Maximum loads for 1858 Remington

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Well, folks compressing 50+gr in a Remington chamber? How about 80+ in a Walker? Not that I really care . . . I was just comparing the "suggestions" I get sometimes when I offer info about 45acp+'s from my '60 Army's - "I'd just get a _ _ _ _ _ if I wanted to do that . . .

Nothing ill against you.
Mike
When I read of extreme powder charges like this I figure it’s due to powder measures that throw much lighter than they state. The cheapy measure I got in my revolver kit from Cabelas is like this. My rifle measures throw close to what they weigh (30 grns of 3F Olde Eynsford weighs about 32.5 grns, and possibly pretty dang spot on were I measuring 2F).

Now Triple 7 and Pyrodex seem to be more compressible. I can get 45 grns of T7 in my Ruger with a ball but Olde E will leave my projectile poking out.

I’ve been curious what an absolute full chamber holds in my NMA. I’ve seen it stated it’s just under or up to 40 grns and then we read of people squishing huge powder charges in theirs. Of course powders don’t all weigh the same. Olde E and Swiss are much more dense than standard Goex, Schuetzen, and the others.
 
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Well, folks compressing 50+gr in a Remington chamber? How about 80+ in a Walker? Not that I really care . . . I was just comparing the "suggestions" I get sometimes when I offer info about 45acp+'s from my '60 Army's - "I'd just get a _ _ _ _ _ if I wanted to do that . . .

Nothing ill against you.
Mike
It’s been a while but I’ve seen some of the conversations concerning the “need” to use cowboy action only in conversion cylinders, and how it’s not so. It doesn’t even pass the sniff test really. Why would my percussion cylinder be capable of handling so much more and not be constrained equally so?
 
I sent some very heavy but short bullets I designed with very long driving bands for my Ruger as a Ruger-only type projectile (it weighs 285 grns and is barely longer than Lee’s 255 grn bullet). A guy loaded his Walker up with a max charge of 52 grns of Pyrodex P and it blew his chamber wall completely gone. Thankfully he wasn’t injured and was able to find another cylinder.

https://accuratemolds.com/bullet_detail.php?bullet=45-285C
How did those 285 grain bullets do in your ruger? Were these for a ruger old Army?
 
How did those 285 grain bullets do in your ruger? Were these for a ruger old Army?
I had to open up the loading window/port to accept the huge meplat sticking out.

Working from Mike Beliveau’s work in which he shot several projectiles with various powders from two Ruger’s, namely the custom Lee 255 grn bullet, I had assumed I’d be working with less powder capacity, figuring I’d probably max out around 30 grns of 3F so I gave the bullet long driving bands to increase the pressures to help with the velocity. I figured it’d come in around 800 fps, not too bad. But as it turns out I can get 35 grns with a little room to spare, and according to the P-Max calculator I’m probably closer to 875 fps. I still have a lot of shooting to do, but I do like it, it has quite a bit of thump. I created it as I thought we’d be moving to Virginia and so there’d be moderately sized black bears. I’m sure it’s more than up to the task. In hindsight I’d have made it a hair shorter as it seems my Ruger is more accurate with a 35-37.5 grn charge of 3F Olde Eynsford and Triple 7. I’ve been working on a design that utilizes both guns more accurate charge and filling most of the excess chamber space with lead.

And yes, these are Ruger only bullets because of the mass and long driving bands.
 
I gotta say, it's funny to see folks trying to blow up their bp cylinders with heavy bullets and not one post about "if I wanted to do that I'd just buy me a Ruger BH and be done with it !" 😆

Mike
A what makes a Ruger so vastly superior. B I forgot I have 800$ lying around. C I have been physically unable to blow one up. Have a nice day.
 
I sent some very heavy but short bullets I designed with very long driving bands for my Ruger as a Ruger-only type projectile (it weighs 285 grns and is barely longer than Lee’s 255 grn bullet). A guy loaded his Walker up with a max charge of 52 grns of Pyrodex P and it blew his chamber wall completely gone. Thankfully he wasn’t injured and was able to find another cylinder.

https://accuratemolds.com/bullet_detail.php?bullet=45-285C
After thinking for a while I'm going to say chainfire turned into pipe bomb.
 
I had to open up the loading window/port to accept the huge meplat sticking out.

