Back on the 28th of December, I asked for advice on loading my Sharps with black powder. I got a lot of good info and promised to post results. Definitely a learning experience.
Annealed the case necks on 20 new .45-90 Starline cases. Full length sized and flared case mouths. Primed with WW large rifle primers. Scooped Goex cartridge powder to fill case and carded flush with case mouth. Held charged case against vibratory case tumbler and settled powder about 2/10ths. Placed shirt cardboard wad and compressed powder about 3/8in. Seated Lyman pre-cast, pre-lubed 535grain Postell and taper crimped. Function tested to be sure breech would close on all rounds.
First round fired at 50 yards. Bulls eye. Much joy. Next round refused to seat fully. No joy. Pulled round had hard fouling on bearing (flat) side of bullet. Was able to fire remaining rounds by running a patch covered nylon brush with black powder solvent down the bore between shots.
What I think I learned, is that several things may have to be changed. Reduce the powder charge to reduce the the amount of compression. Get some better wads. Vegetable ? Need a lube cookie. No lube star at end of muzzle and hard fouling at ball seat. Reduce overall length of loaded round a few thousandths. Do not leave cases in milk jug with water and Dawn detergent till following evening. Flushed and dried cases now have a left on the ground for a year, purplish patina.
Overall, much fun. Great to see that big gun spit flame and smoke like that. People at the range got a kick out of it. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks