Lee 44 Casting Bullets - Too Small

[ballncap]

I was finding it hard to come across some 44's for my new BP pistol. As I cast my bullets for CASS I thought it would be fun and economical to cast Ball bullets for the 44. Purchased a LEE bullet cast and heated lead. When it came time to load the bullets were all just too small to have a firm fit inside the cylinders. To the extent of falling out.

Anyone come across this problem or more importantly come up with a fix?

[Sir Charles deMouton-Black]

I found that using wheelweight metal dropped balls about .002 larger than with soft lead.  This is not widely recomended, but worked for me, a dyed in the wool cheapskate.

[Coffinmaker]

This may seem a silly question, but, you are aware a .44 C&B is really a .45 ..... Right?  You need to be casting bullets there around .451' not .429 or .430.

Coffinmaker

[Sir Charles deMouton-Black]

That might explain it.  My LEE mould for capnball revolvers drops 'em large enough.

[hellgate]

Generally, the appropriate molds for the 44 cap & ball guns are sold under the LEE Blackpowder group of molds. There will be the .451-.457" molds for the 44s.

[Lefty Dude]

With pure lead my Lee 44 C&B 451 mold cast one ball .452" and the other .454".

BTW; Pietta C&B 44 cylinder chambers are about .446"- .448" , and the barrel bore groove .448"- .449".

The Lee mold is only $20.00 or less, buy a couple for the price.

[Dick Dastardly]

Big Lube®LLC Six cavity round ball molds drop the right size bullets.  There are .380", .454 and .457 molds available.

DD-MDA

[ballncap]

Thanks for the replies. So I will have to look for a larger diameter mold. It does say .440 128GR. Wonder what it's for I will look for a mold around .451

[rickk]

.440 would be for a single shot, muzzle loading 45 caliber rifle or pistol.

A patch would make up the difference between the .440 ball and the .45 bore.

[rickk]

Ballncap, just throwing this out...

If you can sleeze a few balls locally to try for size, it might help you pick the best mold on the first shot.   I've got a number of Uberti's of various models and vintages spanning decades and they all seem to like .454 . My Ruger Old Army loves .457.  I'm sure there are guns that like .451 as well.  If you can get some balls to try you will be more likely to get the right mold on the first order.

Of course, like Lefty Dude says the two cavity Lee molds are only $20 bucks each so you wont be robbing a bank to get a second one of the first one doesn't work out.

[August]

Most ".44" cap guns are actually .45s.

[Noz]

.440 would be for a single shot, muzzle loading 45 caliber rifle or pistol.

A patch would make up the difference between the .440 ball and the .45 bore.

I bit on a cheap "44" mold on e-bay a few years back. Nice little brass 440 mold. Useless to me.