Hello, i have a pietta 1851 44caliber civilian, its only about 3 or 4 weeks old and has about 100 rounds of 30 grains of 3f thru it, i have noticed that the wedge goes in further than when brand new at this point it has equal length sticking out of each side, no tapping is needed to remove or install it back in, all seems ok but should i be concerned???, thanks pghrich
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Loose wedge in my pietta 1851 i think?
- Thread starter pghrich
- Start date
Perhaps you already do but...
...I think one of the best ways to reduce the "per shot" cost is to cast your own roundballs.
Next IMO is making your own lube and wads (If you use wads.).
Store bought roundballs go for ten to fifteen cents each (IIRC) and Thompsons Bore Lube is way too expensive for what you get. (I don't like the product so fifty cents a pound would be too much for my wallet.)
Some may disagree with me on the idea of saving money on bore lube because the ingrdients in some of the recipes can be quite high. Anhydrous lanolin, bees wax, and such can be pricey but if you use vegetable shortening and toilet donuts, you can keep the costs down.
...I think one of the best ways to reduce the "per shot" cost is to cast your own roundballs.
Next IMO is making your own lube and wads (If you use wads.).
Store bought roundballs go for ten to fifteen cents each (IIRC) and Thompsons Bore Lube is way too expensive for what you get. (I don't like the product so fifty cents a pound would be too much for my wallet.)
Some may disagree with me on the idea of saving money on bore lube because the ingrdients in some of the recipes can be quite high. Anhydrous lanolin, bees wax, and such can be pricey but if you use vegetable shortening and toilet donuts, you can keep the costs down.
brazosdave
New member
I use the wads that contain lube, don't use any other lube. Is that a bad thing? Making my own round balls sounds like a pretty good idea, but where do you source the lead? I'm pretty sure there are plenty of available .44 molds, and I'm guessing something along the lines of a propane torch to melt it down? How do you go about it, and about how much savings do you think you can get out of it. Making the felt wads sounds like a good idea, not sure where to get that heavy of felt from. Read somewhere to look at 2nd hand shops for old hats, but those are few and far between. The only felt I have that I don't wear is my old Cav Stetson from when I was in the Army, but don't intend to cut that up. I just know I hate paying about ten bucks for a little bag of felt wads.
This is a very involved topic...
....Since there are several diverging opinions.
As far as the lead is concerned, I use wheel weights which my pal the mechanic is happy to give me. I go over there about once every three months and in that amount of time, he has forty to seventy pounds worth in a five gallon bucket. Wheel weights gives me a bullet with a hardness somewhere around 12 to 16. It is a little hard to load them but I use a press (which I recommend for all BP revolver shooters.) Probably ten to twenty percent of the weight is stuff I can't use. It is zinc weights, valve stems, the steel clips in the weights, cigarette butts and dead bugs. All of that stuff is pretty easy to avoid. I have gotten pretty good at picking out the lead alloy weights by sight and avoiding the stuff which I know won't melt in the pot.
I had a source of pure lead which is used as ballast in ships. (not sailboats....Sailboat ballast is anything the maker can get his hands on.)
As far as molds are concerned, I like Lee molds. They are inexpensive (I recommend Titan Reloading Inc.) They come up to temperature very quickly so you are molding good bullets quickly. And with a little practice you can get your rythm to the point where the molds don't cool down too much between pours.
I find that I get better results with .45 Long Colt bullets if I put a hand clamp on the mold before I charge it. I tried just squeezing the mold closed but my hand got tired and I still did not et consistent results. In this way I get far more consistent bullets.
When I do round balls, I have a couple of molds that I made spring loaded handles for. I can get round balls from these molds that are much more consistent than Hornady bought balls.
This is sacrelige...but I am not a fan of steel molds. For one thing they make a bullet with a large sprue. For another thing they take a long time to come up to temperature. And finally, they are three to four times as expensive as Lee aluminum molds. I have Lee molds that I have been using for 35 years and they still make a bullet with is high in quality.
I also use a Lee Production Pot which is also about 35 years old. My only quarrel with it is the drain spout at the bottom.
....Since there are several diverging opinions.
As far as the lead is concerned, I use wheel weights which my pal the mechanic is happy to give me. I go over there about once every three months and in that amount of time, he has forty to seventy pounds worth in a five gallon bucket. Wheel weights gives me a bullet with a hardness somewhere around 12 to 16. It is a little hard to load them but I use a press (which I recommend for all BP revolver shooters.) Probably ten to twenty percent of the weight is stuff I can't use. It is zinc weights, valve stems, the steel clips in the weights, cigarette butts and dead bugs. All of that stuff is pretty easy to avoid. I have gotten pretty good at picking out the lead alloy weights by sight and avoiding the stuff which I know won't melt in the pot.
I had a source of pure lead which is used as ballast in ships. (not sailboats....Sailboat ballast is anything the maker can get his hands on.)
