Conicals in an 1861 Navy?

[Evil Dog]

I'm seriously thinking of buying a Uberti-made 1861 Navy. Would also like to shoot conicals if I can find one that can easily be seated without canting. The Lyman #358160 looks as though it might work. It's 150gr.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v628/bebloomster/358160_150g.gif

Have any of you tried this one... or found a conical that was easy to load and worked well? Or would I be better off just staying with traditional round ball loads?

[Poor Private]

Evil Dog,
Glad to see I am not the only only who posts and looks thru the Muzzle loading forums. Thought I was seeing double there for a minute.

[Evil Dog]

Yes, I will have to admit that I frequent the various muzzleloading forums.... also one of the blackpowder cannon forums and the Smith & Wesson board. As you noted, I will often ask exactly the same question in exactly the same way on two or more boards... isn't "copy and paste" wonderful? Pretty much use the same name everywhere I go too... either "Evil Dog" or "bebloomster".

[Artyman]

I use conicals in all my BP .44's. I use the Lee mould. I lube mine with bees wax and a 1/2" brass tube as a 'cookie cutter". Though the tight fit, bees wax, and grooves are supposed to eliminate the risk of chain fires, I still seal mine with "Ox Yoke" wads below and "Ox Yoke" Miracle Seals above.

Folks agrue this, but my experience has shown that beyond 30' the conicals carry farther and shoot straighter than balls.

You asked about the canted seating problem. The lower ring of the bullet is a smaller diameter than the upper two so the bullet will seat into the chamber easily and straight. I use a bench loader at the range but these will load OK with the cylinder still in the weapon using the normal loading process.

I use pure lead (soft) to cast mine. Do not use hard lead in any BP revolver.

Even with the wad I can still load 30 grains of fffg with room to spare. More powder than that is a waste.

The conical base ring is also good for glueing nitrated paper cartridges to, but you need to wrap the paper only once (like the originals) or the base will become too large to slip in the cylinder with all the paper thickness.

The only real problem with a Colt is that they are not easily converted to metallic cartridge use. My Remies can use the conversion or be used with BP which ever I feel like using that day. I don't often use the Colts 'cuz I just like the Remies better.

Hope this helps. Any further questions just ask!

Harry

[Evil Dog]

Thanks Harry.... yes, I am familiar with the Lee family of molds. For some reason I have just never cared for any aluminum block mold. About the only time I will buy one is when I want to try a particular size ball to make sure it will work before buying the appropriate Lyman or RCBS mold. Lee came out with their rebated base conical mold probably in the mid-70's or early 80's. A lot of people like the aluminum blocks... they just aren't for me though.

Lyman doesn't have much in the way of .375 diameter molds that look like they might work.... however they do have a .452 diameter mold casting a 225gr round nose bullet that looks like it was designed to accept a gas check. Something like this just might work.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v628/bebloomster/452484_225g.gif

Guess I should think along the lines of getting a Uberti-made Remington instead of the 1861 Navy.

[Curt-Heinrich Schmidt]

Hallo!

IMHO...

Aluminum blocks are okay for the casual caster and plinker, however they tend to "wear out" and go out of "alignment" with high volume use- especially the more complicated "Minie" molds.
When I was casting about 2,000 rounds a year, I was replacing the aluminum molds every other year before going to steel block molds.

Others mileage, and molds, will differ.

CHS

[Evil Dog]

2000 a year? I probably cast that many every couple of months. I generally prefer the Lyman 4 cavity molds when I can find them. Currently casting a dozen different size round ball and 4 different conicals. Oh well, it helps pay for the other toys.

[billwatson2]

So, my wife inherited an old printing press from her grandfather, and several cases of lead type. One box broke and I'm not, no matter what, going to re-sort 20 or 30 pounds of four- to eight-point type. I'd be in the grave or a hopeless drunkard before I got all that done. (Ever meet a sober job printer from handsetting days? There's a good reason they all died drunk. Fiddliest job in the world and you have to read letters backward.)

Relevant question: Is this type lead any better or worse for bullet casting purposes? I've set it aside for the time being, but if there's no advantage to it it can go to a garage to be cast as wheel balancing weights.... If it has value for bullet casting I'll get it into the hands of someone who can take advantage of it.

Thanks for any guidance.

[Evil Dog]

If it is "linotype" it has great value in the bullet casting world. Two ways to find out... take two strips of it and hit them together. A dull thud would indicate a softer lead alloy.... a more bell like ringing sound would suggest linotype. Another way is to try scratching it with your thumbnail. If you are able to carve a groove in it that way then it is a softer alloy. If you can barely scratch it though then once again it is more on the linotype end of the spectrum. Linotype is generally mixed with softer alloys to produce a reasonably hard bullet casting alloy for modern centerfire ammunition. The softer leads are generally preferred for blackpowder guns.... the softer the lead the better.

Hope that helps.

[Curt-Heinrich Schmidt]

Hallo!

"When I was casting about 2,000 rounds a year, I was replacing the aluminum molds every other year before going to steel block molds."

I was a Crack Shot. ;) :)

Just a-funnin'...

Seriously...

I used to drop an ingot on the concrete floor to listen for the "ring"
or the "thunk" and liked the "thumbnail gouge" quickie-test.

CHS

[Artyman]

I use which ever mould gives me the closest thing to what I want. For instance, I had a Rapine mould made up form my Sharps 'cuz their design came closest to the original "Ring Tail" bullet I wanted. I haven't been able to find anyone else who offers these in anything but aluminum. Buffalo Arms sells .54 ringtails, but I can't find a mould that matches their design. I would presume anyone who casts professionally would use something other than aluminum. I posted a thread question about who might make these several months ago on the "Firing Line" forum and didn't get any replies.

I don't cast more than a couple of hundred at a time since I only use them myself. I've never worn out a mould, but I had several of my old Lyman moulds get wet and rust up. If one of my Lee moulds goes bad I'll just pitch it and get a new one. I cast up thousands of .69 and .75 round ball for artillery cannister back in the 80's, and maybe a thousand 585 grain 45-70 slugs, but never 2000!

any how, good luck with your Navy! Tell us what you find.