Round Ball For Walker

[Shotput79]

I had a friend of mine bring me everything I need to make my on lead black powder rd ball, and bullets. The Lee Round balls this one is making is .440. I been shooting .454 rd ball in my walker, and had folks tell me to try .457 in it, cause they would fit a little titer. My question is, the .440s are going to be to big. I haven't tryed to load any of them in the revolver, cause I really don't know. I don't want to blow myself up, know what I mean.

I'm hopping some of you guys, and gals could help me get on the right track. When I started making the round balls this morning, the first three, or four came out looking like crap. after that, I started to get the hang of it. they started to look better then the ones you buy in the store. All I need now is the .50 cal rd ball, and maxi hunter bullet mold. the only thing I'll have to go to the store for is powder, and cap. Looks like this is going to be my new hobby. Should have started this a long time ago.

[arcticap]

The .440 balls are going to be too small for use in a revolver. That size ball is for loading into .45 single shot muzzle loading pistols and rifles.
Cap & ball revolvers have their own unique ball sizes which are larger than the ones used in .45 muzzle loading pistols and rifles.

Another way to look at it is that one type of gun is a muzzle loader and the other is a cap & ball revolver where the ball loads into a cylinder.
They both need different size balls.

Some folks have actually loaded patched round balls into their revolver and they can work when loaded that way.
But I've never tried it and doing it would require careful experimentation using a patch of the right size and thickness.
A .45 patch that is somewhere between .005 and .010 thick might work, and they can be bought.
But I would only load one chamber at a time if trying it.
You don't want any balls in the other chambers to creep forward after firing the first one.
If it fires okay, then load two more chambers and only fire one. Then look to see if the unfired ball moved forward at all. If testing continues then see how accurate or inaccurate they shoot, and always check to see if any of the other balls are moving forward while those chambers are still uncapped of course.
And I don't know how large the diameter of your chambers are or the purity of the lead that you're casting with.
Harder lead will cast balls larger than the mold size.
Why not just buy the right size mold to cast the ball size that your pistol needs?

[Shotput79]

The man that gave me the stuff dose have a .45 cal rifle. I was kind of put off from the beginning, because of the ball size .440. I have always bought .451, and .454s for my revolvers. I need to do just what you said, and start with new molds. I have been told that .457 will work in the walker, but to save money I believe I'll just stick with the .454s, cause they shoot good in that gun, and my Remingtons like them to. Come to think about it my Colts like that size to. I may melt all the ones back down and just wait till the .454 mold shows up. Thinks for the help. I don't like to fool around with this stuff. I know first hand, what can happen if you try stupid things with black powder firearms. If not sure ask for help. That's what our school teacher's use to tell us. I don't know what they say now day's

[ClemBert]

The answer to your question will be based on the answer to my question: What is the diameter of the chambers on your Walker's cylinder?

You'll want a roundball that is 0.004" larger than the chamber diameter. Ergo, if your chamber diameter is 0.450 use a 0.454 roundball. Newer Uberti made Walkers generally have 0.450 chamber diameters but slug them out to find out if this is true for your Walker.

[Rifleman1776]

The ball should shave a little bit of lead when seated into the cylinder chamber. If the .454s don't do that then you need the .457s.
Do get some first hand advice on this.
Since you don't realize a .440 is smaller than a .454 or .457, it is obvious you need some help.
I don't understand your reference to the .50 cal. ball and bullet. What do you plan to do with those? Are they for your Walker also?

[Shotput79]

Hello fellows. I have a new Uberti walker, It shoots .454 size ball just fine, and they are just a little snog, after shooting for a day with it, I was reading some of the reviews that most people use .457 with good results. I just thought that this walker, could hold the .457 size rd ball also. With all that said, for now all 6 of my .44 cals shoot .454 just fine. I'll just stick with these, and be happy. I don't have to buy, or order rd balls for anyone now. I was hopping to get the mold to make .44 cal 200gr bullets for the .44 cal revolvers, to see how they do inplace of rd ball. Buffalo Bullet company use to put them out, but they are history now. I got the .454 mold friday afternoon, and in talking my time, I had 200 rd balls made up in a couple hours. I found it to be fun to do, now I want to learn everything I can about making round ball, and, lead maxi bullets for everything black powder. As for the .50 cal I was going to use those in a hawken. I sometimes like to use lead bullets( maxi ball- maxi hunters bullets) in it, cause it does not like pistol bullets in sabot at all, matter of fact, you all most would have to stand on the rod to get one of them down the barrel. So I don't mess with those in my hawken at all. I do have a TC inline, that work real well with .45 cal 240 to 300gr XTS loads, that for sure will put deer on the table . I don't use but 2 pyrodex 50 50 pellets for that rifle. I don't see any need to use the 150gr loads for any reason, that may be ok for folks that put scopes on their rifles, and shoot out to the 200 yrd mark, but 100 grs work fine for me, as I like to use my black powder rifles with iron sights, and it helps keep the weight of the rifle down. I had to call TC and ask if they would send me a taller front sight cause the one that came on this one is not tall enough. I found that even with the rear sight all way down on the barrel, it was shooting 6 to 8" high. The lady said they would got one in the mail as soon as they could get the right one. I had to take a little time out, the weather has been scary for the last couple days. In North Carolina. Had to keep eyes on the sky's, and listen for that train sound. I hate that sound. I know some of you folks went through the same storms we did. Our prayers go out to you all. ShotPut

[Shotput79]

I've had some of these guns for a while, and been buying factory rd balls so long, I never thought about buying anything to measure the chambers. I have 2 of the .44 Remington Army models one 8" barrel shoot's point of aim with .451s and leave's a ring around each cylinder opening, when loading the .454s in that same gun just makes a bigger ring. the ball went down in the cylinder just fine, it fired fine. It didn't seem to make a big deference, the bullets POI. The 5.5" Remmie NIB. I have 2 .44 cal 1860 Armys 8" & 5.5" barrels . I started the 8" off with .454s, That's, a hard gun to put down, once you start shooting it. The 5.5" barrel NIB. I have 2 Colt 1851s, one is the .36 cal steal frame NIB, and one brass frame model in .44 cal. People either hate them, or love them. I bought it cause, it was just hanging there, and it looked good. Wanted it to shoot the hack out of it, little did I know, that little Colt would turn out to be as fun a shooter has it is. 20grs of powder is a fun little load. You have to learn how to aim low to make a center hits. It seems that most everybody talks about Colts shooting high. This one shoots 6"s high, guess they were right. The front sights are to short. I don't know how to put a taller front sights on one with out messing the pistol up. All the revolvers are Pietta's, they'er all are good firearms. My 58 Army 8" is over 22years old, and its just starting to get broke in. The walker is the first Uberti revolver I ever owned. I really Like it.

[ClemBert]

It's kind of standard operating procedure to own calipers and feeler gauges when you own these Italian made revolvers and especially if you mold your own lead. For less than $20 you can gain a lot of useful info on your revolvers and your lead. To measure the chambers just mash a ball into the chamber then push it out through the nipple hole with a rod. Use the caliper to measure. That easy.

Getting a shaved ring is important with cap-n-ball revolvers. Getting a shaved ring and the firearm going "bang" would seem to be all that one could ask for. However, it is possible with certain loads to get ball creep. Even though there is ball contact with the sides of the chamber walls it is possible to get ball movement when there isn't enough surface contact/tension. Using the proper ball will help minimize this. As I stated a 0.004 oversized ball is ideal. A 0.001 ball is less than ideal. If you want to know the answer to your question you'd have to measure your chambers. A 0.004 oversized ball will give you a little more of the warm fuzzies that you've made a good seal.

[Shotput79]

I was casting some .454 rd balls, and the bullet mold started turning brown inside. Its not were the balls fit, its all around them though. I stopped for the night cause, I don't know whats making it turn like that. How do you keep them like new. The one I was using to mold .440 rd balls didn't do that. I'm new at this so what do you think I should do to clean them up, and keep it from happen anymore. I thought about shooting it with rem oil, and using 0000 steel wool to get it off, but thought I would ask you fellows first. Is bore butter a good bullet lube to use inside them, or do I need something different.

[Doc Hoy]

Not uncommon for molds to take on some color as the casting process moves forward. As long as the balls are coming out right, you should be okay.

I would be very careful using any kind of abrasive on the molds since you can wind up with a line around the finished bullet. You might try some acetone with a cloth and see it that breaks it loose. Make sure to clean the mold after using the acetone. also make sure the mold is not hot when you apply the acetone.

But again, as long as the bullets come out right, you are not in trouble.

I measure the bullets with a caliper to be sure I am getting consistent dimensions. I weigh them as well but that is more to get an understanding of the purity of the led I am using.

As regards lubing the bullets, I have my own recipe which nearly everyone on the forum does. Bore lube recipes have at least two common traits:

1) They are all different
2) Everyone swears his recipe is best.

I use about half and half Crisco and wax rings.

I do believe you will find some common ground as regards Bore Butter; Not many shooters like it.