Maximum loads for 1858 Remington

springfield art · Nov 4, 2024

They say any black powder load that will fit in the cylinder is OK, from what I've read. Real BP, that is! Percussion revolvers are cool enough without having to compress anything, I'd say! But whatever floats your boat!

rodwha · Nov 4, 2024

muzzleloadingat18 said:
You can't know exactly what happened unless you have slow motion video or something. Just too many possibilities

I saw his pictures and listened to what he had to say, and that bullet was specifically designed to increase the pressures tremendously over a commonly used one…

rodwha · Nov 4, 2024

Wrong post

Sun City · Nov 4, 2024

38 grains FFF with RB is enough for me in my 1858!

AlexB · Nov 4, 2024

35 to 40 under roundballs is what I like as well.
Usually 30 to 35 under conicals seems to be where I like it.

rodwha · Nov 5, 2024

Both of my pistols seem to have a more accurate powder charge that doesn’t change with projectile. For my NMA it’s 32.5 grns of 3F Olde Eynsford and for my ROA it’s 37.5 grns. Point of impact changes but group sizes stay about the same.

Frod733 · Nov 5, 2024

Given that I am not a hunter, and more of a target shooter; I never understood the idea of maximizing powder charges. My personal thought would be to get the best bullet/load combo that gives the most precise accuracy. Again, I am a target shooter. I noticed Mr. Cap and Ball in his videos uses rather light charges to get precise accuracy.

45D · Nov 5, 2024

Frod733 said:
Given that I am not a hunter, and more of a target shooter; I never understood the idea of maximizing powder charges. My personal thought would be to get the best bullet/load combo that gives the most precise accuracy. Again, I am a target shooter. I noticed Mr. Cap and Ball in his videos uses rather light charges to get precise accuracy.

Well, you can "lob" a projectile or you can try to make the flight flat and fast. My revolvers seem to like the latter and are most accurate with that setup. You'd almost think the hole gets there before the bullet!!

Mike

Sun City · Nov 8, 2024

I don't think I can improve much on this by reducing my load of 38FFF with .44 RB! From 41 yards.

IMG_4884 by Sharps Man, on Flickr

rodwha · Nov 8, 2024

Frod733 said:
Given that I am not a hunter, and more of a target shooter; I never understood the idea of maximizing powder charges. My personal thought would be to get the best bullet/load combo that gives the most precise accuracy. Again, I am a target shooter. I noticed Mr. Cap and Ball in his videos uses rather light charges to get precise accuracy.

I was given a honey bottle filled with cereal grains like Malt-O-Meal or something long ago by my father. It came with the Ruger his passed friend had. It always baffled me that people would shoot cereal out of their guns to make them work properly and seat the ball close to the mouth to improve accuracy. It clearly works or so many people wouldn’t be doing it, but it’s rather odd to me. Loading is tedious enough without needing to measure something else.

rodwha · Nov 8, 2024

Frod733 said:
Given that I am not a hunter, and more of a target shooter; I never understood the idea of maximizing powder charges. My personal thought would be to get the best bullet/load combo that gives the most precise accuracy. Again, I am a target shooter. I noticed Mr. Cap and Ball in his videos uses rather light charges to get precise accuracy.

How would a ball with 15-20 grns and a bunch of cereal, possibly the most accurate load/charge possible for the sake of argument, be ideal when it lacks most of anything required to work well? It’s precisely why I started at 25 grns of sporting grade powder and found their more accurate reasonable hunting loads, and will fill in the majority of the excess chamber space with lead. Thereby it’s as accurate as it can be and still be humane and useful. I’m not after all the horse power I can get. I’m not looking for a “magnum” or some such. Good accuracy with good performance, a nice balance.

