Shiloh Rifle Forums

I made up four more bullets to test. The first one I made was 315gr. A little heavier than the original 300gr bullet. So I went back and took more off the nose until it was about 295gr. Then made 4 more. They are a little blunt, but will do for testing. I haven't sized them yet. I want to slug the bore before I do that.

I decided to go a different route on the bullets. I really don't want to stress this old boy and prefer a lighter bullet than the 295gr bullets above. Looking through my bullet stash I found some 255gr, .453" diameter. 45 Colt bullets. Since they were a little undersized, I swaged them to .457". Then cut a heel on them in the lathe. I think these will be better for the first test firing.

I acquired three original .46 long rimfire cartridges to go along with my Ballard sporting rifle. Of course I wanted to compare them to the reloadable .46 long rimfire I'm making. The cases are an excellent match, not so much the bullets. But these bullets I just made up to test fire it. I'm working on something better.

When is a .46 long rimfire not a .46 long rimfire? Today!

My Ball & Williams Ballard sporting rifle arrived today. I immediately slugged the bore. To my surprise it was not .46 cal as the seller thought (it has no caliber markings). It is .435" groove diameter - a .44! No big deal, it doesn't matter to me. Chamber measurements are in my rough sketch. It dawned on me that my .44 S&W American heel bullets are perfect. They come from the mold at .435". I dropped a bullet into the chamber until it stopped on its own. Then measured back to the breach face - .940". The heel is .150 long. That gave a max case length of 1.090". Backing off .040" to allow for fouling, I came up with a case length of 1.050". As for a case, .44-40 is a better match than .44 mag. It is closer to the chamber base diameter. So I cut down a sized .44-40 case to 1.050", seated a .44S&WA bullet and it chambered perfectly.

It looks like I need to convert some cut down .44-40 brass to rimfire this week.

Dummy round made up as described above.

I just went out a test fired one of my home made rimfire cases. It worked and went bang!

I'm sure enjoying your thread and the pictures. Neat stuff, thanks. It !ooks like the index is not that critical to get an ignition.

You just never know what you get with these really early rifles. This cartridge appears to be similar to that if a #2 rolling block in .44 rimfire that I have. But the roller uses .41 magnum brass. This one has a slight bottleneck and is about .085" longer. The .44-40 has a larger base than .44 mag brass, so it seems to be the best parent case to use.

BTW, the bore has some roughness ahead of the chamber. But for the most part it is quite good.

I took the .44 long rimfire Ballard rifle to the range this afternoon for the first time. I have to admit being just a little nervous shooting a 157 year old rifle for the first time! I made a short video, check it out to see how it went

https://youtu.be/aq3CqFQd36E

Good strong rifling! I'd giver her a lap job and it probably will shoot as good as when new. May need a bit of crown touch up to but I've found that some pitted bores can still shoot very well if it's not to sever in in the throat or crown.
The lever slack can be taken up with new screws and bushings . Great ole gun and she is most fortunate to find such a benevolent owner that wants to let her speak again. Good on you!

a nice video.
it is good to see a good plan come to fruition.
that nice gun would be ha handy meat getter in the woods.
bruce.

I'm in for cataract surgery over the next two weeks. After that I should be able to see the sights and target better.

Today was really just a test to see if the new cases worked. I only have 10 rounds. The first was shot into the berm just to make sure it was safe. The remaining four made from 44-40 brass went to one target. Then the five made from 44 magnum brass into the other target. It was only about 30 yards, but its a start.

I'm so looking forward to getting my eyes fixed!

There has been a lot of interest in the rimfire cases that I make from centerfire brass. Since I'm in the process of making 10 more .44 long rimfire, I made a two part video on the process I've come up with. Maybe this will inspire you to makes some of your own

https://youtu.be/MeQcElAGCBE

https://youtu.be/Fxz9s9kjflI

There has been a lot of interest in the rimfire cases that I make from centerfire brass. Since I'm in the process of making 10 more .44 long rimfire, I made a two part video on the process I've come up with. Maybe this will inspire you to makes some of your own

https://youtu.be/MeQcElAGCBE

https://youtu.be/Fxz9s9kjflI