ORIGINAL: TimberCreek
Guess I should have been more specific. My .44Blackpowder 6 shot revolver accepts a .451 ball orlead bullet. Has anyone tried to load a copper jacketed 45 cal pistol bullet which is also .451 diameterinto a black powder revolver. Mainly I want togo to a 185gr hollow point and load up a little hotter for more killing power.
When you seat a .451 soft lead ball or conical bullet in your revolver's chambber, please note that a ring of lead is shaved off of the ball as you ram it into the chamber, IF you are using the correct ball size. The chambers are made undersize so that a good seal is produced during ramming. Then additional sealing is provided by the grease you put on top of the ball, or by the greased wad you put under the ball, on top of the powder charge. This is to prevent "chain firing" of more than one chamber at a time, a very dangerous occurance!
I'd be willing to bet that you WILL NOT BE ABLE to seat a copper jacketed.451" projectile in your cap & ball chamber, because the chamber is actually less than .451" in diameter, and your revolver's loading lever does not have sufficient mechanical advantageto push a hard bulletinto the chamber. You would either damage the loading lever, get a bullet stuck partially seated, or both!
Since a soft lead projectile is superior in ballistic performance when fired at BP velocities, there is nothing to be gained by shooting copper-jacketed bullets anyway, even if you could do it!