Round or conical more common War time colt usage.

[115grfmj]

A question I've always had, was what was more common in loadings for Colt usage during the war, round ball or conical. My grandparents, had an example of a fired 36 cal conical dug at gettysburg, but I always though round ball was more common.

 

[UCVRelics]

Great question. I have dug more conical than round in CW cavalry camps

 

[tmorr]

On the US side, conical combustible paper cartridges were standard issue for Colt and Remingtons. I have found round balls here and there but mostly conical like ucvrelics mentions above.

 

[hrobalabama]

Yes, most of the pick-ups have been conical but in firing both original and repo's, I have found the round ball to be the best and most accurate of the lead bullets. Lead is soft and in loading with the lever, the conical gets deformed and twisted. In recovering spent rounds, all are out of shape so I prefer the round ball. On this note, in years of collecting, all of the conical rounds were drops or throw away as there were no signs of rifling.