…..SLUGGED my two loose barrels today…my first effort at it:
Did the 40-60 first. Went to the ACE and got some calipers and wood dowels, put bore butter down the muzzle and on a Hornady 464 musket ball, set the barrel on a roll of toilet paper and started tapping on a section of dowel…left a big ol lead ring on the muzzle and got a relatively nice little slug..measured 12/32 with my cheap calipers..I have some Acme .406 250 grain bullets and they measure 12/32 as well so I’m grossly in the .406 ball park for my groove diameter…seems I need a .407 or .408 to seal this particular bore…also looks as if CH4D has a die set..

R Rio,
CCI are OK. They are just not as forgiving as the Remington caps as to how many different makes of nipples they will fit. The CCIs as well as the RWS are fairly stiff in the shank and are harder to swage onto the nipple while seating if the nipple is a bit big compared to the Remington cap that is scalloped on the mouth and will more easily swell to grip the cap. I have 16 C&B for now (have owned about 35) and by swapping out the nipples with Uncle Mike's or Butler Creek nipples ALL 16 will fit the Remington #10 which is close in size to the CCI #11 or the RWS #1075 (AKA #11). The RWS #10 is way too small to have ever fit any gun I've owned. About 1/3 of my guns will accept the CCI#11 and another 1/3 will accept the RWS #11. The only gun I have that will fire the CCI#10 is my Uberti 3rd Model Dragoon which has a hammer fall like a musket. It will smash anything. I've only replaced the nipples on about 1/3 of my guns, the rest are stock.

As for cap fall, I'm not sure what you mean.

Check out Choice Ammo. Good quality stuff.

I'm on their waiting list. They're out of stock like everybody else. Good to know that they are quality, though!

Just had a shoot today.  Wish we had known earlier. Paul gets on often so I am sure he will be in touch soon. Our next shoot is April then our regional shoot in may. Looking forward to meeting you.

  Brickwall 

Nice Job rebuilding our rifle.  80% of the resistance felt in the Finger Lever is from the Main Spring that powers the hammer.  20% is from the two springs that retain the lever in the closed position and hold the carrier block up.

If you wish to reduce the effort on the finger lever, first source another Main Spring and than reduce one of the main springs.  Reduce it very CAREFULLY. Reduce it too much and you get light primer strikes.  I suggest leaving the side springs alone.  Since you're not a CAS player, extensive spring grinding is not necessary nor recommended.


People ARE hazardous to Yer Health

Thanks man! Yeah, I tweaked it just a little bit and coupled with lubing it a little, made it much easier to work. I'm getting the hang of it. I like your idea on the mainspring, I'll keep that in mind if I ever feel like I need to lighten it up any more.

One thing I am finding is that ammo is in short supply. That is honestly a surprise. . .before the late unpleasantness you could find 44-40 all over the place. I'm shooting Buffalo Bore out of it, and it's a stout round that really gives you a sense of why this rifle was used by so many for so long. I'd hate to be downrange of this thing. Recoil is not even an issue compared to what I'm used to. This thing is a pleasure to shoot, and a work of art. They really knew how to make them back in the day.

I had some knucklehead say to me (derisively): "Huh. That's only a 100 yard deer rifle at best." 

I told him: "Buddy, I don't wanna walk that far."