I did, however, create a very heavy bullet for my Ruger that does not utilize its more accurate powder charge, but then it’s meant for up close and personal, and I wanted something I knew had penetration for days. It doesn’t need to be the most accurate. If I’m using it then it’s likely right here. I designed it for bears as a secondary weapon after I shot it with my muzzleloader. It’s a real stomper.

muzzleloadingat18 · Saturday at 11:17 AM

rodwha said:
I saw his pictures and listened to what he had to say, and that bullet was specifically designed to increase the pressures tremendously over a commonly used one…

Yes but was the cylinder x rayed to make sure it didn't have any flaws from the factory. Did it have micro cracks from work hardening. Was it quenched or hardened steel that could have formed cracks. Was the powder 100% on the up and up not a bad batch or something. Was there a squib. Was the barrel undersized causing pressure spikes. Was the cylinder over sized causing pressure spikes. Too many variables for a non scientific and controlled scenario.

Smokerr · Saturday at 8:03 PM

My 41 magnum likes hot loads. The BPs I have prefer something 650 to 850 FPS. Add in ball size or even conicals.

Each gun is different. Most prefer a given load but some are very agnostic (I have a 6.5 CM Custom barrel that shoots almost any load and bullet under and inch, that is a first for me).

Dynamics could favor what 45D reports, faster being better. Less gun dwell time. My unmentionalb cylinder is more accurate than the BP cylinder.

I got a 1903 to shoot for my brother by going really slow and the heaviest bullet they made, the throat was gone for 6 inches on that one. It was ugly group but it was a group, not sideways.

Stuff you just have top play with

nkbj · Sunday at 10:01 PM

When loading a 1858 replica with plain base bullets it's a trade off of giving up powder space for lead (and lube) space. If the goal is a hunting load then the desired bullet weight can be configured to minimize how much powder space is surrendered. Otherwise the amount of powder used doesn't matter other than it is determined to be the most accurate.

rodwha · Monday at 10:27 AM

muzzleloadingat18 said:
Yes but was the cylinder x rayed to make sure it didn't have any flaws from the factory. Did it have micro cracks from work hardening. Was it quenched or hardened steel that could have formed cracks. Was the powder 100% on the up and up not a bad batch or something. Was there a squib. Was the barrel undersized causing pressure spikes. Was the cylinder over sized causing pressure spikes. Too many variables for a non scientific and controlled scenario.

Seriously???

There’s one huge variable you keep dismissing. I created the bullet to create a lot of pressure, much more so than any designs intended for percussion revolvers, along with it weighing much more (285 grns) than any you’ll find, yet it’s just a hair longer than the Lee 255 grn bullet. You can keep guessing if you want…

rodwha · Monday at 10:59 AM

nkbj said:
When loading a 1858 replica with plain base bullets it's a trade off of giving up powder space for lead (and lube) space. If the goal is a hunting load then the desired bullet weight can be configured to minimize how much powder space is surrendered. Otherwise the amount of powder used doesn't matter other than it is determined to be the most accurate.

When I got my Pietta NMA I was told they all had a slow twist for a ball so one of my first bullet designs was to create a bullet the length of a ball so as not to give up any. It weighs 195 grns and is just 0.460” long. As it turns out mine has a 1:16” twist…

nick_1 · Monday at 11:30 AM

they do not have slow twists.

nkbj · Monday at 2:36 PM

rodwha said:
When I got my Pietta NMA I was told they all had a slow twist for a ball so one of my first bullet designs was to create a bullet the length of a ball so as not to give up any. It weighs 195 grns and is just 0.460” long. As it turns out mine has a 1:16” twist…

What year production is yours?

nick_1 · Monday at 5:35 PM

I did an interesting test today. I took a Stiener tractor parts catalogue and shot it @ 25yrds with 200g Lee conical and 25g T7 3f. I fully expected to not penetrate all the way through but it did. I then stacked a 2nd catalogue in front of the first and shot that @ 25yrds with the same load it buzzed right through that as well. I was a bit bummed that I didn't get to collect any of my spent rnds but happy with the penetration. Anyone who knows Steiner antique tractor parts know this is a significant feat.

rodwha · Monday at 5:47 PM

nick_1 said:
they do not have slow twists.

The older ones do, and if you look at their current data it claims that they still do outside of the Shooter’s Models. 1:30” I believe.

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