Speer .433 Round Ball

[RADeO]

Shot a friend's old Hopkins & Allen boot pistol that took a .433 ball.

 

[longcruise]

I have an old FIE pistol that is labeled .45. It's all I can do to get a .433 ball and a thin patch down it! :shocked2:

 

[hawkeye2]

Numrich listed the H&As as .45 and the barrel blanks that they sold were also listed as .45 but were a little under .45 hence the .433 ball.

 

[Dr5x]

the ..395 balls are about as close as you are going to get . The .433 may be a tad to large but only you will bw able to figure that out. If you can load them without hammering then you may have a winner.
Swaged balls by Speer and Horanady tend to ,apparently, have bubbles of air or inclusions that can make them fly off course. That I why I suggest weighing them out to eliminate the light weights.

Better yet, Cast your own balls using your own mold.

Let me know how you do.

Dutch

 

[Jim C]

Thanks Dutch, will do. I also plan to use your system with this new setup that I'm putting together as well as soon as I can get everything together. I'll let you know how it all works out.

 

[Grizzly Adams]

My buggy rifle is exactly the same, no caliber markings. I use a .440 and a .015" patch, though I have used .433s.

 

[Jim C]

"I have an old FIE pistol that is labeled .45. It's all I can do to get a .433 ball and a thin patch down it!"

FIE (Firearms Import Export). I don't know about the present, but back in the day they used to be known for catering to the "economical" minded shooter.

 

[ZUG]

I have a ASM Tingle single shot target pistol that shoots the .433 dia ball it is marked .44 cal.

 

[Rifleman1776]

My buggy rifle is exactly the same, no caliber markings. I use a .440 and a .015" patch, though I have used .433s.

I used to sell and shoot the H&A rifles. Mostly used .440" balls. But, I do have a box of .433s on the shelf, it is probably a hold over from those days.

 

[Steve Rosen]

My H&A Offhand rifle's barrel is marked as .45 cal, and I get very good results with both Speer and Hornady .440 balls using a 0.015 patch - no difficulty seating them whatsoever.

 

[longcruise]

It is for sure not high end! It was a gift from my wife about 30 or so years ago and when it comes to my firearms "problem", she is definitely economy minded. :haha: I entered a pistol match with it once that was shot at 25 & 50 yards. Turned out it's more of a five yard shooter.

Up until your post, I had no idea what FIE meant.

 

[ohio ramrod]

.433 would fit the older numrich arms 45's which were actually a 44 caliber. I have a swivel breech made with the numerich arms barrels and got a .435 mold with it but they recommended the .433. :hmm:

 

[Wes/Tex]

Technically. a .433" is used in a ".44" and a .440" in a ".45". Your .40 will generally take a .395" ball.

 

[FishDFly]

Yep and yep.

 

[jrdavis]

I'v got an Intercontinental Flintlock I bought in Germany in 1968,it is 44 it shoots the 433 or 437 balls just fine

 

[Newtire]

There is little in this game that is exact. Barrels are what they are and there can be great variations. The .433" ball will be for a barrel that is a bit smaller than most .45 cal. barrels. You need to try different ball size and patch combos in your barrel to determine the size you need.

My .45 Numrich underhammer guns like these with a thicker .015"- .018" patch. Any thinner patch burns right thru.

 

[Stantheman86]

There are plenty of .44 match pistols, Pedersoli still makes a few. They use a .433 ball.

 

[Loyalist Dave]

My first Kentucky style longrifle was a flintlock "Kentuckian", ordered back in 1972.
It was made in Italy and was a pretty nice rifle.
As I recall, it was imported by Centennial Arms.

It was listed as a .44 caliber and it shot the .433 diameter roundballs you asked about.

Indeed, two years ago I picked up a very serviceable "longrifle" from the 1970's era...marked ".45 cal" but a micrometer showed it was a .44, which was not uncommon for some Italian made rifles of that time period. A .433 ball with a thin patch works well, as long as one puts a wad between the patched ball and the powder. A .44 caliber, wool felt "wonder wad" meant for a .44 revolver worked quite well for that purpose. The rifle was then traded to my foster nephew....

LD

 

[hanshi]

Hopkins & Allen underhammer rifles use a .433 ball.

Very true. I've had an H&A Heritage model for about 55 years. It's stamped ".45" but .440" ball are tight. These old H&As are actually .44 and .435" (+ or -) ball is recommended.

 

[tenngun]

There is little in this game that is exact. Barrels are what they are and there can be great variations. The .433" ball will be for a barrel that is a bit smaller than most .45 cal. barrels. You need to try different ball size and patch combos in your barrel to determine the size you need.

Didn’t numerich arms make a .44 for some years?