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Doc Hoy · October 26, 2008, 05:05 PM

For the honorable madcratebuilder,

Most of my lead is from ship ballast which is pure lead. Every once in a while I might have thrown in some wheel weights or some solder from a plumber but the bulk of it is pretty pure.

Since virtually anything else that might have gone into the mix (tin from the solder or antimony, bismuth, or zinc) would make it harder I think the bullets might not be too hard. I admit that I don't know for sure how much other stuff is in the alloy but I think it is very little.

For the honorable Smokin_Gun

Yep, I understand your point. The chamber at its widest point right at the rim is .456 on all chambers of both of my cylinders. In order to shave lead at the very rim, anything that goes into the chamber must be more than .456. Hence the recommendation to use .457s. In my case, the lead was shaved off of the .447s further down into the throat of the chamber, logically when the ball encountered the area of the taper that passed below .447. You can imagine my surprise when, knowing that the ball is smaller than the rim and hence impossible to shave lead at the rim, I still saw a little bit of lead shaving in the chamber.

Also understand that going to a .457 is not "moving up" implying improvement on an acceptable continuum that includes balls less than .451. I just agree with all of you guys that this thing should take a round ball like any other .44 cal revolver, That is .451, .454, or .457. And until it does, I've got a problem. I sure do appreciate all of the effort you all are investing.

And for the final to SG, My thought is to empty out my furnace and fill with pure lead (start from scratch, so to speak,) so I know what I am casting with.

Now just for the sake of argument, does anyone have any thoughts on the ballistic performance of the .447s (reference my last post)? I understand its not the right ammunition.

Tnx,

Doc Hoy

October 26, 2008, 05:05 PM	#17
Doc Hoy Senior Member Join Date: October 24, 2008 Location: Naples, Fl Posts: 5,440	Answers to questions and responses to comments For the honorable madcratebuilder, Most of my lead is from ship ballast which is pure lead. Every once in a while I might have thrown in some wheel weights or some solder from a plumber but the bulk of it is pretty pure. Since virtually anything else that might have gone into the mix (tin from the solder or antimony, bismuth, or zinc) would make it harder I think the bullets might not be too hard. I admit that I don't know for sure how much other stuff is in the alloy but I think it is very little. For the honorable Smokin_Gun Yep, I understand your point. The chamber at its widest point right at the rim is .456 on all chambers of both of my cylinders. In order to shave lead at the very rim, anything that goes into the chamber must be more than .456. Hence the recommendation to use .457s. In my case, the lead was shaved off of the .447s further down into the throat of the chamber, logically when the ball encountered the area of the taper that passed below .447. You can imagine my surprise when, knowing that the ball is smaller than the rim and hence impossible to shave lead at the rim, I still saw a little bit of lead shaving in the chamber. Also understand that going to a .457 is not "moving up" implying improvement on an acceptable continuum that includes balls less than .451. I just agree with all of you guys that this thing should take a round ball like any other .44 cal revolver, That is .451, .454, or .457. And until it does, I've got a problem. I sure do appreciate all of the effort you all are investing. And for the final to SG, My thought is to empty out my furnace and fill with pure lead (start from scratch, so to speak,) so I know what I am casting with. Now just for the sake of argument, does anyone have any thoughts on the ballistic performance of the .447s (reference my last post)? I understand its not the right ammunition. Tnx, Doc Hoy