1851 Navy
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About 15-20 grs will work in it. You can fill the cylinder as full as you can get it and still be able to seat the ball and still be safe. Is it a steel frame or brass? If steel the heavy loads won't hurt it. The brass ones have a tendency to work loose and bind up.
Then i would keep the loads down to around 15 grs or so. I see this was your first post, welcome to the camp. Is this your first BP gun, or your first BP revolver? Just wondering if you really have a brass Frame or just a brass grip frame and trigger guard? Take care, and have fun.
Since you are just starting out I'll add a bit. You often get better accuracy if the ball is seated just below the front of the cylinder, that way it travels less before entering the barrel. The problem is, you cannot have any air space between the ball and powder. If you want to shoot a lighter load ( 10 grains fffg)the anwser is some sort of filler. A wonder wad is pretty thick and will take up some space. In other words put in the powder charge, then the wad, then the ball. If the wad is greased with wonder lube, etc, you usually don't have to cover the end of the ball or chamber with grease.
If the ball is still seated deeply in the chamber then some cream of wheat or corn meal can be used to add space. Here you would put in the powder charge, the filler(cornmeal), a wad, and the ball.
You should also, at the start of the shooting day, fire a cap over each empty chamber to burn off any grease. We did a lot of conservation on this a while back and came to the conclusion that a chain fire may occur if caps are put on greased nipples, the recoil knocks then off. This was determined because all chain fires started at the beginning of the day, almost never after some shooting had been done, and a brief pass of a propane torch over an uncapped nipple exploded the charge.
If the ball is still seated deeply in the chamber then some cream of wheat or corn meal can be used to add space. Here you would put in the powder charge, the filler(cornmeal), a wad, and the ball.
You should also, at the start of the shooting day, fire a cap over each empty chamber to burn off any grease. We did a lot of conservation on this a while back and came to the conclusion that a chain fire may occur if caps are put on greased nipples, the recoil knocks then off. This was determined because all chain fires started at the beginning of the day, almost never after some shooting had been done, and a brief pass of a propane torch over an uncapped nipple exploded the charge.
capnwilliam
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Let us know how the pistol works out, Beau: I want to get one! :winking:
Capt. William
Capt. William
paulvallandigham
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What you don't want is back and forth movement of the cylinder on the pin. If you use loads of more than 15 grains, you will eventually pound a groove in the recoil shield behind the cylinder, and that will eventually allow your primers to be struck in recoil when one chamber is fired, by the edge or the brass frame on the right side of the action where the loading " notch " is cut out. A " Chain Fire " occurs then, with a second chamber firing along side the right side of the frame and just inches above your trigger finger!
Be very nice to brass frame revolvers and don't overload them. 12-15 grains is more than enough. If you want power, buy a steel frame .44!
Be very nice to brass frame revolvers and don't overload them. 12-15 grains is more than enough. If you want power, buy a steel frame .44!
John Taylor
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I suggested 10 grains once and got some flack. It will shoot fine in a 44 brass frame . I have repaired a few by soldering a steel shim washer to the frame after machining to get rid of the notches left from heavy loads. Another problem is stripping the threads for the cylinder pin. This is a little tougher to repair as there isn't much metal around it.
If you have a feeler gauge use it to check cylender gap to barrel, should be around .006"
If you have a feeler gauge use it to check cylender gap to barrel, should be around .006"
paulvallandigham
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YOu want a barrel Cylinder gap of no more than .006" , so what you have descibed is already to big a gap. The gun will also benefit from having the forcing cone at the back of the barrel reamed out carefully with a tapered reamer with an 11 degree angle. That will ease the ball from the cylinder chambers into the barrel with a minimum of distortions so you get a good gas seal in the barrel, and suffer minimal, if any blow-by( gas cutting ) in the barrel as the ball passed down its length.
You want to get a feeler gauge to measure the gap. There are probably several ways to correct excess gap but I was told to carefully stone/file the front of the frame where the two pin holes are located. You may have to deeper the holes a bit although the amount of correction is so slight that this shouldn't be a problem Your greatest worry would be filing off angle- set up a jig that keeps everything in place during this operation.
I agree 10-12 grains should be fine with a brass frame. I previously noted that one fellow told me he fired 25,000 rounds on a brass frame before he noticed a problem- so I was told- don't know if it's true. For comparison, I doubt you could fire a modern gun that many rounds before the bore/forcing cone area got beaten up really bad.
I agree 10-12 grains should be fine with a brass frame. I previously noted that one fellow told me he fired 25,000 rounds on a brass frame before he noticed a problem- so I was told- don't know if it's true. For comparison, I doubt you could fire a modern gun that many rounds before the bore/forcing cone area got beaten up really bad.
The origianl question was about an 1851 Navy Colt.
Well If your wedge is already as far as it will go then filing .004 off of the frame aint gonna help.......Filing off the frame is the correct way to tighten things up,but you need more wedge to move the barrel rearward....So after you file .004 or so off of the frame you might have to peen the wedge (they are soft) in order to make it fatter so it can take up the slack...............Bob
Smokin6Gun
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I'd just try a new wedge first off...has worked for me in the past. The wedge get fired formed to the arbor and barrel assy.
Or you can try one or two aluminum can shimes behind the wedge first, just for the heck of it. This will give you .003"-.006" of shimming. Then you have a referance point before you go filing on the rev.
Just a suggestion that worked for me.
Or you can try one or two aluminum can shimes behind the wedge first, just for the heck of it. This will give you .003"-.006" of shimming. Then you have a referance point before you go filing on the rev.
Just a suggestion that worked for me.
For what it's worth, I feel .006 or less is a good cylinder gap for a modern smokeless guns however the old black powder pistols will foul up and become inoperable if this gap is too small.
I consider .006, too small.
Recently someone had posted about this very problem, as I recall.
Remington even redesigned their original 1858 because of fouling problems in this area.
Several of my steel framed pistols have a gap of as much as .020 without any noticeable effect (except they don't tend to lock up due to fouling).
Zonie
I consider .006, too small.
Recently someone had posted about this very problem, as I recall.
Remington even redesigned their original 1858 because of fouling problems in this area.
Several of my steel framed pistols have a gap of as much as .020 without any noticeable effect (except they don't tend to lock up due to fouling).
Zonie
