Most revolvers use #10 caps. I don't have a LeMat so I can't say what they take. Most people use Remington #10 caps. They fit well but I use CCI #10 which require a little more pressure to seat. Percussion caps vary in dimensions between manufacturers. You will want to use .454 balls with around 30 grains of black powder or a substitute such as Pyrodex. Pytodex is a straight across substitute measured by volume not by weight. Triple 7 is a little hotter so if you want the bp equivalent you can go 10% less by volume. BP needs a vegetable based lube to keep fouling soft. You can use a lubed wad under the ball or you can put straight lube over the balls. if you use something like Crisco over the balls it will melt and get blown all over the gun. If you use a petroleum based lube it makes bp fouling hard and difficult to clean. Modern gun cleaners do not work on bp fouling. The best thing to clean it with is hot soapy water. Balls must be made from pure lead. I don't know what the manual says to use for a powder charge but most manuals are lawyered up and the charges are wimpy. I use 30-35 grains of either 2F or 3F in my .44's. everybody says to use 3F but you can't tell any difference between them.
Cap and Ball LeMat
Hello all,
I am new to Black Powder in all cases; however I have been a shooter most of my life starting at 8 years old in Alaska. Now living in California and hating it LOL. Not leaving the state because family. Any Way hello. I am joining this forum because I shoot competition with my dad with cartridge rifles. I recently became interested in the old cap and ball pistols and rifles. I purchased a LEMAT CAVALRY .44/20ga. I will not load or shoot it without someone that is experienced with cap and ball. Not sure about safety and pressing the ball into Black Powder and other things that can go wrong. I did purchase caps the the size nipple on the cylinder however they keep falling off. This is why I need a coach. I keep asking guys at the range if they have any black power cap and ball experience and they say no...
The frequent the sac valley shooting center. Sacramento Valley Shooting Center – Sacramento Valley Shooting Center
The paperwork that came with the LeMat said to use number 11 caps. I got a tin of Remington number 11s...they fall off even fall off the 20ga nipple.
-Aaron
I am new to Black Powder in all cases; however I have been a shooter most of my life starting at 8 years old in Alaska. Now living in California and hating it LOL. Not leaving the state because family. Any Way hello. I am joining this forum because I shoot competition with my dad with cartridge rifles. I recently became interested in the old cap and ball pistols and rifles. I purchased a LEMAT CAVALRY .44/20ga. I will not load or shoot it without someone that is experienced with cap and ball. Not sure about safety and pressing the ball into Black Powder and other things that can go wrong. I did purchase caps the the size nipple on the cylinder however they keep falling off. This is why I need a coach. I keep asking guys at the range if they have any black power cap and ball experience and they say no...
The frequent the sac valley shooting center. Sacramento Valley Shooting Center – Sacramento Valley Shooting Center
The paperwork that came with the LeMat said to use number 11 caps. I got a tin of Remington number 11s...they fall off even fall off the 20ga nipple.
-Aaron
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Nice find - those LeMat's tend to be too pricey for me. Weird yet interesting handgun indeed.
Thank you Hawg,Most revolvers use #10 caps. I don't have a LeMat so I can't say what they take. Most people use Remington #10 caps. They fit well but I use CCI #10 which require a little more pressure to seat. Percussion caps vary in dimensions between manufacturers. You will want to use .454 balls with around 30 grains of black powder or a substitute such as Pyrodex. Pytodex is a straight across substitute measured by volume not by weight. Triple 7 is a little hotter so if you want the bp equivalent you can go 10% less by volume. BP needs a vegetable based lube to keep fouling soft. You can use a lubed wad under the ball or you can put straight lube over the balls. if you use something like Crisco over the balls it will melt and get blown all over the gun. If you use a petroleum based lube it makes bp fouling hard and difficult to clean. Modern gun cleaners do not work on bp fouling. The best thing to clean it with is hot soapy water. Balls must be made from pure lead. I don't know what the manual says to use for a powder charge but most manuals are lawyered up and the charges are wimpy. I use 30-35 grains of either 2F or 3F in my .44's. everybody says to use 3F but you can't tell any difference between them.
I I need to get a bench mount loader and not use the one on the LeMat because I hear they can break. I picked up an electric lead melting pot and 50 cal balls from an estate sale. I was thinking of melting down and recast at .454 I just need to find a mold for that cal..I also find a ton of muzzle loader lead bullets all over down range when we go down to reset targets.
What web sites would you recommend for supplies and tools for bp?
The Possible Shop and Track of the Wolf are good places. Muzzleloading, Cap & Ball, Horse Camping, Horse Trail Riding and Outfitter Supply Track of the Wolf - Muzzle Loading & Black Powder Guns Kits, Parts, Accoutrements, Rendezvous Gear & Primitive Americana If you want to make your own wads Duro-Felt sells hard felt for wads. Duro-Felt Products If you want to buy wads Circle Fly is good. Circle Fly Wads, LLC You can make your own lube out of beeswax and Crisco or olive oil. I wouldn't worry about breaking the loading lever with soft lead balls.
