.44 RB in a 36?

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deerslayer303

New member
:confused: I was cruising the web last night reading stuff and I came across a thread where a fella mentioned that he would take .454rb and press them into a .36cal cylinder. He went on to state that by doing so it shaved the 44 ball down into a conical type shape. And he would fire them out of his 36 revolver. So I thought I would bring it to you..err well MORE EXPERIENCED Gentlemen! ;) Any of you heard of such?
 
I don't fit the "more experienced" description, but it doesn't sound like a good idea to me. I feel like it'd be a lot of unnecessary stress on your gun. Why go through all that trouble when a standard .36 roundball would do just fine, you know?
 
Oh yeah, I don't think its a good idea either. And I don't think it would gain you anything. And to do so I bet the cylinder would have to come off and you would need to use a loading press.
 
I would sure like to know how he did it without bending the loading lever or breaking the lever pivot screw. Sounds like a really dumb idea to me.

But what do I know, I have only been shooting Black Powder since 1968.
 
How about just pouring molten lead over the powder. Should make a nice wadcutter type bullet and way less stress on the loading lever. :D

--- disclaimer---> Don't do that
 
^^ LOL hey thats an Idea noelf!! I was reading the thread like this >:eek:. And it baffles me that some people post stuff like that on a forum. The reason I say that is, back when I got this BP itch I came here not knowing a thing. And it was the reliable advice I got from you guys that allowed me to safely venture into this here hobby.
 
Hey,
I used to ram TWO 36cal balls down onto about 15 grs of powder for a 164gr+ load in my navies without incident. It was a nice "thumper".
 
Eh.. I mean...Maybe, with and off gun loading lever... But what the hell FOR???

Now.. I know Im not as experianced as most guys here... But (and this is purely just off the top of my head here)..If he wants a "conical shape" errr.... Buy some CONICALS maybe? :rolleyes:

Man I sure hope whoever he is, he doesnt see the part about melting lead into it! LOL :D
 
The Navy was designed for conical bullets which weighed about the same as a .454 rb so no, it won't overstress the gun during firing.
However, I don't think the loading lever was built for that kind of stress, unless he's doing it off the gun with a special press.
 
Certainly swaging can be done, but that's a little extra work. Noelf2's idea of melting lead over the powder is much easier, but it can be very messy and I can't recommend it.
 
Anything is possible.
Swaging a .457" ball down in a gun ain't gonna be pleasant, non damaging or easy though.
It wont so much leave a ring of lead as a doughnut!:D
 
I'd like to see it done in a regular sizer without using a breaker bar let alone in a C & B with a standard loading lever - possibly in a loading press with an attached arbor press? As Forrest Gump said, "Mama always said that sometimes you can't fix stupid."

Where were you reading this and can you give us the link to it - I'm sure we'd all like to see it. After all . . . it's got to be true . . . it was on the "net". :D
 
When using a revolver to actually kill varmints, I find that the high velocity of roundballs actually does a better job of killing them than the "penetration" of a heavy but slow bullet.
My Ruger Old Army shoots 220 grain MaxiBalls quite well but the resulting 650-700 fps muzzle velocity gives about the same effect as impaling the critter with a target arrow. Roundballs going close to 1000 fps puts their lights out right away.
 
bedbugbilly, I went back and did a few searches and I couldn't come up with the thread I had seen. I don't remember what combo of words I punched in google.
 
I tried .490" RB's in my ROA when I realized I forgot to bring more balls for my pistol. It was rather difficult and I wouldn't do it unless I really needed them. But that's nothing like ramming a .45 cal ball into a .38 cal hole, and with a gun that can handle a little extra pressure well...
 
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