Bullet too tight in 1858 REMINGTON

[junebug_01]

Shotput79,
If the wedge is too tight in your 1860, the gun needs adjustment. The arbor is probably the incorrect length. The wedge should come out with just thumb pressure and should be as easy to remove the cylinder as your Walker.

[Gatofeo]

"I have a UBERTI 1858 Remington 44 cal. I have bought some sample bullets to try. I have loaded 1 of the 45 cal. R.E.A.L. 200 grain & 1 of the 44 Ruger R O A 220 grain conical in the cyclinder with 30 grain of pyrodex P. I thought I would try these out, but as tight as they went in I'M about scared to shoot them. Has anyone shot a tight bullet such as this?"
-- Dan PTTM

Getting back to your original inquiry. I got off-track and into beeswax. Sorry about that.

I believe your problem is one of using the wrong sized bullet.
The Ruger Old Army has slightly larger chambers than the Italian-made replicas. The Ruger requires a ball of .457 inch, while the imports typically use balls of .451 to .454 inch.
That's why the bullets, intended for the Ruger, are a tight fit in the Uberti Remington 1858.

Lee makes its conical bullet in two diameters, for this reason.
I wouldn't be concerned about shooting the bullets if they go in tight. Given the relatively low pressures of black powder and its substitutes, and the improved metallurgy of today's replicas, you shouldn't be anywhere near an overload.
Pressure is increased in relation to the resistance the bullet offers. Lead bullets don't offer much resistance; lead is pretty malleable. The lubricant in the bullet's grooves will help it go down the bore. You can put a little lubricant over the bullets before firing; it may help as well.

Now, if you'd loaded that revolver with copper jacketed bullets, you'd be in a whole new realm of resistance offered by the bullet.
And lest anyone suddenly perk up: it's not worth the trouble. It's been done for years. Generally, the revolver's chambers have to be opened to .451 or .452 inch, and it takes a lot of pressure to seat the jacketed bullet.
John Lachuk had quite an article about using jacketed bullets in cap and ball revolvers in Handloader's Digest No. 8, copyright 1978.
Though he raved about his results, I didn't see much advantage. And it seems to be that the rammer would have a tendency to push a hollow point's cavity closed.
He used very fine FFFFG powder with some loads. This faster-burning powder, coupled with the far greater resistance of the bullet, certainly created much higher pressures. FFFFG is intended for priming flintlocks, and very small-bore rifles and single shot pistols of .32 caliber or smaller.
Cap and ball revolvers are not so good at withstanding such high pressures, owing to their ignition system. The nipples allow a lot of gas to escape backward when you reach a certain level, blowing off caps and pushing the hammer back to half-cock in some instances.
If this happens, you're WAY over pressure.
Just thought I'd throw in this discouragement. Stick to plain, soft lead projectiles.

[CameronP]

I was on Dixie's site recently and noticed that they were again offering Mutton Tallow ( for use in Gato's fine recipe).

[enyaw]

I'd like to say.....mutton tallow is a good lube and.......using a lube pill/grease cookie of wax/lube......any decent lube in the recipie works as well as the others.....when the lube pill/lubed wad is placed correctly right on top the powder under the ball in a cap&baller. Ask Elmer Kieth about it .....as he shot his "51" Navy with lubed wads under the ball right on the powder ......where they work the best to keep a barrel and chambers clean enough to retain accuracy and keep the cylinder rotating all day long.
Anywhooooo.....any decent lubey stuff works well when it's suspended in wax and melted and spread on the barrel walls by the heat of combustion .......and does that ahead of the powder burn/fouling so the fouling can't stick much to the barrel walls or the front of the cylinders arbor hole.
I placed a reply over where the Gentlman posted about an "1860 Army with a tight cylinder" and that covers it all if you care to read it. I typed it all out to be of some assistance and....with two shoulder injuries and can't type well at all I made the difficult effort.
Also.......Gateo is right about the wrong size bullet being used as stated in the beginnng of this post......
The Lee REAL bullet stands for "rifling engraved at loading". That bullet is made for muzzleloader rifles. It has to have a diameter of more than .450 inch and would be really tight in a cap&baller revolver.
The Lee Conicals would be the conicals to use. The .450 would be a good choice as stated above somewhere. The driving/sealing band of the .450 is close to .450 and the front driving/sealing band of the .456 is about .457-8.