Now my Pietta 1860, mind you it was made 25 or so years ago, has a chamber bore of .455 & slugging the barrel made it a .454 so I've been casting .457 ball since.
My older Pietta 1858 has a chamber of .451 & the barrel slugged at .4505 it would take a .454 ball but since my .457's are pure lead they work perfectly, & my new Pietta 5.5" 1858 has a chamber of .4513 & the barrel slugged at .4504 so of corse I still use the .457 balls also because they weigh a few grains more too.
In most cases a .454 ball will do the trick but there will be a rare few like my old 1860 or if you had gotten a Ruger O.A. a .457 ball would be a better choice.
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