Finally got one!

[ODgreen]

Just found out 25 grains works perfect. no gap that I can tell as the loading lever doesn't go all the way in.

[rickk]

I use the same powder measure that Driftwood recommended. I love it. It works awesome. When you get it, order a few different sized "snouts" to go with it to make load experimenting easier.

[Crow Choker]

Hey ODgreen, To clear up any thing I posted before, I wasn't indicating by your concern I was questioning your 'manliness' or any other conotations that you may have read into my post. If thought, many apologies from here in Iowa to wherever you are. It is good you are checking on safe loads, how to do, etc., rather than do as some have and jump into shooting a cap an' ball by not doing any research, asking questions, etc. Many have had 'nasty' and/or unpleasant results by not doing so. 'Safety First'! My comment reference 'mouse, poof-ting, etc' loads was in reference to many who shoot such loads hoping to reduce time and improve scores by the reduced recoil. """"They "ain't" shootin em like they were made to be loaded and shot"""""!!!!!!(again, nothing personal). I'm not advocating full, max loads, ie. 'as much as ya can stuff in the chamber', but there is a happy medium. With you having a brass framed revolver, a reduced load from the common 28-30 grains most shoot in a 44 would be a good idea. If your using Pyrodex, never used it, so can't say what grain load would be good, but check it out as you have been. I've never had one, but saw a shootin pards '51 Navy go south and have heard of many who have had problems with them by shooting sustained heavier loads. In order to get good compression with a reduced load, try some felt 44 caliber wads between ball and powder. They help to fill space, keep the bore a little cleaner, and eliminate greasing the ball after seating. They are sold in most places that carry black powder shooting supplies. Get a 50-100 rd bag and give em a try. If you like them and want to continue in shooting c&b, places like Midsouth Shooters Supply sell em by the 1000(alot cheaper). I use them all the time to eliminate greasing the ball after seating. Have fun and enjoy, in some respects, I enjoy my c&b revolvers over my cartridge ones. Yers, Crow Choker

[ODgreen]

Hey ODgreen, To clear up any thing I posted before, I wasn't indicating by your concern I was questioning your 'manliness' or any other conotations that you may have read into my post. If thought, many apologies from here in Iowa to wherever you are. It is good you are checking on safe loads, how to do, etc., rather than do as some have and jump into shooting a cap an' ball by not doing any research, asking questions, etc. Many have had 'nasty' and/or unpleasant results by not doing so. 'Safety First'! My comment reference 'mouse, poof-ting, etc' loads was in reference to many who shoot such loads hoping to reduce time and improve scores by the reduced recoil. """"They "ain't" shootin em like they were made to be loaded and shot"""""!!!!!!(again, nothing personal). I'm not advocating full, max loads, ie. 'as much as ya can stuff in the chamber', but there is a happy medium. With you having a brass framed revolver, a reduced load from the common 28-30 grains most shoot in a 44 would be a good idea. If your using Pyrodex, never used it, so can't say what grain load would be good, but check it out as you have been. I've never had one, but saw a shootin pards '51 Navy go south and have heard of many who have had problems with them by shooting sustained heavier loads. In order to get good compression with a reduced load, try some felt 44 caliber wads between ball and powder. They help to fill space, keep the bore a little cleaner, and eliminate greasing the ball after seating. They are sold in most places that carry black powder shooting supplies. Get a 50-100 rd bag and give em a try. If you like them and want to continue in shooting c&b, places like Midsouth Shooters Supply sell em by the 1000(alot cheaper). I use them all the time to eliminate greasing the ball after seating. Have fun and enjoy, in some respects, I enjoy my c&b revolvers over my cartridge ones. Yers, Crow Choker

No blood, no foul. Where you from in Iowa? I too happen to inhabit that currently snow filled land. I just did a test with 25 grains and it seemed to seat well and fire well. Loud as hell though. Should of put the ear plugs in. Right now I'm trying to find a way to make paper cartridges, mostly because I'm impatient and my hands seem to shake when dealing with an explosive(one of the many reasons I stayed away from EOD in the Army). Wish it was warmer so I could play some more, but later this week might be good.

[Crow Choker]

North Central--I'll send ya a PM(persoanl message on the CAS forum web). Yep, It's snowfilled. Marvel at all the main news orgs that have been spending half or better of their allotted 1/2 hr evening news talking about the blizzard and snow on the east coast. When we have one here in Iowa and/or the midwest, they spend a few minutes on it. BUT when they have one, well it's like nothing anybody ever had. Wanna say "hey guys, we deal with stuff like that most winters, come to Iowa for five years or so. Was snowed in for 2 1/2 days earlier this month, didn't have CBS or whatever bigwig reporters here in Iowa 'Wowing' about that. Quess we have more 'bark on our hide' than some-no offense to you east coast shooters!!