Working from Mike Beliveau’s work in which he shot several projectiles with various powders from two Ruger’s, namely the custom Lee 255 grn bullet, I had assumed I’d be working with less powder capacity, figuring I’d probably max out around 30 grns of 3F so I gave the bullet long driving bands to increase the pressures to help with the velocity. I figured it’d come in around 800 fps, not too bad. But as it turns out I can get 35 grns with a little room to spare, and according to the P-Max calculator I’m probably closer to 875 fps. I still have a lot of shooting to do, but I do like it, it has quite a bit of thump. I created it as I thought we’d be moving to Virginia and so there’d be moderately sized black bears. I’m sure it’s more than up to the task. In hindsight I’d have made it a hair shorter as it seems my Ruger is more accurate with a 35-37.5 grn charge of 3F Olde Eynsford and Triple 7. I’ve been working on a design that utilizes both guns more accurate charge and filling most of the excess chamber space with lead.

And yes, these are Ruger only bullets because of the mass and long driving bands.
Im looking for a round flat nosed bullet for my ruger old army. As heavy as your are i was wondering about bullet being stable. My ruger loves anything I've put through it. Round ball, Johnson and dowes and the one lee makes. Wish i had found kiados mold. Im a fan of round flat nose because the hit hard.

Thank you for your time sir
 
A what makes a Ruger so vastly superior. B I forgot I have 800$ lying around. C I have been physically unable to blow one up.

A - Ruger pioneered the investment casting process for firearms and did a very good job with it. In fact, the company that does that for Ruger today also makes frames for Freedom Arms and Magnum Research (BFR's). Ruger's have a larger diameter cylinder than the Colt and the heat treating of them in combination of the thicker/ wider top strap of the frame allows one to normally shoot ammo that will destroy Colt SAA's and most Italian copies of.
The ROA's are of the same build (thicker/wider top strap and larger diameter cylinder). That's why.

B - Your income isn't anybody else's problem.

C - Lucky you!!! 😆

Mike
 
Im looking for a round flat nosed bullet for my ruger old army. As heavy as your are i was wondering about bullet being stable. My ruger loves anything I've put through it. Round ball, Johnson and dowes and the one lee makes. Wish i had found kiados mold. Im a fan of round flat nose because the hit hard.

Thank you for your time sir
Check out Accurate Molds, they have a ton of designs and you can work on your own.
 
I have been shooting the 200g lee conical with 25g T7 and the Lyman BP bullet lube. The lube is some kind of wax. Load seems accurate and plenty of punch but still very manageable. I shot about 60 rnds today with good hits out to 50yrds off hand. it was a bit arduous to clean. I don't know if it was wax build up or leading? but the last inch to my muzzle was a real chore to clean.
 
I have been shooting the 200g lee conical with 25g T7 and the Lyman BP bullet lube. The lube is some kind of wax. Load seems accurate and plenty of punch but still very manageable. I shot about 60 rnds today with good hits out to 50yrds off hand. it was a bit arduous to clean. I don't know if it was wax build up or leading? but the last inch to my muzzle was a real chore to clean.
I like the lube a bit lighter than the factory stuff, and I also add Stihl HP Synthetic lube to the blend (it stops leading, period.) I have one Ruger that was showing streaks of lead from the un lubed Kerr bullets until I added vegetable fiber wads over the charge. I use a .463” x .030” Walter’s wad and I think it’s necessary for anyone shooting Triple 7. That stuff burns hot and if your bullets are under groove size as they enter the forcing cone it can cause no end of grief.
 
starting to really like this load . Lyman 200g conical and 25g T7 getting good hits on 25yrd 5" steel and 40yrd 6" steel. seems to be more reliable than RB when left loaded? havent had a missfire or slow fire since I switched to conicals? perhaps this is because of the wax lube vs bore butter that I used on my round balls?
 
Magnumitus sucks even in modern guns
You can't over kill a deer. But you can definitely under kill one. Yes 15 gn and a round ball will definitely kill a deer you just won't find it. 200 gn and 40gn of pyrodex will do far more damage. Not everyone only shoots targets. Some of us shoot deer hogs mule deer pigs and even bear. Don't say I have magnumitus when I have a practical reason for wanting a little more power. If you carry a 9mm why don't you just carry a 38 special.... because 9mm is morr practical for a specific purpose
 

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