Load determination

[Noz]

I'm leaning too far to the dark side and need help coming up with a load for my 41 mags. A 30 gr load of Pinnacle fills the case to within 1/8" of the top of the case. The bullets I'm using are .1/4" from the base to the crimp groove. Loading like this I'll have 1/8" of compression in the powder charge. I don't think this is enough?
I have waxed wads I'm using in my 1858s that are roughly 1/8" that I could use.
I obviously could increase the powder since I'm no where near the pressure limits of a Ruger Blackhawk or a Marlin levergun.
I also would like to use my AA wads in my 20ga SXS. How about a load there?
I need thoughts.

[44caliberkid]

You only need very slight compression for Pinnacle or APP, heavy compression will crush the grains, the stuff isn't as hard (or tough) as real black.

[hellgate]

Re the 20ga:
I doubt you could get enough powder into the case to get a decent load using an intact AA wad. Because BP is so bulky what you will need to do is cut the "legs" out of the AA wads so you have minimal space between the powder & shot. I managed to get a 2 1/2 dram 7/8oz (or was it 3/4oz?) load using an old no longer made Remington "H" wad between the powder and shot. The wad is a double ended over powder wad with about 1/16" space between the shot & powder. I think you'd be able to get about 50grs powder and maybe 3/4 oz shot by using the AA wad with no legs. You might get a better load using 777 as it is more powerful with less volume. You can either cut out the legs or cut the wad in two going across the middle of the legs and then rotate the top 1/4 turn and push them back together to make a shorter wad.

[Noz]

The Lee 4.00cc dipper dips almost exactly 7/8 oz of #9 shot. It also dips 59 grs of RS. This combined with a 20 AA wad with all legs cut off produces too short a wad column. The same wad, powder and the 7/8 oz bushing on my Lee Load All (.92 oz) makes a nice length column and the 8 point crimp works.
Is this reasonable?

[hellgate]

Yeah, that sounds like a great load. If it all fits inside the case and you get a good crimp you are 3/4 of the way there. Now all you need to do is PATTERN THE LOAD. Take a roll of butcher paper out to the range and either take a large cardboard box or scrounge an IPSC target & stand staple/tape on a piece of butcher paper and make a mark to aim at about 10-15 yards and fire at it. Then repeat with the other barrel. You'd be surprised how far off two barrels can be from each other's point of impact and patterning ability. If each barrel shoots the load well, you have arrived. In the cases with too much room for your load: either put a card wad between the OP portion and shot cup of the severed AA wad or just cut mid way through the legs and then remove them completely from only the top or only the bottom of the wad halves to make an intermediate shortened wad. The AA wad is real versatile and the BP or Pyrodex is pretty forgiving. In fact, the Pyro can be compressed even more than BP if you need to cram more into a case. I have found the Pyro-P exceptionally compressible.

I'm assuming the 59grs Pyro is VOLUME rather than actual weight. If it is weight then you have an even more powerful load that would still be a safe one. Pyro is usually loaded by equivalent volume of BP rather than by weight. i.e. volume for volume it is equivalent in power to BP. It is more powerful than an equivalent weight of BP.