Long forcing cone C&B revolvers?

Hi, has anyone had any experience with increasing the length of the forcing cone to improve accuracy in C&B revolvers?
As a gunsmith we used to increase the length to improve accuracy in PPC revolvers and just wondering if anyone had tried it with a C&B

I have dressed forcing cones for the purpose of evening and smoothing. Cap guns use ball more often then bullets so I do the least cutting with a 11* tool that will clean up a rough barrel. Not all guns have needed it.

The late Tom Ball who was one of the top cap & ball revolver gunsmiths in the country and well known in the N-SSA cut an 11° forcing cone in all his guns and when I recut a forcing cone it is to 11°. It works just fine and the cutter (Brownell's) leaves a finish that doesn't require polishing.

I was thinking it would improve accuracy in a C&B but in a search I didn't find anything. I have a repro 1860 Colt that I just got so when I get some balls and wads for it I will try some before and after tests and see what results I get. Thanks for the replies.

Maybe elongating the forcing cone might give the bullets a better shot at expanding to fill the rifling (for percussion revolvers suffering from undersized chambers).

Most accurate cap and ball revolves that I own and shoot have 11° forcing cone (could it be a placebo) and cylinder bores reamed to groove depth plus .001”. I am sure others will have opinions that differ.

I might have some opinions that differ but I agree with you 100% here.

I agree. All my revolvers have 11' forcing cones. WHY, because thats what Ed Shilen told me to do 40 odd years ago. Who am i to dispute a master like Ed Shilen?
DL

I am sure that changing the forcing cone from 18 degrees to 11 degrees is more than a placebo effect as most centerfire guys will agree. Just don't go in too far with the 11 degree reamer, just enough to clean up the 18 degree cone.

hawkeye2 said:

The late Tom Ball who was one of the top cap & ball revolver gunsmiths in the country and well known in the N-SSA cut an 11° forcing cone in all his guns and when I recut a forcing cone it is to 11°. It works just fine and the cutter (Brownell's) leaves a finish that doesn't require polishing.

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I saw Tom cut the forcing cones on MANY such cap and ball revolvers at the NSSA Spring/Fall Nationals over the years for MANY shooters. (I didn't work with Tom, but always sent folks to him to do that work at the Nationals.) I don't think so many shooters would have had him do it, if it didn't work. I do know the U.S. International Muzzleloading Team was convinced it helped accuracy in the 1990's, when I was the Team Armourer.

Gus

L Rupp said:

I am sure that changing the forcing cone from 18 degrees to 11 degrees is more than a placebo effect as most centerfire guys will agree. Just don't go in too far with the 11 degree reamer, just enough to clean up the 18 degree cone.

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What I meant by placebo is I really didn’t see measurable improvement in accuracy shooting roundballs after recutting some forcing cones. Initially results seemed to show promise, but by itself, wasn’t a big game changer, at least for me.

What really helped improve accuracy was opening the cylinder chambers to .001/.002” over groove diameter, although that was when paired with the 11° forcing cones.

L Rupp said:

Hi, has anyone had any experience with increasing the length of the forcing cone to improve accuracy in C&B revolvers?
As a gunsmith we used to increase the length to improve accuracy in PPC revolvers and just wondering if anyone had tried it with a C&B

Click to expand...

I've tried it once when firelapping a percussion gun to rid the bore of the tight spot usually found over the barrel threads. Ball accuracy went wild until I set the barrel back and recut the cone to half a ball diameter.
I cut and like 11 degree cones for lead bullet shooting but feel balls are better suited to short forcing cones. Used the 11 degree cutter and seated the ball to half it's diameter. If alignment is good they won't spit with this method. At least mine doesn't.

I cut 11* forcing cones in all my revolvers and, in some it makes a big difference, in others not so much. It does stop spitting lead if you use conversion cylinders.