50 Cal. Remington Pistol Cartridge 1871

I

indyshooter

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I just bought one of those neat Remington rolling block pistols the government bought right after the civil war. This is in 50 caliber Remington Army caliber. This gun is nice with an excellent bore and tight mechanism. It has not been loaded commercially since 1920 and there is very little info on it. I've read that brass can be made from 50-70 brass but that's all I can find out about it. I really want to get this thing shooting with some light loads. I've had great success using Trail Boss powder on other old black powder cases. I've read many times that you can't stuff enough Trail Boss into any of the old cases to be dangerous. If anybody can share some information I would love to hear it. Thanks. :confused:
 
What is there to gain using a modern smokeless powder in this old pistol?
It might be much better to stay with the black powder it was designed for.
Or at least one of the modern black powder substitutes.
There may be no telling how strong a Civil War era gun really is.
 
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Buffalo Arms sells .50 Army brass. Formed by them from Something Else and therefore rather expensive.
http://www.buffaloarms.com/50_Remington_Army_Reloading_Brass_it-157715.aspx?CAT=3833

I am not qualified to recommend Trail Boss loads for an uncataloged caliber.
But will point out that the starting load for some pistol rounds is as low as 5400 CUP... and as high as 11000 psi.
The Rolling Block is a strong action, by black powder standards, but it is not bulletproof for smokeless.
 
My old edition of Cartridges of the World lists a 300gr bullet and 25gr of FFG at approximately 600fps.

They also show a 265gr bullet with 7gr Unique, for 750fps.

No idea if they would be safe in your gun, these are all the data I have.
 
1st off... congrats... i've always wanted one of those pistols...

just to clairify... I think the manufacturer recommends something like 3/4 of the available space ( less bullet ) for a startring point forTrailboss, but never a compressed load... I do use alot of it in many calibers & obsolute black powder cartridges... I use it in my 50-70... I think it would work well in the 50 Gov pistol cartridge
 
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