bullet is lubed with Alox and this ball with a graphite/moly coating, although mostly ball is unlubed.

The bullet (Allwood, .44 Remington/Ruger bullet) has a flat base and a round nose. The bullet nose has a longer radius than the round ball, i.e. it seems flatter. The ring nearest the base is .452" diameter while the other two rings are .454". This difference means you can seat the bullet in the chamber by finger pressure as far as the second ring. You need to use the rammer to seat it the rest of the way, this means it goes in straight and gives a good tight fit in the cylinder.

These bullets are sold cheap, straight from the mould. I sort them into competition/best grade and plinking/training/seconds. From one batch of 500 I had 72% best and 28% seconds. I use a knife to remove the excess lead imperfections and use them for training. Some of the imperfections are small. All the imperfections are acceptable for plinking. You could always sort yours and sell the seconds on, they still work out quite well priced.

Different guns are made to use different size ball, for example the Euroarms.44 Rogers and Spencer uses a .451" ball whereas the Pedersoli .44 Rogers and Spencer uses a .454" ball, and the Feinwerkbau .44 Rogers and Spencer uses .457" ball (as does the .45 Ruger Old Army). The instruction book with the gun should tell you the manufacturer's recommended size. If you haven't got a handbook then look at the manufacturer's website or ask your friendly competent gunsmith.

Quote http://www.trackofthewolf.com "AAC-342 1858 Remington New Model Army Revolver, .44 percussion, by Euroarms. The factory recommends a .451" round ball, but we strongly prefer the slightly larger Hornady .454" round ball, which provides better compression, noticeably more power, and best accuracy. However, an oversize ball tends to shear lead at each chamber mouth, changing the size and bullet weight, a problem. This revolver has slightly chamfered chamber mouths. If your revolver shaves lead, slightly polish each chamber mouth with fine emery and a marble, until the ball seats fully, compressing the lead instead of shearing it." (This last advice also given on page 30 Spring 2006 issue MLAGB Black Powder Magazine, "Tuning the 1858 Remington Repro to Win" by Jeff Tanner)

When you ram the ball into the chamber you change its shape, you squash it from a .457" sphere into a .454" torpedo. When this leaves the cylinder and enters the barrel it becomes squashed even further into a .451" torpedo with grooves.

Many people buy their ball ready cast/swaged from a gunsmith. Cast ball is always cheaper than swaged ball. The swaged ball is 100% perfectly formed (no internal voids from poorly filled moulds giving weight/mass differences, no sprue marks [see later]) without any need to do anything to them other than lubricate them if necessary. Top competition shots will weigh each ball and put them into groups of similar mass to remove another variable from the list of possible errors. Bullets with voids are light compared with the rest.

Some people always buy the same brand, and in large batches to avoid the small brand to brand and batch to batch errors, especially if they are shooting at a high level in competition.

Some people like to cast their own ball and bullet. Just remember to cast in pure lead not bullet alloy. Muzzle loaders need the ball or bullet to be soft enough to push into the chamber. I once watched a guy bend the rammer on his pistol trying to force a ball in which he had cast from melted down bullets he had dug out of the butts at the range. It cost him £30 for a new rammer. I have also enjoyed casting bullets, it's good fun and a way of cutting costs. You can also weigh and batch your bullets, and any that are outside your limits you melt and cast again! You can buy the moulds from many different manufacturers, here are a few:

Jeff Tanner

RCBS Reloading

Lee Precision Black Powder ball moulds

Magma Engineering