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huntingsgr8
04-13-2018, 05:01 PM
I'm waiting for a Webley RIC to come in the mail, it's a model with a fluted cylinder and has a 4.5" barrel. It's marked for .450 Adams, the last owner says it will chamber MKII .455. I know the .450 is a black powder only cartridge, and I intend to use it as such, but in my reading I found that later on the .450 was loaded with 6.5 grains of cordite. Is there a safe smokeless powder load for this gun? I plan to use a soft cast bullet between 200 and 230 grains. I've also read that RL15 is considered the equivalent to cordite in terms of the pressure curve, the loads need to be adjusted by 1.19x though. I bought this gun fully planning on using black powder, but just to save myself some cleaning in the future I thought I'd do some digging on whether or not there is a safe smokeless load out there. I'm not dead set on smokeless, if it can't be done safely, then I'll just suck it up and scrub.

Outpost75
04-13-2018, 10:43 PM
RL15 is a rifle powder and I doubt will ignite in a revolver. Years ago I shot 3 grains of Bullseye or 4 grains of Unique in an 1883 R.I.C. with soft, 225-grain Lee bullets intended for the Ruger Old Army and they shot well. I currently use 3.5 grains of Bullseye or 4.5 grains of Unique in my Boer War and later-era .455s with Accurate 45-240H1.

Groo
04-17-2018, 10:19 AM
Groo here
Look at a BP replacement [ Pyrodex or :Lonestar] or Trailboss..

darne
04-18-2018, 09:43 AM
This thread by Ed Harris may help. https://castbulletassoc.org/forum/thread/13054-who-shoots-casts-and-loads-for-the-455-revolver/