As far as molds are concerned, I like Lee molds. They are inexpensive (I recommend Titan Reloading Inc.) They come up to temperature very quickly so you are molding good bullets quickly. And with a little practice you can get your rythm to the point where the molds don't cool down too much between pours.
I find that I get better results with .45 Long Colt bullets if I put a hand clamp on the mold before I charge it. I tried just squeezing the mold closed but my hand got tired and I still did not et consistent results. In this way I get far more consistent bullets.
When I do round balls, I have a couple of molds that I made spring loaded handles for. I can get round balls from these molds that are much more consistent than Hornady bought balls.
This is sacrelige...but I am not a fan of steel molds. For one thing they make a bullet with a large sprue. For another thing they take a long time to come up to temperature. And finally, they are three to four times as expensive as Lee aluminum molds. I have Lee molds that I have been using for 35 years and they still make a bullet with is high in quality.
I also use a Lee Production Pot which is also about 35 years old. My only quarrel with it is the drain spout at the bottom.
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Sounds interesting, i may have to think about that, only place i have to work in is my integeral garage, is that possible [with the fumes and all], as far as wads i only use cornmeal and wipe out between cylinders i also use a cylinder stand for all my cap and balls, pghrich
brazosdave
New member
thanks Hawg! That felt is a heck of a lot cheaper than buying little bags for ten bucks apiece for sure!
PG....Might think about....
....a roll around bench. When you want to smelt the lead, or cast the bullets, just roll the bench with all of the stuff on it close to the open garage door.
I am thinking of something that looks like a kitchen cabinet on wheels. I have an "in" with a home rennovation guy, (He is renting a house from me.) He said he can get me all the kitchen cabinets I want just for hauling them off.
There are several different opinions on dangers of hot lead. Lead vaporizes at far higher temperatures than can be achieved in the melting pots. Still many folks caution to wear masks. I never wear a mask and it has never affected my brain at all...at all....at all....at all....DOINK!
But there are other harmful exposures during the process.
I am pretty careful to always have a double door open when I am casting or smelting.
I limit physical contact. I wash my hands good after I am done fooling with the lead. I never wear gloves when I am melting because of the dangers introduced by the bulky gloves. I have never once burned myself. But I do wear latex gloves when I am making up the cartridges.
I quench the bullets in water but I keep that water well clear of the melting pot.
As far as felt goes, I don't use wads much. But when I do make wads, I get a 100% wool hat from the thrift shop. They generally go for two to four bucks.
The felt in a good quality hat is a little thinner than the Durofelt that Hawg uses. Perhaps hats don't carry enough lube because of this thinner material.
....a roll around bench. When you want to smelt the lead, or cast the bullets, just roll the bench with all of the stuff on it close to the open garage door.
I am thinking of something that looks like a kitchen cabinet on wheels. I have an "in" with a home rennovation guy, (He is renting a house from me.) He said he can get me all the kitchen cabinets I want just for hauling them off.
There are several different opinions on dangers of hot lead. Lead vaporizes at far higher temperatures than can be achieved in the melting pots. Still many folks caution to wear masks. I never wear a mask and it has never affected my brain at all...at all....at all....at all....DOINK!
But there are other harmful exposures during the process.
I am pretty careful to always have a double door open when I am casting or smelting.
I limit physical contact. I wash my hands good after I am done fooling with the lead. I never wear gloves when I am melting because of the dangers introduced by the bulky gloves. I have never once burned myself. But I do wear latex gloves when I am making up the cartridges.
I quench the bullets in water but I keep that water well clear of the melting pot.
As far as felt goes, I don't use wads much. But when I do make wads, I get a 100% wool hat from the thrift shop. They generally go for two to four bucks.
The felt in a good quality hat is a little thinner than the Durofelt that Hawg uses. Perhaps hats don't carry enough lube because of this thinner material.
Hello and good morning Doc, thanks for the suggestions, i am going to search around a little at some local tire places to see if i have an access to lead before i get to buying equipment, making my own round balls will certainly permit me to shoot a lot more and also give me the satisfaction i get when i shoot my reloads, pghrich
A dissenting opinion. I don't like wheel weights for round balls out of the cap and ball pistols. To load them efficenctly you must use and off gun loading device. I like the one Saml Colt invented for my 1860s.
Soft lead can be obtained by haunting salvage places. I stopped by one on the way home from a shoot and picked up 100# in a five gal bucket. 70¢/lb.
Soft lead can be obtained by haunting salvage places. I stopped by one on the way home from a shoot and picked up 100# in a five gal bucket. 70¢/lb.
99.9% pure bulk lead can be purchased from Rotometals.
100 factory lead .45X revolver balls weigh about 2 pounds.
http://www.rotometals.com/Lead-Products-s/20.htm
http://www.rotometals.com/
100 factory lead .45X revolver balls weigh about 2 pounds.
http://www.rotometals.com/Lead-Products-s/20.htm
http://www.rotometals.com/
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