Paper cartridges

[targetfreak]

There are a few youtube videos of people making paper cartridges for their BP reproduction revolvers. I have a repro of the 1858 Rem New Army and would like to try paper carts, but haven't found a method/paper I like very much. Cigarette rolling paper is nice & thin, but quite fragile, and usually too small. Most other papers are strong but thick.
Anybody have a solid recommendation they regularly use, detailing what paper, adhesive, and shape of the paper blank before rolling (or whatever) into a cartridge?

[Omnivore]

I've used regular Zig Zags for the 44s. Probably a bad choice. They don't fully consume, leaving a few paper pieces in the chamber after firing, but they certainly do work. I've tried them nitrated and plain, and it doesn't seem to make a big difference. I roll the papers on a tapered mandrel, then roll the ball into the large end and twist tight-- just enough to avoid tearing the paper-- it stretches the paper, such that you have what looks like an ice cream cone, with the lead ball as the ice cream (it prevents powder getting between the ball and the chamber wall if the ball is bigger than the rest of the cart). Turn over, place in a loading block and pour in the charge. Cut paper to length with scissors (dunno-- about 3/8" beyond the powder) then fold, such that the last fold is the original gummed edge. Did I mention that that end wasn't moistened? That leaves you the gummed edge to work with. The folding method leaves only a few layers of paper for the cap charge to get through. Very reliable. I've tried twisting the powder end with mixed results. Every once in a great while a cart will fail to fire because of the twisted bit getting in the way. The twist at the ball end can be snipped off with fingernail clippers, or left as a handle to grab the cart. It will deform the ball if you ram against the twisty end, so I use it as a handle to pull it out of the box, then shove it in and rip off the tail in the same motion. Then just mash 'em in as normal. The paper splits open inside the chamber and you're good to go. You'll end up with a little paper sheared off with the lead ring. No problem.

It takes some experimentation to get a tight, easy-to-load cart. Take your time. They are fragile, but storing them in one of the plastic trays that come in 45 ACP or 10mm ammo boxes, or something similar, keeps them from getting torn or crushed. Originals were sometimes packaged in a wood block that had separate holes drilled in it for each cart-- similar to the above, then wrapped in a water resistent paper with a string or wire tear pull, but most were just packaged in small paper boxes, five or six carts per package depending on the caliber, and the boxes were often bundled and wrapped into packs of six boxes or so.

I've fired a few hundred of my folded end cartridges, with good success. I do worry about smoldering paper setting off a fresh cart as it's being loaded though. Be careful there.

Search the web. You'll find many long threads on the subject, including here.

Back in the day, it seems that only conicals were loaded into paper or "skin" combustable cartridges. Powder charges ranged from pathetic to around 30 grains, and bullets in a 44 ranged from about 200 to 260 grains.

I tried loading some conicals in them, but found it much more difficult, using my method, to get the lubed bullet into the already rolled paper. A differrent procedure would be required.

I figure they wrapped the paper over the bullet, or over the bullet with a mandrel behind the bullet. Gum arabic was one of the materials oft ordered by those factories that made combustable carts back in the day. I found a book on the subject by searching "combustable cartridges" but it was mostly concerned with business histories and relationships, and was of very little use to the person interested in making them. Very interesting all the same, and of value to the collector. It did have a lot of photos of packaging, which will be of interest if you're thinking of reproducing some of that stuff.

It's slow going to make them, but it does speed up the reloading process, if you can deal with the (I'm saying) increased risk.

Another method is to load powder-only cartridges, then seat the projectile separately over that. I found that works a lot better with a Colt if the barrel wedge tends to get in the way of a full cartridge.

Also, if you have a Pietta '58, you'll have to open up the frame to make room for the "period correct" cartridges that use conicals. Round ball cartridges will load with no problem.

It was fun to experiment with, but mostly I use loose powder from a flask anymore. When I do use the carts, I tent to swap out the cylinder first, so I'm loading a cold cylinder. That of course diminishes the utility of the cartridge system somewhat.

You'll find much more in a search, with comments on using cigarette paper, which doesn't burn real well (at least not the Zig Zags) compared to using other materials. If you could find or make a paper that ccompletely combusts, every time, you'll be doing better than I. Still; the idea of popping off six, then doing a speed load in the same chambers, makes me a bit nervous.

Edited to add; search "nitrated paper". Several vendors have it. I haven't tried it, so I can't comment. From readng the descriptions, they seem more opriented to the Sharps rifles rather than the revolvers. Still might be worth a try. Several shooters have made their own version of nitrated paper, using potasium nitrate. Maybe they'll chime in, or do a search of this site and you'll find tons of info.