Economical Plinker

[BGM56]

I'm thinking about my next rifle build. I want something that will be economical to shoot at the range up to 200 yards. Given the shortage of powder I'm thinking of something that can be loaded with either smokeless or black powder. I'm thinking of a bullet weight of 180 grains of less and smaller powder charges. Of course I'd be shooting cast lead bullets and would buy or build the applicable mold. I've never done paper patched bullets but it wouldn't scare me off. The rifle will either be a High Wall or a Ballard. The cartridges I have in mind currently are 32-20 ,38-40 or 38 special. What would your suggestion be and why?

[dtknowles]

I would think 32-40 or .357 Max might be better choices. Gets you a little flatter trajectory, works with bullets up to 180 gr or even a little more and keeps the powder charge under 40 gr bp and will work with smokeless too. You can always down load these choices but you can't boost your choices much. I doubt many people have tried .357 Max with Black Powder but I think you could get almost 30 gr. in a 180 gr. bullet load. Getting the throat reamed right might be the challenge. You want to consider what bullet you will use. Of course you could always use factory 38 special and .357 mag. ammo in it. I think .357 Max would give you the most flexibility and still have good 200 yard performance.

Tim

[country gent]

The 32-40 or 38-55 would be in the running here. The better rifle style bullets would be a plus at 200 yds. In the pistol cartridges also consider 44-40 and 45 colt. If your willing to reform cases then theres a lot more choices.
Sit down with Cartridges if the world or Handloaders guide to cartridge conversions and see what looks interesting. There were a lot of "proprietary" cartridges back in the day that may fill the bill and interest you.

[dverna]

Saving on powder is not where the cost is now with primers at over $100/k.

A .308 loaded with 13 gr of Promo/red Dot will get you to 200 yards with a cheap powder charge. Plus LRP are going to be easier to find and less expensive than .38/.357 SPP. Brass for for .308 is cheap. But it is not a good BP platform if that is a necessity for you.

I have never seen BP used in the .358 Win but it might work.

[MOA]

I'd go for the 25-20 WCF. Easy on lead and easy on unique.

[Mmacro]

Get yourself a nice .36 caliber flintlock rifle/pistol set, a good round-ball mold and stock up on FF FFF and FFFF powders before those also disappear.

You will only have to worry about soft lead and flint sources.

[MrWolf]

Look at the thread on making your own black powder and get a flintlock. Sorry reread and you wanted either bp or smokeless. Kept the post anyway to give you another idea.
Ron

[BGM56]

Saving on powder is not where the cost is now with primers at over $100/k.

A .308 loaded with 13 gr of Promo/red Dot will get you to 200 yards with a cheap powder charge. Plus LRP are going to be easier to find and less expensive than .38/.357 SPP. Brass for for .308 is cheap. But it is not a good BP platform if that is a necessity for you.

I have never seen BP used in the .358 Win but it might work.

Since I've got a good stock of primers and enough supplies to reload 10,000 primers with the H48 compound, primers are the least of my worries. What I can't make is smokeless powder.

[M-Tecs]

On a highwall the 30-30 simply because it fits your 200 yard requirement better and brass is readily available in todays environment. Loaded ammo on the other hand is almost impossible to find.

I really like the 30-40 & 32-40 in highwalls but if you don't have the brass now is not the time to try and purchase it. My guess is the the special run brass will not be manufactured until this shortage is over. That is going to be 2 years minimum

Low powder usage loads here AKA Ed Harris's "the load" http://castboolits.gunloads.com/show...Rifles-Article

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/show...7-Lever-Action

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/show...-30-30-Red-Dot

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/show...30-30-BP-loads

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/show...et-30-30-Loads

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/show...0-gallery-load

[John Boy]

You might want to consider a Henry Lever Action ... 22LR with a scope
* accurate to 200 yds
less expensive rifle than what you are considering
* no need for bullets, powder or reloading
* much cheaper than the rounds you are considering

[sharps4590]

If you want something a little different and easy to make from 30-30 brass, if you have the brass, you could consider the 8.15 X 46R. Usually one pass through an 8.15 die and trim. Similar to the 32-40 and just as accurate and miserly with powder. It was THE 300 meter cartridge in Schuetzen rifles for....well, it still is.

