I recently purchased a Traditions New Model Army 44. Can any one tell me if I can fire bullets other than rounds balls with it?
Dixie Gun Works offers (or at least used to) cast lead conicals of the original factory/commercial designs for both Colt 1860 and Remington NMA cap&ball revolvers. They come/came in "Bull Durham" style sacks of 50 and aren't too costly.
Sadly most seem to come with a pronounced sprue on the base, as they appear to have been cast in the antique "tong" style molds. Kind of a drag removing that with a file or whatever, but at least the noses are shaped to fit the respective rammers found on the original revolvers correctly. Still, getting them to seat concentricly with the bore can be tricky as has been said.
With the sprue removed I've used them to produce my own replicas of the paper "cartidges" which were sold commercially during that era. I include a lubed felt wad between the bullet and the powder charge, which wasn't included in the originals but certainly seems to help make cleaning less of a chore. The charge I use is 25 gr. (by volume) of Pyrodex P.
While they don't generally group as well as swaged RBs, it's been my experience that they do generally shoot a lot closer, elevation-wise, to POA at 25 and 50 yds. than the RB loads in my replica revolvers with unmodified/altered sights. This leads me to believe that original revolvers may well have had their sights calibrated with the use of the respective "factory" cartridges in mind.
By far the most accurate and consistent conicals I've ever found are the ones which Buffalo Bore used to sell. They were made of swaged lead with a "knurled" driving portion and a ''ball" shaped nose, coated with a wax-type lube. They came in plastic boxes of 50 with a supply of "Wonder Wads" and cost (last time I bought some) about $10/box. Accuracy is closely comparable to RBs in most all of my replicas and bests them in some, particularly in my 8" and 5 1/2" Pietta 1860 Armys and my Uberti "Millenium" model Remington.
FWIW, these conicals over a 30 gr. Pyrodex pellet or an equivalent volume of Pyrodex P are the only loads I've ever had that shot precisely to my POA at 25 yds. without altering the factory sights in all three of these revolvers.
Only wish I'd stocked up more while they were easy to find, as I'm down to my last couple of boxes in .44 cal. and just one in .36 cal.
Do you have any pictures of those paper cartridges you make with more details? That sounds pretty neat and a lot easier at the range than loose powder and balls (and yes, I know how that sounds).