Colt Walker Conicals

[Grenadier]

Looking for a source for a couple dozen of Walker style conical bullets. Don't want to spend $100 for a mold until I know my Walker shoots them well.

[rifle]

You might try finding some of those HOLLOW BASED Hornady Great Plains type bullets. See if they will fit yer chambers. Take yer calipers to the store and measure one. If yer chambers are smaller than yer barrel grooves the hollow based may work fer you.

There are those Buffalo Bullets knurled with lube in there.

There are the Old Reliables moulds from LEE that make the .450 and the .456 size heeled conicals. Those moulds definitly don't cost a $100 dollars.What......?......$28 maybe? Ask which one has the heeled part that would go in yer Walker with the rest the size that would swag tight in the chamber. I'm pretty sure the size stated is the part that swags in not the heel. The heel is probably smaller than the stated size. Wanna get innovative? Use yer drill press to drill some hollow bases to them. All in the center and all the same depth and skirts to the bullets that are not too thin.

It would be difficult doing a test with makeshift bullets to fit small chambers that mate to a larger barrel groove situation. I'd try going hollow based. See.....you'd have to measure a slug bumped up in the barrel to know the groove diameter toknow how a .450 or .456 size would fit the lands and all that. Maybe figger the blast of 50gr. FFFg would bump the whole bullet up to groove size or close.

The Lee bullets are close to 225gr. weight. That would be good. Not too long fer the rifling twist.

You could try drilling a round ball Lee cheapy mould to make a heeled bullet mould. Make bullets where as the round nose would be loaded in the chamber first so it would sorta be like a heeled bullet and sorta go in straight. Drill the sprue plate part(top of the mould) of the mould to be what you want to swag in the chambers tight. The round nose loaded in first so the nose of the bullet would be a nice flat fer huntin or cutting a nice hole in a paper target or a home invader or whatever.   I've shot bullets loaded in backwards where the round nose went in the chamber first and they work alright. Like shootin a round ball with one side made flat. There would be no lube grooves on the "backwards bullet" so a lube pill or wool wad with lube in it would be a good idea.

Aren't there any Big Lubed Bullets with hollow base fer Walkers? 

You might try using some pure lead 45 Colt bullets and size the bottoms to be like a heel base to start in. Make a piece of metal with a hole the size you want the heel of the bullet and then split it with a thin jewlers saw or something thin fer two halves and then squeeze the base driving band in the two halves in a vise to size the base of yer bullets to make heeled bullets. You coulds use the split metal pieces with the hole to hold the bullets and drill a hollow base to them probably.


Walkers usually have a rifling twist of 1-48. A short bullet would be best over a long one since the longer the bullet the faster the twist need be.

I've heard of Folks shootin 300 grainers from Walkers and gettin decent accuracy though. True or not? Don't know.

[Dick Dastardly]

Big Lube®LLC bullet sampler holds 25 bullets in five rows of five.  Populate from any BL designs.  Costs $15 and that's refundable towards a mold purchase within 90 days.  This is one way you can try before you buy and it's free if you buy a mold.

DD-MDA

[Roosterman]

Big Lube®LLC bullet sampler holds 25 bullets in five rows of five.  Populate from any BL designs.  Costs $15 and that's refundable towards a mold purchase within 90 days.  This is one way you can try before you buy and it's free if you buy a mold.

DD-MDA

I knew you'd have the solution.

[Grenadier]

Morning Gentleman,

Sorry to confuse you, I am looking for a couple dozen bullets of the original style conical bullets like shown below.
http://www.thetruthaboutguns.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/bullets-1.jpg

Thanks

[Montana Slim]

Whether you are able to obtain sample bullets or not, or purchase a mold for only $100 I would not know, but first I recomend measuring your chamber diameter and bore diameter so you can more closely define what you're looking for.
To know whether bullets from a particular mold will depend on a number of factors, so to get the information/result you are looking for, the only true result is to obtain bullets from a mold identical tot he one you are considering. To that end, it would help to know what mold / maker are you considering.

While I'm told Walkers use .457 balls, I've shot a friend's Walker and it shaved lead from my .454s.
I have no Walkers, but rather two 3rd model Dragoons, One Colt, One Uberti.....they both have .454 chambers and use .454 balls. I've fired pure-lead bullets from molds intended for .45 ACP/Colt cartridges in bothe with good result. Takes extra time to get them squared during loading, but very doable. And, I can back them with 48 grains of powder...supose this is why they were referred to as "gods pistol".

Best,
Slim

[rifle]

Montana Slim has the right thunkin going in the right direction. You have to pick a bullet that will work and since there will be discrepancy between chamber size and barrel grooves it's a gamble. Hollow based is the best bet. I know one thing....those Picket Bullets look like sick puppies. The Dragoon bullets (in the pic)look like good bullets.

Grenedier, you may take a look in the Dixie Gunworks catalog to see if they sell any of those odd bullets like in the pic. The Dragoon bullets in the pic look like hollow based heel bullets. Put a hollow to some Lee conicals(fer cap&ball revolvers) and they would be close.

I don't know what size the Big Lubies are for Walkers. Which bullet is fer the Walker?