[nuclearcricket]

There are a lot of smaller BP calibers out there that would be easy to make and cheap to shoot with either BP or smokeless. The 40-60 BN for the '76 winchester comes to mind first and next would be the 40-50 BN. Both are easily made from 45-70 brass. Both quite capable to 200 yds and more. Want something just a little more exotic but just as easily made, the 44-60. Again it can easily be made from 45-70 brass and will shoot well beyond the 200 mark. I have been working with the idea of the 44-60 and with some playing around with a reformed case, it looks like it will hold up to about 55gr of 3F powder. I have a case that BACO made from a .348 and its a lot thicker and will only hold a bit over 40 gr of powder.
There are a lot of very good .40 cal molds out there and a few .44's as well. 45-70 brass isn't hard to come by. Only down side to making any of these rounds at home will be the trimming of the brass, and maybe having to run a neck reamer in some of them due to case taper. Once made they should last a very long time. Barrels are available in both calibers as is chamber reamers. Lots of choices, and maybe the action you plan on using will limit your choices some but any of the traditional SS actions will handle any of these calibers.
Sam

[perotter]

I'd go with .303 British or 7.62 Mosin. The .303 was issued in black powder. The 7.62 was based on a black powder round and for a short while black powder rounds were issued until Russia got smokeless powder plants fully operational(mainly because the intended powder didn't live up to expectations).

Personal experience with .38 Special and black powder makes me, for myself, to think maybe 50 yards. But I only snap shoot and maybe bench rest shooting would allow to for different thoughts.

[Starbuck]

I've been contemplating what cartridge would be best for homemade black powder? Maybe ream out a single shot 45-70 to 45-90? That way the low density wouldn't be such a problem. I'd go 45-120 if the brass wasn't unobtainium.

[Kraschenbirn]

My 'pet' plinkin' gun is a Cimarron (Uberti) Low Wall in .32-20. Loaded with powder-coated 311008's, it's dead-on accurate out to around 125 yards. One of these days, I'll, maybe, install a really good set of sights...currently has a short Marble aperture rear with the factory hooded post on the front...and do some serious load development for longer ranges. About the same amount of powder and lead as a 9mm. Haven't tried BP but I've got a couple pounds of 3f on the shelf...

Bill

[mack1]

Well I vote for the 38-40 for what you want to do. 35gr of 2f will send a 180gr slug to 200 yards with ease and brass is not hard to come by.

[Old School Big Bore]

I'm another vote for the .32-20. In fact I just ordered an MP Joulnir 32/130 gr mold for mine. It'll be used in a S&W 1905 and a B53, and probably in most of my .30-ish bolt guns as well. Its crimp groove to meplat dimension is short enough to work in the 1905; that's the reason I chose it. The B53 has a receiver sight with the twilight aperture and a nice shiny new white front bead, and I made sure there's enough travel to accommodate zeroing beyond 100. I just really love those loads that give you time to write notes in the log and maybe take a bite of sandwich while you're waiting to hear the boolit slap the target.
Ed <><

[indian joe]

I've been contemplating what cartridge would be best for homemade black powder? Maybe ream out a single shot 45-70 to 45-90? That way the low density wouldn't be such a problem. I'd go 45-120 if the brass wasn't unobtainium.

set yrself up to press pucks and the low density problem will go away - you will get velocity about on par with goex - a bit less than swiss - better than wano -cost ya less than rechambering a good rifle too.

[indian joe]

I'm thinking about my next rifle build. I want something that will be economical to shoot at the range up to 200 yards. Given the shortage of powder I'm thinking of something that can be loaded with either smokeless or black powder. I'm thinking of a bullet weight of 180 grains of less and smaller powder charges. Of course I'd be shooting cast lead bullets and would buy or build the applicable mold. I've never done paper patched bullets but it wouldn't scare me off. The rifle will either be a High Wall or a Ballard. The cartridges I have in mind currently are 32-20 ,38-40 or 38 special. What would your suggestion be and why?

I am a fan of the 38/40 - brass is easy, molds are easy, economical to load for ........however the 32/40 would be kinda cool - its more in line with your choice of actions (32/40 + High Wall is a classic combo) should be able to make brass easy from 30/30 ? only a tad more powder - and you have something just a little unique - if I was building on a high wall action - that would be my choice.

[VariableRecall]

Get yourself a nice .36 caliber flintlock rifle/pistol set, a good round-ball mold and stock up on FF FFF and FFFF powders before those also disappear.

You will only have to worry about soft lead and flint sources.

You could even carry 2 of them pirate style across your chest for the ultimate Hard-Mode Concealed Carry Loadout!