36 revolver powder charge questions

[wayne64]

I came into possesion of a .36 1858 Reminton, 1862 Colt police and a 1851 Colt navy. All are manufactured by Fillipietta. What would be a safe powder charge in these guns?

 

[Blizzard of '93]

20 grs. 3F will leave enough room for a felt wad and a ball.

 

[dboone]

the 1858 remmy will hold more powder than the two colts. If needed it would hold 30 grs of 3f powder and I use 20-25 grs in my 1862 and my 1851 36 cal's.

 

[Jac Spring]

Depends on the powder used too - Pyrodex P will compress more than black for instance and you can put more of it in the chamber.

Try 20 grains and see how that does in terms of accuracy, etc. And maybe 25 in the 1858.

Nice thing about these cap and balls is that you are safe even with the cylinders crammed full of as much black or substitute powder you can fit. These are all steel frame right?

You didn't mention about that - if these are brass framed models then stay with those loads.

Funny how people glom onto a particular caliber - Iv'e done that with .44's -1860's, colt dragoon and 1858 new army.

 

[wayne64]

Depends on the powder used too - Pyrodex P will compress more than black for instance and you can put more of it in the chamber.

Try 20 grains and see how that does in terms of accuracy, etc. And maybe 25 in the 1858.

Nice thing about these cap and balls is that you are safe even with the cylinders crammed full of as much black or substitute powder you can fit. These are all steel frame right?

You didn't mention about that - if these are brass framed models then stay with those loads.

They are steel frames. What I'm really worried about is shooting the Colt repros apart, which I have done with steel frames. I don't want a loose powder charge with a 36 charged with only 15 grains or so and blow a cyl.

 

[mec]

1861 Navy
.36 " 85-Grain Round Ball
Loads Velocity feet per second Spread (6)
25Grains Swiss FFFg .380 " 1101 71
25 Grains Goex FFFg .375 1000 59
22 Gains Swiss FFFg .375 1048 35
Same load wonder wad 973 60
22Grains Goex FFFg .375 849 74

801 74
22Grains Swiss FFFg .375 1070 37
22Gr/Vol. Pyrodex P. 375 1015 44
Same load with wonder wad
1045 66
110grain Bullet From Brass Replica Mould 15 Pyrodex P 815 36
100 Grain Bullet Dixie Scissor Mould
22 Grains Goex FFFg 831 38
22 Gr/Vol. Pyrodex P 995 46
125 Grain Buffalo Bullet
18 Grains Goex FFFg 803 99
18 Gr/Vol. Pyrodex P 965 71
18 Grains Swiss FFFg 918 37
130 Grain Ram Lock Hollow Based Truncated Cone
22 Gr/Vol. Pyrodex P 966 34

36 Remington New Model Navy
.380 " 85 Grain Ball
Charge Velocity Extreme Spread (5) Energy
28 Grains Swiss FFFg 1238 fps 59 fps 272 ft/lb.
28 Gr./Vol. Pyrodex P 1181 74 247
28 Gr./Vol. H777 1188 49 251
125 Grain Buffalo Bullet
22 Grains Swiss FFFg 978 62 265

both revolvers are Uberti

 

[Jac Spring]

mec's usual excellent load data - there you go.

As to blowing the colt replicas up - you won't if you use black or substitue powder (excepting ffffg which could present a presure problem).

Just be sure and ram the balls down firmly against the charges - and yes, you are correct that 15 grains may leave some space, so better to go up to at least 20 or use a filler like cream of wheat or an extra wad.

 

[Steve Swartz]

Just FYI, my 66 gr 0.354" balls on top of 12 grains fffg are giving me over 1,000 fps in a single shot underhammer.

22 grains seems pretty stout.

Revolvers use that much more powder than single shots?

Steve in North Texas

 

[Steve Swartz]

Oops sorry that was supposed to be 14 grains fffg yielding around 1,060 fps.

Steve