What Ball Size?

[RiverRat]

I have these two newly acquired colt replicas both in .44cal. I already have some .457's that I shoot in my ROA and some .451's that I got somewhere a long time ago. The Pietta's cylinder mics out to .440 and the Uberti's mics out to .440 also. Which ball size should I use?

 

[Metalshaper]

RR,

When I was 16.. My brother came home on leave from the Navy.. He brought me a C&B pistol, that he got from someone on his base < they shot it once and hated cleaning it! > Mine always like the .454's, so that is what I use? .457's were a bear to load and I never could find any .451's in my area at the time.< 28 odd yrs ago in SE KS > back then I never knew anyone like a Dixie GW, Dixon's, Log Cabin shop or the like was around :redface: Just dug up anything I could to read up on them and went at it!!

My advice, get some of each and see what your gun likes :hmm: usually the gun will tell you what it preferes..

BYW my CVA .36 C&B,, ended up having oversized chambers and needs a .380 ball!!

Respect Always
Metalshaper

 

[bwhoffman]

RiverRat,
The 457's are deffinetly for a ruger oa, I wouldgo with 451's. when those get loaded, the push rod gives the leverage toallow for shaving a small amoutn off as it enters the chamber, in this case,a ring of lead approx .005 +/-.
The 457's will probly cause ont to maybe tweak or bend the loading arm components.

FWIW,

Brett

 

[Rebel]

Your gun may be different but i always used .454's in my Colt style .44's instead of .451's. The .454 left a ring of lead when loaded and the .451's didn't. I also use .457's in my Remingtons for the same reason.

 

[mec]

the pietta chambers I've seen are a bit smaller than the ubertis and 451s work just fine. some ubertis allow 451s to walk under recoil but handle 454 and 457 just fine. I generally get .448" on pietta chambers and .450 when I measure Ubertis. could vary among guns/production runs but hasn't so far. I am not a good hand with a caliper

 

[cougarmagnum]

.454 or .457, both worked great in my Rem! .451 are not tight enough, ball creeps forward and jams cylinder rotation.

 

[renovato]

I'd go with .454 for those. They're not as hard to load as the .457's but still shave a nice ring for a tight fit.

 

[Smokin6Gun]

Mec, exactly my findings. In my Piettas I use Lee .452" balls that I cast. And Uberti and old ASP 1858's/ Colt Dragoon I use Lee .457" homecast balls. Uberti 1851 Navy a Lee .380 cast ball.
.454" would probly work well in both but I like the .457"s and the .452" sizes...they work well for me.
(found that most swedged balls may run a hair bigger.)

 

[Lone Carabiner]

Don't have a Colt but have a '58 Rem that I use .454's in, shaves a ring of lead when ramming. I also have a ROA that I must use .457's in to shave the 'ring' off.