Ione Range, haven't been over there in years! Check their schedule, I think they use to have a muzzle loading class. I was curious about buying one of these repros a few years ago, but the auction bid went too high. Consensus uses 30grns of 3F and .451 round ball. 30-35grns with 6 00 buck in the 20ga, or one .60 cal round ball. Bore on the Pietta runs .452.The frequent the sac valley shooting center. Sacramento Valley Shooting Center – Sacramento Valley Shooting Center
Don't let the shot roll out on the ground 😂
You "might" get by with a .451 ball in a Pietta but why take a chance on it moving forward on recoil? .454 isn't much harder to load and they wont move forward.Consensus uses 30grns of 3F and .451 round ball.
Hawg, I'm with you, just saying what I found on the muzzle loaders forums. One thing I didn't see, is if they're cutting a ring off that .451 ball when they seat it.
Just wondering. Does anyone know what those 36 caliber hornady lead balls fit. Guy gave me a box of them when I bought my first cap and ball revolver and you could drop em down the bore without it touching anything. Patched rifle maybe but you don't see many 36 cal rifles? Maybe he was just trying to get rid of them. I threw them in the pot and remolded to 375.
OSN, do you remember the diameter? Most 36's take a .350 but the ole Numrich barrels needed .340.
I didn't mic em. My gun is 375 so they didn't work. Think box just had 36 caliber round balls on it 100ea. May have made some good buckshot but wasn't enough to make many. Figured they may have been for a patched rabbit gun. Next time I go by the loading shack I'll look and see if the dia was on the box somewhere. They LGS that gave them to me probably didn't know they wouldn't fit. I bought a 51 he had had on the counter for 10 years or so for 150$ - its not something he deals in.OSN, do you remember the diameter? Most 36's take a .350 but the ole Numrich barrels needed .340.
Think T/C had a 36 BP rifle one time - maybe they would fit one of those.
Update - I checked hornady round balls and they still sell them in 36Cal 0.35" so thats probably what they were. They have 375 also.
T/C made the Seneca in 36 and 45. I had one and they were nice for a T/C. I didn't care for their other muzzleloaders.
.350 is pretty common. The Southern Moutain flinter I have takes a .350 ball.
.350 is pretty common. The Southern Moutain flinter I have takes a .350 ball.
Aaron what brand of caps did you buy ? They can differ a little from maker to maker and same for nipples on revolvers of makers . Old School sometimes with cap and ball revolvers the barrel is one size and the cylinders are another . Can happen if the bits used to do the work on one or the other get changed out at odd times so a more wore bit ( makes a little big diameter)is used on one thing and a nice new one ( a little smaller diameter) on another . Sometimes a great bit of difference I had a C&B revolver looked brand new but had bad groups after several test loads . Slugged the bore and cylinders . Some cylinders were quite smaller so the ball would shave lead but would bounce down the barrel . I reamed the cylinders out a little . Can't remember the sizes but it greatly improved the accuracy . Been so long and I "loaned" the reamer to someone and last I heard it was somewhere in South Carolina !!!
My caps are Remington. I have been looking all over for #10 but everyone is out of stock. I did find one place but you have to buy 1000.Aaron what brand of caps did you buy ? They can differ a little from maker to maker and same for nipples on revolvers of makers . Old School sometimes with cap and ball revolvers the barrel is one size and the cylinders are another . Can happen if the bits used to do the work on one or the other get changed out at odd times so a more wore bit ( makes a little big diameter)is used on one thing and a nice new one ( a little smaller diameter) on another . Sometimes a great bit of difference I had a C&B revolver looked brand new but had bad groups after several test loads . Slugged the bore and cylinders . Some cylinders were quite smaller so the ball would shave lead but would bounce down the barrel . I reamed the cylinders out a little . Can't remember the sizes but it greatly improved the accuracy . Been so long and I "loaned" the reamer to someone and last I heard it was somewhere in South Carolina !!!
Just pinch them a little before you put them on and they will be fine.
The instruction sheet that came with my Lemat recommended .451 balls for the revolver. The shot barrel .63 caliber patched ball with a never to exceed 25 grains of FFF. I have no idea where you would find a .63 caliber round ball.
All Pietta .44 revolvers recommend .451 balls but trust me .454 is a much better choice. Don't believe me check out some of the other black powder forums. You're not going to overload a black powder revolver with bp or a bp substitute unless it's a brass frame.
If the shotgun barrel is a true 20 gauge a 0.600 ball should work.The instruction sheet that came with my Lemat recommended .451 balls for the revolver. The shot barrel .63 caliber patched ball with a never to exceed 25 grains of FFF. I have no idea where you would find a .63 caliber round ball.
.451 round ball and #10 cap. When I used to have my Ruger Old Army the load we used was 20gns of 4fg and topped with corn meal filler. But that`s the Ruger. Hard to overcharge BP in a pistol cylinder.
Normal loads were 30-35gn 3fg but never shot as good as the above but your mileage may very. Welcome to the smoke table.
Normal loads were 30-35gn 3fg but never shot as good as the above but your mileage may very. Welcome to the smoke table.
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