[ODgreen]

North Central--I'll send ya a PM(persoanl message on the CAS forum web). Yep, It's snowfilled. Marvel at all the main news orgs that have been spending half or better of their allotted 1/2 hr evening news talking about the blizzard and snow on the east coast. When we have one here in Iowa and/or the midwest, they spend a few minutes on it. BUT when they have one, well it's like nothing anybody ever had. Wanna say "hey guys, we deal with stuff like that most winters, come to Iowa for five years or so. Was snowed in for 2 1/2 days earlier this month, didn't have CBS or whatever bigwig reporters here in Iowa 'Wowing' about that. Quess we have more 'bark on our hide' than some-no offense to you east coast shooters!!

No kidding. When I was in Basic, it was february and pretty chilly. But if I complained, the DS said" You're from Iowa, you should be used to the cold" I replied( to my great misfortune) "In Iowa, we're smart enough to put on our coats"

[Mako]

OD,
25 grains is a good load, a lot of .44 shooters use that.  Glad it's working out for you.

Happy shooting,
Mako

[ODgreen]

Now if I only had time to go load all the chambers and fire it.

[ODgreen]

Just had my first " oh@%!^%@^!~~!" moment. Went to fire the next to last shot and the hammer jammed. Great. Must have been debris from one of the other caps. Managed to work it out. Was real worried there for a moment. Also learned that if you're gonna seal the chambers with crisco, to make sure you wipe it all off your hands. Kinda makes it hard to hang on to a bucking revolver.

[Driftwood Johnson]

Howdy Again

Forget the Crisco. Way back when I started shooting C&B in 1968, slathering Crisco all over the seated balls was standard operating procedure. It was supposed to help prevent chain fires and supposed to keep the fouling in the bore soft.

In fact, the heat from the shot and gasses blasting out of the barrel/cylinder gap melts the Crisco in the next chamber, so you are left with a thin, runny layer that isn't much good at anything. But that's what all the magazine articles said back then, so that's what I used to do. And as you say, you have greasy hands which don't help much.

I stopped shooting pistols for around twenty years, and in the intervening time Ox Yoke brought out their Wonder Wads. When I bought a pound of powder to start shooting C&B again, the store owner told me about Wonder Wads. He said to forget the Crisco, just put a Wonder Wad between the powder and the ball. So that's what I do now.

Wonder Wads are not on the market any longer, but there are several other brands. Placed against the powder and then the ball seated on top, the wad scrubs the bore enough as it comes down the barrel that Crisco in the bore is not necessary. And I know everybody is going to jump on me and tell me that chain fires do not happen at the ball, but trust me, if you have a big enough dent in a ball so that there is a void between the ball and the chamber wall when the ball is seated, you have a nice path for an errant spark to follow down to the powder. In that situation, about 1/8" of wool or felt makes a much better spark arrestor than a thin, runny layer of Crisco.

Forget the Crisco, get some wads.

[Montana Slim]

Minority opinion here again...one can easily load 10-15 grains of powder in any .44 revolver. Simply top off the black powder in the cylinder with the volume of cornmeal or cream of wheat to bring the height up to allow the ball to be rammed tight. The tartget shooters been doing this for many years...Good way to start younguns, too.  Myself, I generally use 25 grains in my 1860's and NM Remington.

Criso works great for keeping fouling soft also....to prevent the big mess others experience, just throttle-back on the amount of criso applied. A small lump on top of the ball, spread around the periphery, is all that is needed. In fact, straight criso will not run out & smear your holster even in hot weather (as I've read in books) when applied correctly. Hint.....If you have grease blowing down the sides of your revolver after shooting...your using too much

Regards,
Slim
(Former IA country boy)

[Mako]

Minority opinion here again...one can easily load 10-15 grains of powder in any .44 revolver.  The tartget shooters been doing this for many years...Good way to start younguns, too.  Myself, I generally use 25 grains in my 1860's and NM Remington...

Montana,
I think you misunderstood what he was being told.  Your post directly addresses the issue,

Simply top off the black powder in the cylinder with the volume of cornmeal or cream of wheat to bring the height up to allow the ball to be rammed tight.

It wasn't the charge that was being questioned, it was whether or not he could ram it tight.  Your statement actually shows you are with the majority as far as seating the ball goes.

Regards,
Mako

[ODgreen]

Montana,
Yeah I figured I had too much crisco, but atm I have no real other options. And I married an Iowa Country Girl, once and Iowan, always an Iowan. I was born in Texas, but I'll always call Iowa home.

So if i get this right, I could go to Walmart and get some felt, cut it to size and use it?

[Noz]

You are better off to go to Durofelt.com for your felt the Walmart stuff is dacron and will melt and make a mess.

Driftwood and I have a history of mild disagreements but I am with him totally on this one. Bad alloy and bad casting can create voids in the balls that will allow the spark to ignite the next round in the cylinder. Not a good thing.
It took four chain fires(one additional chamber each time) before I figured out what was happening.
Those that draw themselves up to their full heigth, lay their hands over their heart and state unequivocally that all chain fires come from loose caps are full of bull hockey.

