Pietta 1858 New Army ball seating

[Fred_Fred]

Tried out the revolver yesterday and found that when loading a charge less than 30 grains of fffg pyrodex, the ram doesn't seat the ball all the way to the powder. Is this normal? I took a spent .22 brass and used it as an extension to seat the ball on down to the 25 grain load. It shot nice with this load but the ball was way down in there and I used a lot of grease to seal the cylinder - which blasted everywhere. I guess I'll try some different fillers. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks!

[armedandsafe]

I noticed this last week, when I shot mine for the first time. Even with a wad under the ball, it seemed pretty far down in the cylinder. Ah, shucks. Guess I'll have to shoot full loads.

Pops

[O.S.O.K.]

and for full charges. Glad you saw that and adjusted as obviously, a gap would not be good

Are you using a bp substitute or something? If so, maybe the trouble of getting Goex fffg would be worth it.

You could also use two wonder wads or consider trying some conical bullets which should allow you seat them down far enough?

[GLM]

You can fill the gap left when shooting reduced loads with cornmeal and then seat the ball.

[Steve499]

I guess I just have a need for speed, or something, but I'm always trying just to get the ball seated below the cylinder face! Never tried any filler on top of a 25 grain charge except for 10 more grains. That's always worked well for me.

Steve

[mykeal]

Shooting full loads is OK, and much preferable to leaving a gap between the powder and the ball. Full loads are rarely as accurate as slightly reduced loads, although each gun is different and some may actually do better on full loads.

You do not need to fill the gap between the ball and the cylinder face with grease - it is sufficient to use just enough to cover the opening (the theory is to provide a "seal" to prevent sparks from entering from the front and igniting the powder). Back off on the amount of grease.

Regarding seating the ball. You are right to push it down onto the powder charge, even though that leaves a considerable distance to the cylinder face. The idea is to 1) compress the charge to get consistent burning, and 2) remove any gap to prevent a pressure spike.

In my experience, there are two reasonable solutions to the dilemma of the ball not fully seating with the loading lever. I either use a cornmeal filler between the powder and the ball (measured by volume, of course, to make up the difference between a full charge and the load you are using) or a lubed felt wad cut to the cylinder bore. When using the felt wad I do not use any grease sealer over the ball.

Using a full charge is certainly a third acceptable option, but then all my guns shoot better with reduced loads; I only use a full load when showing off (big bang, smoke, flames, etc.)

[KW-Bane]

I use "cornmeal" over the powder to fill the gap. It doesn't crush the powder if you have alittle too much. I also cut my own felt wads that work great.

Too much grease makes the cleaning job harder and by-standers might feel xtra-crispy if they get too close

Just make sure there is not a "gap"!

[Fred_Fred]

Thanks for all the advice! Have 454 balls and some wads on the way, and will use the corn meal next time out. Can hardly wait! Thanks again...

[TnRebel]

in the re-enactment group I belong to we use cream of wheat to fill, it gives the illusion of more smoke

[mec]

I can't really tell enough difference in squib load over full ones. The difference in recoil is inconsequential and the noise level through ear muffs is the same. This was with 30 grains of pyrodex p and a .454" ball. the accuracy from a bench rest would be much better but, it is not atypical of the sort of accuracy I get with several percussion revolvers.

[O.S.O.K.]

great pics mec!