2F in a great plains pistol

[JackAubrey]

Gentlemen, as a point of curiosity,what would happen if one were to fire 2f goex in a great plains pistol .50 cal. rather than 3f powder?I have heard people on occasion substituting 3f for 2f in longarms.Would it be dangerous to the weapon or the shooter?I'll not be doing it,just wondering.

 

[arcticap]

I'm only guessing, but the pistol should work just as good as when used in a .50 rifle. I'm under the impression that the FFFg is recommended for .45 cal.(?) and under, because of the smaller revolver chambers and smaller load requirements of most other pistols.
I'm one of those that prefers FFFg for just about everything though. After reading Sam Fadala's writing about
how he and Val Forgett (Navy Arms founder) went on safari in Africa and shot very large game with .66(?) cal. rifles exclusively using FFFg, I was influenced greatly. Generally, there is no harm in switching, it's only a matter of performance, if you believe there may be any that is.

 

Some of us can remember a time when you used whatever powder you could get in anything you had.

I have fired what I suspect was cannon grade powder in 36 C&B revolvers and 4f in every gun in the cabinet.

Contrary to popular belief, and the tales of old wives, you will not blow yourself up with loads in the reasonable range for the given firearm.

Ignition may be faster/slower, power noticably stronger/weaker or it may burn dirty, but a Great Plains Pistol, in good condition, will not come apart by switching to 2f.

There was a thread here a day or two ago about soneone using a rifle charge in their GPP with no ill effects.

 

I have found that I have a tough time with ignition in my .54 flint pistol when trying to use 2Fg, but it's a flint. With 3Fg it goes off every time. I would imagine since your GPP is percussion, either powder should work just fine.

 

[jim gray]

One thing that I remember well from that article is that one load they were using was a 180 grain charge of 3Fg and a 610 grain conical in a .58 caliber rifle. This load penetrated 18" of seasoned elm at 100 yards. I wouldn't want to shoot that load very often.

 

[Deadeye]

Forgett was originally using 200 gr. 3f with the 600+ bullet, in the .58, but settled on 180 for general use.
Just re-reading "The muzzleloading caplock rifle" by Roberts.
He writes of using, in a .53 cal. Hawken rifle, 205 grs.
of 3F and a 217 gr. ball and linen patch greased with vaseline and getting good accuracy at 250 yds.

 

[mec]

drops off about 100 fps for me.

 

[JackAubrey]

I do appreciate all the input Gentlemen.I did not actually think it would blow up the gun,infact,I supposed the pressre curve would be less than efficient as compared to 3f. think I'll stay on 3f for pistols.

 

[Rat]

I've been using ffg in a .36 Reminton Navy, and getting 1.5" groups at 20 yards. Pistol was grouping around 2.5" before the switch. Recoil, flash and blast seem to be less.

With modern powders and pistols, it is sometimes thought that the faster powders will produce better velocity because of the short barrel length, but in reality the slow burners will still produce more velocity...I wonder if that's true with BP?? Or maybe just the opposite? The latter methinks.

At any rate, if you have some ffg go ahead and try it, see if there's any difference in accuracy. At worst you'll just lose that 100fps for a couple shots!!

Rat