bullet press for black powder

[geo]

somewhere's on these black powder forums i read about a press for reloading a black powder cylinder. methinks the cost was about $50. i have one of the cheapie levers and sometimes it takes some norwegian steam to seat the lead ball and things can get distorted doing so. anyone remember that  posting. thanks in advance. geo.

[Fox Creek Kid]

http://www.biglube.com/BulletMolds.aspx?ProductID=23


No, I do not work for Dick Dastardly.    I have two cheapies, one by Pietta and the other by Traditions. I bought them years ago before the good ones became available and they are worthless for a '60 Army cylinder. If you were to buy a new one you'd be dollars ahead to buy a good one like the one on www.biglube.com IMO.

[saddle tramp]

I got one of those myself. They are great. Also very fast service. Built like a tank. Get one. Ya wont be sorry.

[Dusty Morningwood]

Very timely post, as I was looking to buy one of the older types from Dixie.

[hellgate]

If it is difficult to seat the ball then you might be using a little too big of a ball. Consider going down a size (like from .454" to .451") or reaming the chambers a little larger (like from .448 to .450 or .452).

[Fox Creek Kid]

Hellgate, how many national gunsmiths do you know of now who do cap 'n ball work such as accurizing & reaming cylinders? John Hooper in CA still does. I was going to send two for rework to that Jules fella but his website crashed among other problems I believe.

[hellgate]

Fox Cr. Kid,
I would have Rowdy Yates do it (I don't know his real name). He can also be contacted at the Brimstonepistoleros.com website. He's in CA. I've thought of having him install cylinder bushings on my remingtons so  they won't bind up. His quote for that was pretty reasonable.

[geo]

my big problem was not the size of the bullets but the hardness of the lead. i may still have to mix some softer lead in with my regular lead (wheel weights). the cheapie bullet press cuts a perfect circle of lead off the ball when pressing same home. the difficulty came from early casts being pure wheel weights and too hard. who said that bp/percussion shooting was simple? find the right cap, find the right load, cast the right bullet, find the right powder, etc. keeps me off the streets. good luck, geo.

[hellgate]

Geo,
I use 50/50 wheel weights and soft scrap lead for my rifle bullets and very soft to pure lead for my c&bs & rifled muskets. Do not use the WW or even a 50/50 mix of the WWts in the C&B as it is way too hard. Do like I do: harder lead for the rifle and soft for the revolvers. If you continue to shoot the harder lead in the C&Bs you risk straining the rammer on the gun. If you shoot the hard lead in the colts you might even crush the wedge or stretch the cylinder pin or loosen it from the frame.

[geo]

hellgate;
     thank you for that input. methinks the directions you gave will solve my poa problems with my sharps and my hopkins and allen. geo.

[Steel Horse Bailey]

Howdy!

GEO, Hellgate's advice is right on the money.  There ARE some folks who sucessfully shoot WW alloy in their C&Bs, but they are few and far between!  C&Bs LOVE  soft, pure lead:  feed 'em that and you'll do fine.