1861 army .44

[helmet]

bought this a couple of days ago and was supplied with lead balls made by balleurope size bull 440440 marked on box, they are not a tight fit in the chamber. they drop in but do not come out unless the gun is held upside down and the chamber tapped repeatedly with a pen(close to hand) in the uberti instructions it says to use .454 and that they shold be such a tight fit that they need to be forced into the chamber with the loading rod, shaving of some of the metal from the ball, I did not find the personin the shop where I bought the gun particulary helpful bearing in mind that this is myfirst black powder gun..I have n0ot attempted to load the gun as the loosness of the fit seemed dangerous.
also the caps I was sold are marked 4.0 and are made by sellier& bellot checkovslovakia ,you all seem to use size 10(if this is in inches and mine are centimetres then they roughly the same size?
last but not least Ihad to ask for wads and was sold wonder wads which are pre greased,uberti say to use wads over the ball with grease(will any kind do),these however fit between ball and powder...
sorry to have gone on for so long but HELP
thanks in advance helmet

[mec]

the instructions packed with these replicas are vestigial and often so vague as to be useless. I am not familiar with S&B caps but number tens fit my cones better than the usually recommended #11s. Chamber mouths vary with most of the current Ubertis measuring .450" This means the commonly available .451,.454 and 457s will usually work with the best bet being .454".

It sounds as if you may have gotten some .440 balls which are intended for single shot rifles and pistols and used with a cloth patch. Simple loading instructions for the Colt Army are:

1. Clean all grease from the chambers - Many shooters like to pop one or more caps on each chamber to make sure that they are really clean and dry;
2. raise hammer to half **** and charge the chambers- Charge recommendations vary from 22-30 grains in the army sized .44s;
3. Seat a ball on top of the chambers and fully seat with the seating lever.
4. place grease- crisco or commercial product over the balls.
5. Lower the hammer on an empty chamber or on the pegs located on the cylinder between chambers.

Some shooters like to put wonder wads on top of the powder column before seating the ball and then omit the grease on top of the balls.

A ball as loose as you describe will walk forward under recoil and either fall out of the chamber or tie up the gun.

One of the basic books on black powder shooting sould be your next purchase- before you attempt to shoot the revolver.

[helmet]

and 457s will usually work with the best bet being .454".

It sounds as if you may have gotten some .440 balls which are intended for single shot rifles and pistols and used with a cloth patch. Simple loading instructions for the Colt Army are:

1. Clean all grease from the chambers - Many shooters like to pop one or more caps on each chamber to make sure that they are really clean and dry;
2. raise hammer to half **** and charge the chambers- Charge recommendations vary from 22-30 grains in the army sized .44s;
3. Seat a ball on top of the chambers and fully seat with the seating lever.
4. place grease- crisco or commercial product over the balls.
5. Lower the hammer on an empty chamber or on the pegs located on the cylinder between chambers.

Some shooters like to put wonder wads on top of the powder column before seating the ball and then omit the grease on top of the balls.

A ball as loose as you describe will walk forward under recoil and either fall out of the chamber or tie up the gun.

One of the basic books on black powder shooting sould be your next purchase- before you attempt to shoot the revolver. [/QB][/QUOTE]

[helmet]

thanks mec
prblems solved with your info and a return to the shop,the guy was much more helpful but not as much as the uberti rep who was there..
big bangs and sparks its great
thanks again helmet