conversion cylinder

[GunClick Rick]

For Rogers and Spencer.Anybody got one for sale?Do i have to use black powder only?

[Dick Dastardly]

Walt Kirst doesn't list one for the Rogers and Spencer.  I  can tell you this about conversion cylinders.  They are made for black powder guns.  Conversion cylinder manufacturers will all tell you to use black powder.  Please know that, being made of modern materials, the conversion cylinders will not be the weak link in your gun.

So, can you shoot smokeless powder in your Rogers and Spencer??  I won't be the one to say so.

DD-DLoS

[Driftwood Johnson]

I  can tell you this about conversion cylinders.  They are made for black powder guns.  Conversion cylinder manufacturers will all tell you to use black powder.

Dick, that is not correct. R&D specifically states that their cylinders can be used with Smokeless Cowboy ammo. At least that is what the information that came with my cylinders for my 1858 Remmies said. I only use them with BP, but as long as pressures are kept low, the R&D Remmie cylinders can be used with Smokeless.

[Dick Dastardly]

Howdy Driftwood,

You speak the truth.  But, I won't absolve somebody from their responsibility as pertains to making cartridges and their appropriate use.  Also, the cylinder may withstand smokeless pressures, but the gun may not.  Not all are created equal.

I shoot a brace of Ruger Old Armies with Kirst Konverter cylinders.  Yes, they have been tested to very tall pressures in the 45,000 psi range and were fine with that.  But, Ruger states "Black Powder only" on the Old Army.  I wonder how many lawyers are out there that would just love to litigate a case involving advice that went opposite the manufacturers instructions??

FWIW, I've shot smokeless ammo in my ROAs with Kirst Konverter cylinders.  But, I did it on my own.  I refuse to give a statement to someone that I can't vouch for as pertains to safe practices in reloading and shooting.  Yup, I'm careful.

DD-DLoS

[Driftwood Johnson]

Dick

The pressure vessel on any revolver is the cylinder. Not the barrel and not the frame. The wall thickness of the barrel is much thicker than the chamber wall thickness on just about any revolver. If anything is going to burst, it will be the cylinder, not the barrel. Frames do not see any pressure at all. The frame is just a holder for the cylinder. Frames can be subject to damage from the pounding of heavy recoil, but that is not the same as pressure from a powder charge.

The warnings stamped on the sides of percussion revolvers refer to only using Black Powder in the original percussion cylinders. I don't know about Kirst, but I strongly suspect the 4150 steel used in R&D cylinders is stronger than the steel used in the frames and barrels of most Italian made C&B guns. Ruger is a different story, I suspect they use steel in their frames and barrels that is just as good as their cylinders.

[Dick Dastardly]

I bow to you Driftwood, for I error on the side of caution.  Let 'er flicker.

DD-DLoS