Molded Bullets for Ruger Old Army?

[WaddWatsonEllis]

I was less than impressed with shooting standard balls out of my 5.5" ROAs...

So I wanted to ask;

Has anybody shot commercially available (meaning I don't have to melt lead and mold my own) molded lead bullets like the EPP-UG

Are they able to be loaded traditionally (i.e with the pistol's loading lever), or do they require some esoteric loading technique?

And do they need to be lubed, or does Wonder Wadd work with them?

Thanks for the help guys!

[Adirondack Jack]

Springfield Slim (Whyte Leatherworks) is yer man.

I dunno if he sells em as cast, sized and lubed, or what.  they need to be lubed, which could be as simple as rubbing some bore butter or other BP lube into the groove, or use a luber....  the EPP is a great little bullet, and carries plenty of lube.  No need for wonder wads (which ain't exactly cheap)....

http://hstrial-mwhyte2.homestead.com/untitled2.html

[Gypsy Bob]

'MOLDED' you mean like with stinky green hair on them?  or perhaps you are interested in CAST bullets???

[Ned Pepper GB]

Howdy Wadd,

I use the DD-ROA bullet at about 210 grains and I have no problems, infact I am impressed.

I make my own lube out of Beeswax Parafin oil and Tallow, then pan lube them, no need for any wads of any kind.

Holy Black, then bullet on top and you are good to go.

Real Warthog load with 30 grns fffg.

Love it

Greetings from across the pond.

Ned

[WaddWatsonEllis]

Ned and Adirondack,

Sounds like the bullet might work .... but I have a couple of 'newbie' questions:

One when one uses the loading lever, doesn't it deoress/misshape the bullet"

Was the DD-ROA designed for the Ruger Old Army, or is it a coincindence with the initials?

[Ned Pepper GB]

Howdy Wadd,

The bullet was designed for the ROA but will work very well with other Cap & Ball Pistolas. If the heads are cast of pure lead you will have no problem seating them with the loading lever. Have a look at DD's web page you will get all the info you need there.

Shoot straight and keep your powder dry.

Ned

[Adirondack Jack]

FWIW the EPP-UG is designed with very narrow driving bands.  It can easily be rammed into yer cap n ball pistol with no issues even when cast a little harder than pure lead, say on the order of 3WW to 1 PB.  Even cast of straight PB it will not deform when rammed.  A slightly rebated tail end helps with starting it straight, so ramming is easy.

[Dick Dastardly]

Howdy WaddWatsonEllis , and welcome.

I've not seen you around the camp fire before, so I wanted to say welcome.  I could have missed you and if so make that a belated welcome.

Both the EPP-UG and the DD/PUK/ROA-II bullets were designed with the ROA and other cap and ball pistols in mind.  Either will start straight and seat properly with the ROA rammer.  They are viewable on my web site.  http://www.biglube.com

Also listed on my web site are some very good bullet casters that cast Big Lube®LLC bullets for sale.  Springfield Slim, Dash Caliber and others mentioned will serve you well.  Expect some fine accurate shooting from these bullets.

If and when you are ready for a mold you can use that same web site to buy one.

Hope that helps.

DD-DLoS

[WaddWatsonEllis]

Dick,

Thank you for your kind words of welcome.

Although not a newcomer to shooting, I am so new I squeek at Black Powder stuff.

I now have three Black Powder pistols.

The first is a 'Gun that never was' ... it is either an early Pietta or San Marcos '51 Colt in .44 cal. ....Ser # E5744X .... does not mention a maker at all on the gun .... says Hartford Conn on the top of the barrel .... and 'BI' in a box on both the right frame below the cylinder and on the right gun barrel ... I am told that it is an Armi San Marcos because there is no company listed, but the serial number and 'BI within a box' point to Pietta ... I use this to do reenactments with, and will never shoot any kind of projectile through besides flower designer's foam as a wadding .... I just don't trust the mettallurgy ....

I also bought a pair of SS 5 1/2" barrelled Ruger Old Armys. They will be the ones I shoot any thing from. I tried shooting the standard round balls through the Rugers but was not that impessed. Not much fun for all the work of cleaning them; I like shooting my Schofields far more ....both in the 'feel' of the pistols as they fired, and the work of cleaning them ...

I am thinking the DDROA or the EP-UGG might make them bark a bit more and 'feel' more like pistols that I am used to ....

Thanks for all the answers!

[Dick Dastardly]

The DD/PUK/ROA-II weighs in at 210 grains.  It has a dual rebate base.  The 1st rebate is .444" and the 2nd one is .450".  The driving bands are .458" and they haul about 2.9 grains of lube.  They have a round nose flat point nose and work well in C&B pistols, 45 Colt cartridges in both rifle and pistol and I've been experimenting with them in 45-70 rifle cartridges for Plainsman category use.  Recently, a number of pards have been making good use of the DD/PUK/ROA-II bullets in 1911 Colt semi auto pistols.

This is truly one bullet that answers a lot of SASS missions.

DD-DLoS

[Adirondack Jack]

WWE, the ROA bullet over a stout load of Swiss or other quality charcoal will give ya some of that testosterone buck and roar if that's yer pleasure....

An EPP over a stoutly compressed load will BARK, but the light bullet will not give ya the palpable feedback of a heavier one.....  Either will print nice groups.....

[WaddWatsonEllis]

Actually, I am not much of a 'testosterone junky', but shooting the ROA with balls and Wonder Wadd was like shooting a really heavy .22 ... kind of a 'is this all there is?' feeling ...

Shooting the Schofields with a 200+ grain bullet is not really that tough ... kind like shooting a Combat Masterpiece in .38 cal.  but there is some feeing that it went off besides seeing the hammer fall ... and I guess that is all I am looking for

But should I ever go hunting with them, I think the EPP_UGG would be the thing to load ....

[Howdy Doody]

I have shot the EPP-UG in ROAs since they came out with the mold. I like them a lot. In fact I even shoot them in 45lc cases.

My first venture in ROAs and projectiles was the Lee ROA mold and then the DD-ROA. I lubersize my bullets at .454. I also cast them of wheelweights with guaranteed ding cast in them. I do have to use the Tower of Power to load up however, but it goes real quick with all supplies close at hand and I get some great smoke factor and very little recoil on Goex Cowboy.

Look up Springfield Slim, he sells them cast and maybe even lubed too.