Anywhoooo.....if the chamber diameter isn't made to match the groove diameter of the barrel best resutls can't be had so what's the sense? Bullets from small chambers work in Walkers? Work meaning "shoot well". Bump up?

My old Walker shot fairly well with balls from .449 chambers going thru a .462 or .464 barrel grooves best I remember. Now I shoot .472 balls thru the properly sized chambers a lil bigger than the barrel grooves. I don't think there is a Walker anywhere that could shoot better then it does. Best I remember the chambers are .467 inch.

Anywhooooo.....one could take a Lee cheapy single cavity ball mould and drill it clean thru to the diameter the heel of the bullet should be to go in the chamber. Then end mill from the top the size the swaggin part of the bullet should be to swag into the chamber that was sized to match the barrel. Then plug the bottom of the mould so the lead doesn't pour clean thru.

Plug the mould with a well fit plug with a turned down tit or post that makes the hollow base in the bullet. Look at a pic of a Lyman hollow point mould for what the hollow base plug is held in with . Wood handle on the plug fer if it gets hot. Simple clip ring and a screw is all that holds it in. Put it in...pour the bullet...take the hollow basing plug out...open the mould and tap the bullet out...set the plug back in the bottom and make another bullet. A flat point(face) bullet. It would shoot well. Probably real well.

Need a round point to the flat faced bullet? Make a swag to do that. Drill center on a block of metal that's been cut in half and a coupla pins that slip fit to locate. Drill the right size hole that is the size of the bullets yer makin. Use a drill that has an end that drills a round bottom hole right at the bottom end of the halfed block.

That way you just set the block fer swaggin in the machine vise(has sides where stuff can sit unlike a regular vise) and set the bullet with the flat face in there and squeeze the vise together to round the end of the bullet. Machine type vises don't cost too much and they can mount to a good drill press or mill.

There you have it....a custom mould fer makin heel based bullets with a hollow base the right size fer yer Walker. Custom hollow based mould made in yer garage or work shop or whatever with tools the type a lot of people have anyway. Not too hard nor out of the question fer an average type Hombre. Personally I'd use the bullets flat faced since that gives more whomp to them but.....I'd make the swag to round the front end just to make some pretty bullets.

If ya just had to have lube grooves on the bullets there are cannular makers sold somewhere to put crimp grooves and lube grooves on swagged bullets. I might do something like that just fer the challenge of makin a pretty bullet but....most likely I'd use wool wads saturated with lube or lube pills(grease cookies). Clean the gun now and then with a ramrod and some solvent maybe too. Even usin lube pills I still ,out of habit since the old days, snap a wood ram rod with a nylon bristle brush on my leather rig. Take along some solvent in a lil Visine bottle and some patches. Just in case ya know......just sayin......gotta have yer gear prepared well fer the mission.

Just sayin.....an Hombre can make a custom hollow based mould and get a bullet like the Dragoon bullets in the pic above without loosin their mind over it or spending the kids college money or the wifes tights money.

Anyway.....if an Hombre knew how to shape a drill bit to the shape of that Picket bullet above it would be a way to drill a Lee ball mould to that Picket shape. Do the stoning or grinding yer self or take a pic to a machine shop and have them grind a drill bit fer ya to the right shape and size. After drilling a Lee ball mould soften the plunger of yer Walker so you can drill it's face to the right shape of the nose of that bullet. Then reharden the plunger.

[Roosterman]

Morning Gentleman,

Sorry to confuse you, I am looking for a couple dozen bullets of the original style conical bullets like shown below.
http://www.thetruthaboutguns.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/bullets-1.jpg

Thanks

Well, those look pretty cool. I'd think the one on the right would be loadable. I wonder how the two on the left were loaded with out tipping?
I guess I still didn't help you get any bullets though....

[Professor Marvel]

My Good Grenadier -
If you are set on holding out for the historical cone-shaped bullets, you may be stuck with the $100 mold from Numrich or The Possible Shop , or finding one used somewhere ( ie fleabay )

You may also find the darn thing doesn't shoot as well as the Lee Round-nose conical for the "Ruger Old Army" or one of DD's .

If you are absolutely fixated you can buy a "blank mold" from Lee and have a local machinist drill&mill it for you.

good luck on yur quest.
yhs
prof marvel

[Grenadier]

Thanks, Gentlemen, I was hoping someone here may have owned one of these molds and was willing to sell me a handfull of bullets to play around with at the range. It's not really worth the effort to recut a mold or have a special one made just to experiment. I'll probably buy a sampler pack from Mr. Dastardly and go from there.

[Sod Buster]

While I'm told Walkers use .457 balls, I've shot a friend's Walker and it shaved lead from my .454s.

I've got a pair of Uberti Walkers.  They also shave lead from .454s.  That is what I use.

[oldfogey]

If you have a Walker, look at this:

[Tsalagidave]

I have a Colt Black Powder Series .44 Walker conical mould and I have only shot them through a Colt BPS Walker. I find that they shoot great with a 40g FFF loads.

These conicals are very different in appearance from the later .44 conical rounds. They are actually  cone-shaped but that changes when the plunger seats them.

Send me a PM if you need a few.

-Dave