Increased load, bypassed fillers

[Marshal Deadwood]

I have went to 35gr 3f in my .45colts, and compress with bullet and totally bypassed fillers. I does not seem to have affected the poa that much either in the revolvers or my '73winchester. So, this may be my standard load from now on.

MD

[Pulp]

Other than the increased cost (BP is more expensive than grits) good on you.  Some folks don't care for the extra boom and recoil of full loads, but folks like us kinda like it.

If I knew it would be safe, I'd ream out the chambers of the R&D conversion cylinder for my Colt Walker long enough to take .460 S&W Mag brass, then fill them up with BP and make some real smoke.  Couple of reasons why I haven't done it yet:
1. I'm a tightwad, and it would cost money to ream them out,
2. I'm just not 100% sure a Walker frame could handle the extra load.

But dadgum, it would be fun if it worked.

[Dick Dastardly]

Howdy Pulp,

She might take those loads and you might enjoy shootn' 'em, but, someone downstream mite load 'em up with some ungodly powder and blow themselves to kingdom come.  I know you'd be safe with the Holy Black, but there's no sayin' what might come from a charge of heathen fad smokeyless powder in 'em overgrown chambers. . .

DD-DLoS

[Blackpowder Burn]

MD,

My standard load with my 45 LC's is 33 grains Goex 2F with a 250 PRS Big Lube - no wads, etc.  Shoots great.

[44caliberkid]

The only filler I use is black powder.

[Steel Horse Bailey]

The only filler I use is black powder.

... and MORE Black Powder!

[Deadguy]

Compressed 40 grain load with a DD-ROA on top.  More powder! 

[Dalton Masterson]

Attaboy!! Its just extra work to add them fillers!
And the rewards are tenfold. More smoke, more fire, more boom, etc. And your hands dont smell any different either!
DM

[Noz]

Last year I ran an experiment. I decided that I could save money by adding filler to my 44-40 loads.
I don't remember the exact quantities but it was some thing like this.
23 grs of black and 9 grs of grits
25 grs of black and 7 grs of grits
28 grs of black and 4 grs of grits
30 grs of black and 2 grs of grits
32 grs of black

No, I do not consider grits as food.

I saw no difference in flash, boom, recoil or impact on target within our expected cowboy range.  So I picked option #2 and loaded about 100 rounds. Loading 2 different items in each case was such a PITA that I went back to full cases of black.
Now I dump 2.2 CC in a case, a big lube bullet and I'm good to go.

[Deadeye Dick]

Noz,
Hey, I'm with you. All black powder is the only way to go. No muss no fuss.

[Dick Dastardly]

Ho the fire,

Let's take a typical monthly match for example.  I often shoot a brace of RVs & a Browning 92, all in 44 Magnum.  So, with Mav Dutchman Big Lube® boolits over a compressed charge of FFFg Holy Black I'm getting 200 rounds per pound.  I shoot about a half pound of bp in my pistols and rifle at a typical match.  That costs me about $5.50

Now, should I put filler into my loads and reduce the powder to 20 grains I'd save about 15 grains per round.  So, for the match I'd save about 1500 grains of powder.  In other words, a 20% savings in powder.  So, I 'd save about a buck ten cents per match. . .

Hardly worth the effort to install breakfast cereal in my ammo. . .

Then, you have to consider the cost of the gritts and the wear and tear on the weevils. .

DD-DLoS

[fourfingersofdeath]

I was thinking of putting a sign on my gun cart:

"My favourite filler is 3F, but I am also partial to 2F!"

[Steel Horse Bailey]

I was thinking of putting a sign on my gun cart:

"My favourite filler is 3F, but I am also partial to 2F!"

Right on!  Great minds think alike!

[Blackpowder Burn]

I know I have my ammo loaded properly when I have posse members tell me "I think you missed the target with your bullet, but the concussion knocked it down"!   

[litl rooster]

... and MORE Black Powder!

after ya tamp down the first scoop

[Jamie]

Having watched my father make hot cereal every morning I was up early enough to eat with him, I grew up thinking that that was what oatmeal, Ralston, Creme of Wheat, and Maypo were for.  Then I discovered grits on a family vacation to Alabama, and realized that in Oatmeal and Grits, I had the king and queen of morning "fillers."  I'm a firm believer in various sorts of fillers personally, mostly use them 3 times a day with occasional additional fillers added in the late afternoon and early evening.  Fueling up a really "big bore" (ask my kids) takes quite a few fillers.  Why anyone would use them in a gun is beyond me...
Jamie  (And yes, I truly do love to eat grits - and fruitcake.  Goes to prove it really does take all kinds)

[Steel Horse Bailey]

Having watched my father make hot cereal every morning I was up early enough to eat with him, I grew up thinking that that was what oatmeal, Ralston, Creme of Wheat, and Maypo were for.  Then I discovered grits on a family vacation to Alabama, and realized that in Oatmeal and Grits, I had the king and queen of morning "fillers."  I'm a firm believer in various sorts of fillers personally, mostly use them 3 times a day with occasional additional fillers added in the late afternoon and early evening.  Fueling up a really "big bore" (ask my kids) takes quite a few fillers.  Why anyone would use them in a gun is beyond me...
Jamie  (And yes, I truly do love to eat grits - and fruitcake.  Goes to prove it really does take all kinds)

[Wills Point Pete]

 I figure that if I have 28 grains (or more) of black and a 230 (or heavier) bullet, I'm shooting a full load. After all, 28/230 was the load for the Cavalry through most of the round's life in the US Army. It was later recalled and used against the Moros. And then Saint John of Browning copied it in smokeless powder and a jacketed bullet to make the .45 acp which is still putting down bad guys in the hands of our special ops guys.

Sometimes I shoot forty grains, sometimes twenty-eight, sometime in between. I have done some measurements and there is no difference in my male equipment with any charge. Nor can I see a heckuva lot of difference in the smoke and fire. I can feel a slight difference in recoil, which I kind of like now that I'm in my 60s.

Still, to each his (or her) own. I would like it, though, if y'all would stop denigrating the men of the US Cavalry and the thousands of cowboys, outlaws and lawmen who used that 28/230 load for several of the decades of the wirld west.

[Fairshake]

If you was to use grits as a filler here in Louisiana you would be exiled from the state. That would be a misuse of a breakfast side dish. You cut up your eggs and mix the yolk into the grits right before you add the Tabasco. I was in Rapid City, SD in 1990 for the Sturgis rally and went into a local eatery for breakfast. I told the waitress that I wanted 3 eggs over easy with grits and ham. She looked at me in a strange way and said "WHAT IS A GRIT" I durn near fell out my chair. I said you are kidding aren't you? The answer was Sir I am sorry but I have no idea what you are talking about. I realized that she was telling me the truth as she asked the others working if they knew what a grit was. I then told her to look at that stuff growing in the fields on tall stalks that you shucked before eating and she screamed out "OH YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT CORN" I said yes. I told her that we grind it up in the SOUTH and eat it for breakfast. I ended up with a order of potatoes and they had to go into the cooks locker to find me some Tabasco. If my case needs more filling I just put more 2F which is the official "WARTHOG FILLER". I will how ever put a +1 on the post by Wills Point Pete as he is correct in that the Cavalry and many others in the OLD WEST fired the Schofield load in the Colt 73

[Noz]

Like a lot of people, I'm still not convinced that grits is food.
BUT
I always looked forward to the mornings when I had seen my Grandpa cook a pan of cornmeal mush the night before and put it in the root cellar overnight. He'd slice it and fry it and put butter and black strap molasses on it for me and him for breakfast.

Good stuff!