I've corrected my casting and my alloy choice and still use a homemade felt wad under the ball.

[Crow Choker]

Top of the Morning to ya ODgreen!!! Are ya gettin ready for the rain turning to freezin rain turning to snow comin Thurs-Friday. Rather see it just stay 20-25* and just get some snow-that rain on top of all this snow, then more snow makes a nasty mess. Anyway to the business at hand.--------Don't believe Walmart carries heavy enough felt for making wads. Ya need around fairly stiff felt approx 1/8" thick for wads and then a steel punch (have read a 7/16" works for 44) for 'punchin' them out. Ya follow all this up by soaking them in one of the many concoctions of beeswax/pariffin/olive oil, etc for lube purposes. Old felt hats of the right thickness will work-check out 'junk' stores, rummage sales(have picked some up at such places when my wife 'drags' me to them!). Punchin out my own wads is on my 'gonna do' list, have felt and punches, just on back burner. Check out the post on page 2 of the 'Dark Side'. It is the 6th one down from top started by ZVP on Nov 4th labled "Crisco vs Felt Wads". Might answer some of your questions about wads. 'Noz' posted a place where you can get heavy felt-durofelt.com. I checked this am and they are closed untill 02-11-11. Re your 25.0 grain load, as other advised is a good load and should work good for ya. The use of cream of wheat, corn meal etc. as Mont. Slim advised for reduced charges works, but it's an extra step, more to deal with. Tried it before, didn't care for the extra hassle. But what ever works for ya, go for it.

[Montana Slim]

Yeah, from the "rammed-tight" perspective...totaly agree. Its a must for consistent performance. A "loose" load will give a misfire at worst & hangfire at best ...but, it will tell ya how good your follow-through is.

For those that prefer felt wads....you can buy .410 shotgun felt cushion wads from several places & lube them yourself. The material is high quality & the price is right when you buy in bulk. If you buy the 1/4" wads, they easily split in half.  Check the cost from any of the shotgun reloading houses. I recommend a very stiff lube for felt wads. The combination of a "tight" load can cause problems with lubed felt wads given the right combination of conditions.

Regards,
Slim

[Crow Choker]

HiYa Montana Slim-I'm courious as a cat as to what problems you refer to in your last post. I have some idea's, but would like to hear from you. Also, what area of Ol' Iowa did you 'hail' from, courious again. I'm from up in the north central area, if I could throw a rock 30 miles, it would land in Minnesota. Yers, CC

The combination of a "tight" load can cause problems with lubed felt wads given the right combination of conditions.

Regards,
Slim

[ODgreen]

Top of the Morning to ya ODgreen!!! Are ya gettin ready for the rain turning to freezin rain turning to snow comin Thurs-Friday. Rather see it just stay 20-25* and just get some snow-that rain on top of all this snow, then more snow makes a nasty mess. Anyway to the business at hand.--------Don't believe Walmart carries heavy enough felt for making wads. Ya need around fairly stiff felt approx 1/8" thick for wads and then a steel punch (have read a 7/16" works for 44) for 'punchin' them out. Ya follow all this up by soaking them in one of the many concoctions of beeswax/pariffin/olive oil, etc for lube purposes. Old felt hats of the right thickness will work-check out 'junk' stores, rummage sales(have picked some up at such places when my wife 'drags' me to them!). Punchin out my own wads is on my 'gonna do' list, have felt and punches, just on back burner. Check out the post on page 2 of the 'Dark Side'. It is the 6th one down from top started by ZVP on Nov 4th labled "Crisco vs Felt Wads". Might answer some of your questions about wads. 'Noz' posted a place where you can get heavy felt-durofelt.com. I checked this am and they are closed untill 02-11-11. Re your 25.0 grain load, as other advised is a good load and should work good for ya. The use of cream of wheat, corn meal etc. as Mont. Slim advised for reduced charges works, but it's an extra step, more to deal with. Tried it before, didn't care for the extra hassle. But what ever works for ya, go for it.

REady as I'll ever be. You gonna be out in it?

[Dick Dastardly]

Howdy ODgreen,

When yer ready to shoot that front stuffer without all the bother of wads, lube cookies and over ball smears, take a good long look at the EPP-UG bullets.  They emulate RB performance but eliminate the lube bother.  Simply lube/size them just like you would do with any cartridge bp bullet and take them to the match in snap cap vials.  Simply dump in powder and seat the lube/sized bullet and yer good to go.

When you want a little more whump, take a look at the DD/PUK/ROA-II bullet design with it's dual rebate base.

Keep on shootn'.

DD-DLoS

[Springfield Slim]

Personally, I believe that the felt wads may eliminate chainfires but they don't do diddly for keeping the fouling soft nor lubeing the front of the cylinder and arbor. I just make up a bunch a small balls of my BP lube and smear them on top of the balls. Soft enough to melt when fired into the bore but hard enough to keep from melting all over the gun and your hands. Also eliminates the lube contamination issue.  Works for me. May not work with all BP lubes, though.