Uberti 1851, .380 or .375 ball?

[Kruzr]

I have an Uberti Navy 1851 on order to join my 1860 Army.
Uberti says use a .380 ball. Other than Track of the Wolf, I can't find any other .380 balls but everyone has .375.

Do other Uberti 36 cal users use .375 and do you still get a ring shaved when loading?

 

[Tommygunn]

I would try to find .380 for it. My Uberti .36 calibers use it and I haven't seen a Uberti that doesn't ... I have Pietta .36 and they use .375, but that won't always shave off any lead in the Uberti.
If you're not shaving off a ring of lead the ball isn't tight enough and may slip forward on recoil and jam up the cylinder rotation. Also, you risk chain fires as well.

 

[denster]

The Uberti 51 Navy and the other medium frame 36s all have tapered cylinder chambers. That is they start at .375 and taper in the first quarter inch to .372 so you will get a good seal with either .375 or .380 but the .380 will be harder to start to seat. I believe they do this to facilitate loading conicals. The pocket models all have straight cylinder bores of .373. I have six Uberti 36s and they are real consistent within a half a thousandth in this regard.

 

[Green-Shanks]

.36 Uberti & .375

I have a Uberti .36 1851, and an 1861. Both shoot 2-3 inch groups w/.375 Hornady Balls @ 25 yds. I use 24 grains of Pyrodex P. I have never had a chain fire. I don't always lube the end of my cylinder. I do get lead shavings when I load.

Green-Shanks

 

[Fingers McGee]

I use .380s in all my .36 cal C&Bs. The 2nd Gen Colts do not like .375s at all - too loose. Ubertis are about the same. Only the Piettas are a little tight - but work great.

I buy mine from www.bpstuffllc.com $8.00/100 when you buy 1000. I also get lubed wads from them.

FM

 

[denster]

Fingers

I'm curious. Do the second gen Colts have the tapered cylinder chambers like the Ubertis?

 

[6666]

I have had a uberti 1851 .36 navy for a short time, so far I have only used .375 balls, it shoots high left at 25 metres with only 18 grains 3p waco powder, just trying to get some .380 balls to see if any difference

 

[madcratebuilder]

All but two or three of my .36's like a .380rb over the .375.

 

[Fingers McGee]

I'm curious. Do the second gen Colts have the tapered cylinder chambers like the Ubertis?

Couldn't say. I've never miked one. Until your post, I didnt know Ubertis were. I do know that Colt recommended .378s.

 

[TomADC]

Always wonder why we shoot a .375/.380 ball in a .36 cal but convert them to .38 S&W and shoot a .357 bullet?

 

[robert garner]

Shooting my older Uberti wasn't nice atall, 375's just fell into the chamber, 380's
needed to be rammed home but didn't shave a ring like my Ruger OA does, and neither load seemed "right" I found an 385 lyman mold, and we're happy now!
robert

 

[Kruzr]

Thanks guys. I ordered some .380's from ToW.

Ever notice when you order something you have to "justify" the shipping charges? By the time I got done, my $18 dollar bullet order plus 12 bucks shipping turned into a $76 order plus 16 bucks shipping.

 

[denster]

Amazing how that works isn't it.

 

[rcflint]

The 38 cartridge diameter is the same as the cylinder bore on a 36 Navy. Subtract the thickness of the brass and you end up at .357. The Navy barrel bore before rifling is .36. With the introduction of brass cartridges, caliber designation was changed to the groove diameter rather than the land diameter. This makes the Army a 45 as a cartidge gun, and the 45 diameter cylinder bore reduces to .43 caliber in a modern 44.

The Colt 2nd gen cylinders were made by Uberti, so they need .380 balls.

We need a heads-up to Speer and Hornady to change their roundballs to .380.

 

[TomADC]

The 38 cartridge diameter is the same as the cylinder bore on a 36 Navy. Subtract the thickness of the brass and you end up at .357. The Navy barrel bore before rifling is .36.

That still means you are sending a .375+ ball down a barrel the a conversion to 38 sends a bullet .357?

 

[denster]

Most people load a heeled bullet with .375 driving bands or a hollow based bullet that expands to fit the bore.

 

[Fingers McGee]

Ever notice when you order something you have to "justify" the shipping charges? By the time I got done, my $18 dollar bullet order plus 12 bucks shipping turned into a $76 order plus 16 bucks shipping.

.380s are $8.10/100 when you buy 1000 ($7.00/100 plus $11.00 shipping) from bpstuffllc

FM