4F and .31 caliber

[snubnose57]

Just wondering. Has anyone used 4F in their guns of this caliber?
I have a 1849 pocket and a pound of 4F going nowhere fast. Not a lot of first hand info on the net.
looking for info and opinions from the many pros on this forum, thanks.

 

[John May]

I had a repro (ASM) Colt Wells Fargo in .31 cal and regularly used 8 grains of 4F with a 10mm thick lubed felt wad loaded in a modified loading tool. Useless at 25 yards even when fired from a rest! Never tried it at any other distance and have since sold it on.
It was a fun gun to shoot and always drew attention but it certainly wasn't a tack driver!

 

[Zonie]

When it comes to 4F powder there is a lot written just about everywhere that the powder should only be used for priming flintlocks.

IMO, in the small bore pistols like the .31 cal revolvers, 4F should be very safe to shoot.

As anyone who has one of them knows, the chambers will only hold about 10 grains of powder when room is made for a roundball and the chamber walls thicknesses are equal or greater than the wall thickness found on the .36 caliber revolvers.

The 4F powder should give the little .31's a slight gain in velocity over 3Fg powder and these little guns need all the help they can get if anything larger than a raccoon is going to be shot.

Shooting up your 4F powder in your .31 cal 1849 sounds like a good idea to me.

 

[snubnose57]

Thanks for the info.
Bought a mountain rifle with a free pound of powder. Of course, it was 4F.

 

[Ray-Vigo]

Has anyone ever done a pressure spike/level comparison between the various granulation sizes of powder of any particular brand? I would imagine a chamber of 4F is spikier than 3F, but how much? Some of these revolver cylinders are pretty meaty between chambers and I find it hard to believe that 4F would blow a normal/undamaged chamber in a modern reproduction. Has anyone seen it happen or had it happen?

 

[jdw276]

Lyman black powder handbook has loads for the 32 using 4f powder. Don't have it handy but they are in my edition.

 

[curator]

I have shot my original 1849 Poxket pistol with a full chamber load of 4Fg black powder as well as my 1848 ASM replica. Both shot fine with a sharper report than FFFg Goex. I routinely load .32S$W cartridges with 8 to 9 grains of 4Fg and 75 grain bullets in antique "break-open" revolvers called "suicide specials." They are a lot less robust than the Colt replica .31 C&B pistols and they are just fine with the pressures.

 

[Zonie]

Lyman black powder handbook has loads for the 32 using 4f powder. Don't have it handy but they are in my edition.

You must have the first edition of the Lyman. "BLACK POWDER HANDBOOK & LOADING MANUAL".

The second edition I have does not show any 4F powder loads for the .32 caliber rifle or the .31 caliber revolver they tested.

I might mention, I just dug out my oldest Dixie Gun Catalog which is a 1980 and in its recommended loads no mention of 4F powder was given. Even with the .31 caliber revolver which is shown using 3Fg powder.

Going back further in my books, the recommended powder load given for the .31 caliber revolver in Major George Nonte's 1969 book, "BLACK POWDER GUIDE" is also using 3Fg powder.

 

[Grumpa]

Someone correct me if I'm wrong :grin: but I've read where early black powder pistol cartridges were disassembled and found to be loaded with 4Fg powder (or a very fine powder close to it).

Richard/Grumpa

 

[nkbj]

Use new small hole nipples.

 

[George]

You must have the first edition of the Lyman. "BLACK POWDER HANDBOOK & LOADING MANUAL".

Yes, the first edition has data for .31 caliber loads of 10 gr. and 13 gr. of both G-O and C&H FFFFg powder. The gun is listed as a replica Baby Dragoon.

Spence

 

[Tom Compton]

NO, No, no! With 4F on hand u have a perfect excuse to get a flintlock. Don't waste such an opportunity.

 

[hanshi]

These small revolvers do not hold enough powder to cause any problem when using 4F. If I had a .31, 4F would be what I'd use.

 

[azmntman]

You should get one. They are among my top favorites for fun plinkin. I can hit a can about every shot out to 20 yds.

 

[snubnose57]

Thanks for all the posts, everyone. Will head off to the range this weekend to see if I can put a dent in this pound of 4F.
By the way, I have a few flintlocks, but I really never use 4F for priming, just use what is in my horn.

 

[DaveDaDeerslayer]

Let's see.

7000 grains per pound and a 10 grain load = 700 shots (less spillage :grin: )

Hope yah got a bunch of balls :haha:

That's economical plinking. :thumbsup:

 

[jdw276]

Yep, that be the one. Page 70-71. Guess what they can be used in a 36cal on pages 72-73-74? Yep, 14 up to max in a Lyman 1851 navy p&v.round ball and 150 grain #37583.

 

[jdw276]

Sorry, they even have a load in a 44 on page 76-77, 45 cal on pages 78-79-80-81. Geez...,.

 

[nhmoose]

Yep but look at the big raise in pressures for bullets not the balls.

I use 4f with round balls since this was the first book I had. never had a problem.