FIRST RANGE TRIP..UNFIRED 3rd Gen Colt 1849 Pocket 4"

[Brokenbear]

..............It was cooool n windy but I had to shoot it ...
the chambers are .318
shooting .323. balls spru loaded up
15gr TTT FFFG
lubed wool wad

The expected 360 degree lead ring was usually about 3/4 circle

Sight picture w/front sight even at top of hammer "V" at center of aiming square ..target 7 yards with two hand hold

What I liked:
Surprisingly I could see the sights
Loading with my big hands really was not difficult
The action was smooth w/excellent timing and lock up
The hammer stayed down on the expended cap quite nicely

What I did not like:
The ball would occasionally follow the ram back out partially ..I will have to get my magnifiers on and watch it s-l-o-w m-o-t-i-o-n ...but I have a feeling that the ram is shearing (ram edges are very thin and very sharp) the ball edges BEFORE the cylinder walls have an opportunity to swage the ball

I support this with the fact the balls that partially followed the ram back out were easily pushed back into position tooth pick and secondly I never got a 360 degree swaged ring

I'm guessing the ram has a deep conical bullet cavity ..so some type of "fill" in the pointy end may be in order (temporary as I might want to shoot conicals) ...any suggestions appreciated

This load is very snappy ..I hear this caliber being compared to a 22 long rifle ..the recoil I felt ..the sound crack of the plywood backing board when the ball slapped it.. seeing the hit before the recoil and smoke cover the target ..I do not believe it is "only a 22LR level projectile"

Bear

 

[smoothshooter]

The rammer on one of my guns was doing the same thing.
I degreased the interior of the cupped part of the rammer with 70% isopropyl alcohol and packed it level full with JB Weld. After the JB hardened, made a couple of passes with a needle file to get rid of any excess glue, and give the end of the rammer a perfectly flat face.
4 or more years later it still works fine.
At appears you need to go with a slightly larger diameter ball in your gun.

 

[smoothshooter]

..............It was cooool n windy but I had to shoot it ...
the chambers are .318
shooting .323. balls spru loaded up
15gr TTT FFFG
lubed wool wad



The expected 360 degree lead ring was usually about 3/4 circle

Sight picture w/front sight even at top of hammer "V" at center of aiming square ..target 7 yards with two hand hold

What I liked:
Surprisingly I could see the sights
Loading with my big hands really was not difficult
The action was smooth w/excellent timing and lock up
The hammer stayed down on the expended cap quite nicely

What I did not like:
The ball would occasionally follow the ram back out partially ..I will have to get my magnifiers on and watch it s-l-o-w m-o-t-i-o-n ...but I have a feeling that the ram is shearing (ram edges are very thin and very sharp) the ball edges BEFORE the cylinder walls have an opportunity to swage the ball

I support this with the fact the balls that partially followed the ram back out were easily pushed back into position tooth pick and secondly I never got a 360 degree swaged ring

I'm guessing the ram has a deep conical bullet cavity ..so some type of "fill" in the pointy end may be in order (temporary as I might want to shoot conicals) ...any suggestions appreciated

This load is very snappy ..I hear this caliber being compared to a 22 long rifle ..the recoil I felt ..the sound crack of the plywood backing board when the ball slapped it.. seeing the hit before the recoil and smoke cover the target ..I do not believe it is "only a 22LR level projectile"

Bear

I thought those were 5-shot guns.

 

[Brokenbear]

The rammer on one of my guns was doing the same thing.
I degreased the interior of the cupped part of the rammer with 70% isopropyl alcohol and packed it level full with JB Weld. After the JB hardened, made a couple of passes with a needle file to get rid of any excess glue, and give the end of the rammer a perfectly flat face.
4 or more years later it still works fine.
At appears you need to go with a slightly larger diameter ball in your gun.

Yes a possibility but I may wish to shoot conicals and I worry about a "flat" cocking the conical by a flat faced ram ..have you loaded conical with youregarding flat faced ram?
Bear

 

[Brokenbear]

I thought those were 5-shot guns.

Good eye there SS ..I loaded one chamber only to see if my #11 Remington caps would fire off TTT FFFG as I have not seen much activity or folks using it in these small shooters ..I then loaded a full 5 to finish on the target ..I then fired 4 more cylinders full at the rocks in the berm 50 yards down range ..it appears to shoot about 4/5' high at that distance but the berm had lost of angle so really hard to tell until I get it on a bigger flat target
IT is really a belly gun obviously so I will settle in on getting a good point of aim for 25 yards ..but I am please with the reliability it's first outing it

Bear

 

[Tom A Hawk]

POI vs POA looks just like what I recall. I've been temped to get another one and make a taller front sight for it. Also it sounds like the balls are a bit small and the compressed wad is pushing it back out.

 

[smoothshooter]

Yes a possibility but I may wish to shoot conicals and I worry about a "flat" cocking the conical by a flat faced ram ..have you loaded conical with youregarding flat faced ram?
Bear

No, I have not. Much prefer shooting balls. Higher velocity. Easier to cast.

 

[Ian Straus]

" and secondly I never got a 360 degree swaged ring" and " the balls that partially followed the ram back out were easily pushed back into position tooth pick" makes me think the balls are too small for the chamber. Re-measure! .321 balls and a ,318 chamber - doesn't match those observations.

I also find it really strange that a close-fitting ball would ride back up. I've never seen that myself. And black powder is not really springy. I'm surprised if the little felt wad springs back. If you can push it dosn with a toothpick you balls are NOT a close shaved fit to that cylinder.

 

[Brokenbear]

" and secondly I never got a 360 degree swaged ring" and " the balls that partially followed the ram back out were easily pushed back into position tooth pick" makes me think the balls are too small for the chamber. Re-measure! .321 balls and a ,318 chamber - doesn't match those observations.

I also find it really strange that a close-fitting ball would ride back up. I've never seen that myself. And black powder is not really springy. I'm surprised if the little felt wad springs back. If you can push it dosn with a toothpick you balls are NOT a close shaved fit to that cylinder.

I understand your thinking ..but add to your thoughts a deep cone hollow in the nose of the ram ..what appears to be happening is the ball is going so far up into the interior of the ram that the ball is just starting to swage on the front of the chamber when along comes the ram shearing off the lead ring just before being fully swaged by the cylinder... and I think the ram is actually taking some of the ball in the process of really packing the ball in tight ..(may have to drop a grain or two so not so much pressure on the ram)

Bear

 

[smoothshooter]

The rammer on one of my guns was doing the same thing.
I degreased the interior of the cupped part of the rammer with 70% isopropyl alcohol and packed it level full with JB Weld. After the JB hardened, made a couple of passes with a needle file to get rid of any excess glue, and give the end of the rammer a perfectly flat face.
4 or more years later it still works fine.
At appears you need to go with a slightly larger diameter ball in your gun.

A lot uf those rammer heads have thin, sharp edges that will bite into the ball and grip it. That edge can be sanded a little flatter without shortening the rammer enough to hurt anything, but filling the cavity with JB Weld is easier and works great. The chambers on those little pocket models have so little capacity I would be reluctant to reduce it even more by stuffing a longer bullet in there. The velocity is low enough as it is.