1861 Navy

[Chilidog]

Hey Y'all,

Got a Uberti 1861 Navy coming. Need some advice on loads, ie. amount of powder, what size ball do you like, over ball wads necessary?

 

[Zonie]

Congratulations.

Your 1861 is a .36 caliber gun so you should be using .375 or .376 diameter roundballs in it.

It will like 3Fg powder best but if real black powder is unavaliable, you can use Pyrodex P or 777 synthetic powders.

Most .36's work very well with 18-22 grains of powder.

Your Uberti will use #11 percussion caps and because of the closeness of the nipple to the powder you don't need to use the magnum style of caps even if your shooting synthetic powder.

If you choose to use a wad, it goes between the powder and the ball. The wad does not go over the ball.

If you choose to use the lighter powder charges you may want to put some filler between the powder and the ball to keep the ball near the front of the cylinder.
If you use a felt wad between the powder and the ball you probably won't need to use a filler.

Most folks put some lube like Crisco over the loaded balls. This will help to lubticate the balls and some feel it reduces the chance of a chain fire.

It is very important that after firing each shot you look at the caps on the unfired chambers.
Sometimes the recoil will jar these loose and if one falls off it leaves an open path for flames from the firing chamber to find their way into the uncapped chamber.
If that happens, you will very likely end up with a chain fire so keep your eyes peeled for this problem.

 

[Chilidog]

Thanks Zonie, I was wondering if the no.11 caps would work or if I needed to get some no.10's. If the 11's are tight enough then good. And the wad goes over the powder, okay. Yeah I've got plenty of FFFg so looks like I'm set except for the wads.

Been shooting a Traditions Trapper and a Lyman plains pistol for awhile, but this six will be a new deal for me. I'm looking forward to the plunge.

So, do YOU use the wads or no?

 

[crockett]

If you use the pre-
lubed wads you don't have to fill the ends of the chambers with grease/Crisco after loading up- which saves a lot of mess. I would use the wads.
In other words there are two ways to load:
1. Powder, ball, Crisco- all chambers and then cap nipples.
or
2. Powder, wad, ball- all chambers and then cap nipples.

 

[Leatherbark]

If your No.11 caps seem to big try Remington No.10, but do not use CCI No.10. In my experience the CCI No.10 is too small and the Remington No.10 is just right...............Bob

 

[mykeal]

In fact the Remington No. 10 is larger than the Remington No. 11, so if the No. 11 is too large then the No. 10 will also be too large.

Results of measurements of at least 20 samples of each brand and size:

 

[fyrfyter43]

In fact the Remington No. 10 is larger than the Remington No. 11, so if the No. 11 is too large then the No. 10 will also be too large.

Results of measurements of at least 20 samples of each brand and size:

While the diameter of the Remington No. 10s might be bigger, I've found that the extra LENGTH allows them to seat farther down on the tapered nipples, giving a tighter fit.

 

[Mike Brooks]

TRESO nipples and Remington # 10's are a perfect fit.

 

[fyrfyter43]

TRESO nipples and Remington # 10's are a perfect fit.

Yep, that's exactly what I've found.

 

[Chilidog]

Good info - thanks guys... :thumbsup: