Ran some BP Schofields through my '73

[Abilene]

I've had this .45 Colt '73 trapper carbine for ten years.  It does hold ten standard .45's, but it is very tight and the last round loaded must be straightened on the carrier or it will jam.  No biggie, ran it a lot that way.  But I decided to try .45 S&W in it.  Had about 250 cases, just had to buy the dies.  Loaded up ten smokeless, shot a match, no problem.  Definitely easier to load the rifle.  That's the only reason I switched to the Schofield round, not trying to shoot lighter loads.  In fact, the load I"m shooting uses a 250gr bullet and will meet Wild Bunch power factor. 

In the past, this '73 was mostly used for smokeless.  I loaded BP in it only on occasion, like when we had a night shoot and I wanted to get the most flame out the muzzle as possible, so went with this 16" carbine for that match.  The second match with the Schofields was this past weekend, and I loaded up a full case of Goex fffg under that 250gr pill.  These bullets are Desperado with their "BP compatible" blue lube.  I have not had good luck with that lube on their 32-20 bullets so I relube those with my lube.  So I planned on running a wet patch down the bore after every stage, which worked but was a slight hassle.  But also had to spray the carrier every stage as it was getting very sticky from the fouling.  I've had to do this with my .44 Spcl yellowboy shooting BP, but only like once per match, not every single stage!

Had no misses, but I think I won't do it again.  I'll stick with smokeless schofield rounds for this carbine.  I'm sure there's things that could be done, like annealing the brass.  Not going there.  I'll shoot BP through my other 4 rifles in different calibers.

[Coffinmaker]

Hey Abilene,

I feel your pain bub.  I'd be willing to bet, were we to cast your chamber, we'd find Uberti cut it to the max SAMMI spec or even a smidgen bigger.  That is a real nuisance.  Afore you give up though, try some 3F APP and se what kind of results you get.  Well, on second thought,
Skip it.  If your already shooting big ol heavy bullets and still loading up on blow-by, it ain't worth it.  Authenticity only goes so far.

Coffinmaker 

[pony express]

With the shorter Schofield cases, there's not as much room to neck size only and make "bottle neck" .45 Colt cases for the Uberti chamber. That's how I load for my '66, but then I need the Schofield cases for my pistols, since those "fat .45s" won't fit either of my .45 pistols.