Thanks for the intetrest...
I'm too the point where I'm looking for fun things to collect, but are shootable.
that pretty much sums up where I'm at / what I'm doing... I'd like to ad a couple bigger bore guns as well, but the price on those goes up pretty fast on anything bigger than a 38 S&W... so those will come... just slower & later
I think there are several powders that are good to use with these old guns... Trailboss was where I started... I'm just starting to expirement with PB & will have a few loads to try over the summer with that powder...
I'm currently using "round balls" I bought these through Midway for the 32's...
http://www.midwayusa.com/viewproduct/?productnumber=786830
& had a guy over at the Cast Bullet Forum cast me 500 .360" balls for the 38... I've also been starting to expirement with lighter weight cast bullets... & Trailboss... but these loads will only be used on tighter, stronger, smoother guns... ( of what I have, maybe 1 in 7 or 8 will IMO, be ok for bullet loads )
but again IMO, 0.7 grains of Trailboss & that Hornady round ball are safe in any top break 32 in reasonably good shape, & that times good enough to shoot... those .360 round balls, & 0.5 cc of Trailboss should be safe for any reasonably good 38 S&W that times good enough to shoot...
This thread here has a pic of my BBQ gun, a factory engraved, nickel Hopkins & Allen Safety Police in 32 S&W, with a Vintage tooled Heiser holster...
http://thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=398816
Here is a link to a thread in the reloading section, where I give out some of my starting loads... there is a picture of my completed loads with the round balls, & several of my different guns are also pictured...
http://thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=392794
note that my starting loads posted here & in the threads I linked are so low a pressure, that the cases do not even expand to the chamber dimensions, however, I have measured guns cylinder throat diameters, & barrel diameters, that measure tighter than specifications for the cartridge require, so exesssive pressures can arise from otherwise "normal" loads ( like factory cowboy loads ) in these guns... so be carefull, even if your gun appears to be in great shape... it would be really sad to damage either it or you... if at all possible, slug both the cylinder throats, & the barrel before shooting... also nearly all of these guns are going to have pits in the barrels to some degree... those pits can add resistance to the bullet as it trys to go down the barrel, & can raise chamber pressures significantly as well...
AS A WARNING, NO LOAD IS GOING TO BE SAFE TO SHOOT IN A DAMAGED OR EXCESSIVELY WORN GUN, IF YOU DON'T FEEL COMPETENT DETERMINING IF YOUR GUN IS SAFE TO SHOOT, HAVE IT LOOKED OVER BY A GUN SMITH PRIOR TO SHOOTING... THERE ARE TONS OF THESE GUNS OUT THERE WITH BROKEN CYLINDERS, & CRACKED BARRELS FROM PEOPLE SHOOTING SMOKELESS LOADS IN DAMAGED OR EXCESSIVELY WORN GUNS... MOST OF THIS ERA OF GUNS WERE DESIGNED & BUILT FOR BLACK POWDER CARTRIDGES... THE MACHINING METHODS WERE CRUDER, THE STEELS WERE NOT AS GOOD, & A GOOD NUMBER OF COPY CAT IMPORTS FOUND THEIR WAY INTO THE COUNTRY, THAT HAVE SINCE BEEN DETERMINED, THAT THEY WERE NOT SAFE TO SHOOT WHEN THEY WERE NEW... I HIGHLY RECOMMEND AT LEAST ASKING AROUND ON THIS FORUM, & TAKING SOME PICTURES, TO GET SOME OPINIONS ON ANY GUN YOU ARE NOT FAMILIAR WITH
( local FFL is closed on Monday )
took off 1.75" of barrel & made the front sight thicker & more user friendly... stamping "US REVOLVER" in the top strap was more complicated than one would think... there is a spring loaded plunger under the stamping, that needed a spacer block added, so the machined tube did not colapse during stamping & the under side is radiused... coupled with the fact that this was not hardened steel, & in fact was quite soft... I think it turned out pretty good for what I have into the gun...
