44 mag roundball BP loads

[Nobade]

Just for grins I tried making some gallery loads for my Browning B92 for the kids to shoot. 10 grains of FFFg, 1.6cc cream 'o' wheat, a dollop of bullet lube, and a .433 roundball. I seat the ball just past center with the arbor press, and crimp it with the 44 seater die. I didn't know if the lube under the ball would work or not, but it was a great success! The muzzle stayed wet and I didn't see any leading or fouling buildup. The loads were plenty good to hit pop cans at 25 yards, quiet, and no recoil. My girls loved them and want lots more for the next trip to the range.

[trooperdan]

That sounds like a great project; I'm sure the girls did love them. Heck, i bet I'd enven enjoy them, I love the smell of black in the morning! :)

[Four Fingers of Death]

I'll take a note of that if you don't mind, I have a young lady to introduce to shooting, they will go beautifully, thanks. Mick.

[wonderwolf]

Hmmm very curious......I've wondered about round ball in wheel guns ever since I read about them in Sharpes book Thanks for posting this :drinks:

[w30wcf]

NoBade,
Neat, thank you for sharing.:-)

Interestingly, the UMC Catalog of 1905 shows a
.45 Colt Gallery Cartridge factory loaded with a
round ball and 7 grs. of b.p.

Your post has given me the inspiration to load some of these
up and give them a try.

w30wcf

[Dale53]

Reagrding "Gallery Loads". The common definition of gallery loads refers to indoor shooting. I believe that you are using the term to indicate a reduced load.

However, for the lurkers, I'd like to comment that shooting black powder in any form indoors can be an extreme fire hazard. In door ranges accumulate a good deal of unburned powder blown from the barrel. The same happens with black powder. The difference is black powder is MUCH easier to ignite from live sparks from a gun barrel.

You might want to re-consider if you are planning on shooting BP indoors.

Just the thought for the day...

Dale53

[trooperdan]

Dale is correct; accumulation of powder in indoor ranges is a real hazard. Glock Inc in Atlanta had a range flash fire from unburned powder that killed an employee a couple of years ago. I'm not sure that BP would accumulate as easily as smokless but it is something to be aware of.

[Dale53]

Black powder is probably WORSE than smokeless in regard to unburned powder being blown from the barrel. If you have a problem believing that, just spread out an old white sheet in front of a muzzleloader shooter. You won't believe how much of the powder is NOT burned. You have to do it on a day with no wind to really see it accumulate.

Dale53

[w30wcf]

Dale53,
Good points. My plan would be to shoot them outdoors. Back in the days of factory gallery cartridges loaded with b.p., I would think that the majority of them would be used outside at close range. The smoke produced shooting indoors with little venilation would have been hard on the eyes and the lungs.:shock:

According to the 1905 UMC catalog, they offered b.p. gallery cartridges in .32, .38, .44 and .45 calibers.

10 years or so ago. I was a witness to a fire started on an indoor range when a small pile of floor sweepings was ignited when a cigarette was thrown on top. The fire started, rose up and soon was licking at the roof. :holysheep

Fortunately, it was put out in short order.
They won't be doing that trick again!

w30wcf

[August]

Now, that's a thread hijack !

[longbow]

Back to the round ball loads for a moment.

I have loaded up round balls for my 1894 Marlin .44 mag using Winchester 452AA (leftover from trap shooting so I had to use it up) and up to 10 grains of Unique with good success. I think a light load of most any fast pistol or shotgun powder would work well. Accuracy seems to drop off with too much velocity but if the loads are light they shoot real well.

I run .445 balls from ACWW and run them through a sizer to give them a bit of a cylindrical equator (I use .445 balls because I have a .445 mould). Recovered balls show good engraving and no gas cutting. My gun is 1:38 microgroove by the way.

Longbow