Need load data

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bugaiho

New member
Hello, I bought a powder measure, and now need the data for how many grains to set the cup at..

1860 army 44 ___(min)_____(max) (this is my great grandpas gun,,want to set as light as I can)
1851 navy 36____(min)_____(max) (this is a repro,,,so I can load it up hot)

also,,,,is it normal to have the cylinder powder to go pretty much near the top? So when you ram the ball down,,,it does a compressed charge?

BTW I am using pyrodex P.

Thanks,,
Mike
 
It's always more prudent to go back to the manufactuer or supplier. I have two sources on Pietta and both are a bit different and they came with the same Rem.??!! :confused: Here is my general rule of thumb. Understand that this is just a starting point and you will have to put in some range time.

On a long guns:
The Min. is the caliber and the max is two times the caliber.
Download the Max on 777. So, on a .50cal. The min. is 50grns by volume and the Max is 100grns. by volume.

On listed cap and ball revolvers:
The Max is the caliber divided by two.

Here is what my Pieta literature says, using Pyrodex-P
.36: 17Grns.
.44: 28grns.

Be Safe !!!
 
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Okay, that sounds fine...cant fit 30 gr in the cylinder of the 36 cal...and 20 grains barely has the room for the ball. So that has to be safe.
 
the replica flasks come with nominal 28 grain spouts for the army and remington sized .44s and 21 grain spouts for the 36s. They weigh very close to those values with Goex and bit heavier with the denser Swiss. both fill the chambers pretty close to the top (leaving room to seat the ball )which is Colt's original prescription for his revolvers.
 
Like Pahoo said:

.36 caliber revolvers are normally around 15-22gr. of FFFG by Volume.
.44 caliber revolvers like the 1860 Army, 22-35gr. of FFFG by Volume.
.44 caliber revolvers like the Dragoon, 30-50gr. of FFFG by Volume.
.44 caliber revolvers like the Walker, 35-60gr. of FFFG by Volume.

Now just remember that the charge has to be compressed to be safe & effective that is why the variance in charge weights for the given weapons but the lighter charge will be safe in the weapons noted, just need range time to determine which charge works best in your particular weapon.
 
Great! thanks for the good advice!

I will be just loading this up lite anyway...just to get the experience of black powder...(can you just imagine what Gettysburg must have been like??)

I shot the .36 today...used 20 grns. (lowest my powder measure will hold). and it seemed to be okay. The recoil was very lite...the chrony was around 600 FPS. My middle daughter had a blast! The other girls shoot too,,,just busy!

I will check out the real antique tomorrow, the 1860 44 army. I shot it before...but I was loading it all wrong...(using my scale..-HUGE NO NO) but it shot fine then.. I guess it IS hard to overload the pistols.. there is no visible deformation...

next week I will be loading up another antique...45-60 Win model 1876. I had dies made up special a couple years ago,,, just ordered the lead.... they are .458 300 gr LFN
I have to load that round...I believe to buy the ammo is around $2 per kapow, at least 12 years ago it was 2 bucks.

I have a couple spencers too. I wish they still made that ammo....but I modified (with my gunsmith buddy) one of the blocks to shoot centerfire.. Dont cringe, It was a wall hanger rifle that was a mess....so i saw no harm in one conversion. The other is original, and nice...

Thanks guys,,,Mike
 
You can't overload a steel frame bp revolver. If the cylinder will turn you're ok. I use 35 grs. in my .44's and still have plenty of room for a wad.
 
stopped snowing....

Wife and I shot the 1860 Army
25 grns. Pyrodex P. with a oxy pad/wad (whatever its called) instead of grease.
great load...not too hard to handle!
 
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