Any filler will do the same thing as "grits". Corn meal, corn flour ( corn muffin flour-very finely ground), farina, cream of wheat, and even plain Oats work.
Whenever someone says their guns shoots better loading more powder than was loaded in the old .50-70 cartridge- Buffalo Bill's favorite Buffalo killing rifle cartridge-- I begin to wonder if the real problem is that the the load combination is not sealing their barrel adequately. The recoil from using those 100 gr.+ loads is substantial, and that is not conducive to consistently good accurate shooting, no matter who the shooter is.
We continually have posters here writing about using heavy loads with heavy bullets- often exceeding the powder charges in these fine old black powder cartridges, in Percussion rifles that were never designed, nor intended to take those kinds of pressures. The Steel barrels will take the beatings, but I have to wonder about the nipples, and more specifically, the THREADS on those nipples.
I know that modern gun makers over engineer many of these parts anticipating that if they publish a maximum load of 110 grains of BLACK POWDER , using FFg Goex, that someone is going to load FFFg Goex, and others will load Swiss, a hotter burning powder, and still others will ignore all advice, and stuff substitute powders down those barrels that burn at much hotter temperatures, and produce even higher chamber pressures.
Throw in a 400 grain bullet, much less something heavier, or add the plastic shoes and copper jacketed bullets, and you have a formula that can't be good for these rifles. Something has to come undone eventually. It won't be the barrel, usually. I have seen published reports showing chamber pressures in the 30-35,000 cup( copper units of pressure) range, in guns that were intended to function between 8,000-12,000 cup ranges of pressures.
I don't understand why anyone would want to try to make a .45 caliber percussion rifle into a .45-120 rifle, when their are replica BP CARTRIDGE rifles made again in that caliber that are designed to take those pressures. And, that brass cartridge casing alone can withstand lots of pressure, adding to the safety margin of the guns. None of this is present in the typical .45 caliber percussion MLer. The same observation must be made about .50 cal, and .54 cal. guns that people stuff 120 grains and 140 grains in, respectively, when comparable BP Cartridge guns in those calibers are available.
Years ago i met a man who told of shooting 150 grains of FFFg Goex( then Dupont) powder in his new .50 caliber T/C, using Maxiballs, and then complained about the bruises to his shoulder from firing 5 shots. I asked to shake his hand, and he asked me why? I told him it was an honor to shake a hand that was still attacked by an arm to his body!
I then asked him where he got those "loads", and he claimed the clerk in the K-mart store where he bought the gun gave him that load, and sold him the powder and bullets. I went on to explain that this gun was designed to be shot from his upper arm, not his shoulder, which explained the deep bruises, and then told him the maximum charges that T/C recommended for his gun. I then told him what I was shooting in my .50 caliber rifle, including discussing the merits of a PRB. I gave him a business card with my home phone on it, but I never heard from him.
I have stopped trying to warn, and caution new posters on this forum about the loads they are using. It would be a full-time job. Perhaps this is one of the Almighty's ways of cleaning out the gene pool. I don't want to interfere. They won't listen to me, anyway. :shocked2:
:youcrazy: :surrender: :thumbsup:
