bought the .36; now what?

[scott adair]

Well guys,

I went to Cabella's on my way to a wedding and bought a .36 cal '51 navy. Got a starter kit with a flask, capper, measure, round balls, over powder wads and a tube of lube. The whole nine yards was free, just for using their credit card for the last few years.

Went by a local shop today and bought some pyrodex p and caps.

Directions with the revolver were not the most comprehensive. They recommend 17 grains of pyrodex. I assume this is either a light or medium load? With such a load and an over the powder wad will I need a bit of cream o' wheat or should the rammer reach far enough to seat the ball firmly? I intend to use a small dowel to measure the space left in the chamber to estimate this.

Thanks,

Scott

 

[Don]

Max load for that revolver is closer to 22 grains, at least that is what my Cabela's navy takes. 17 grains would make a good target load though. The dowel idea sounds like a good one, wish I had thought of that.

Don

 

[scott adair]

Thanks Don,

Let me rephrase the question though.

What's the smallest load I can use and not have to add a filler?

Scott

 

[Don]

Scott

Thats hard to say, you would have to experiment. Max loads in modern repros have more to do with liability than real capacity. I find that even with the recommended max load I still have a little room at the cylinder mouth.

Don

 

[scott adair]

Thanks Don

I'll do some experimenting, but stay at or below the recommended load.


Scott

 

[crockett]

You don't have to use filler at all. The only reason for using the filler is to position the ball as close to the end of the cylinder as possible- this improves accuracy. You can use 10 grains and just seat the ball deeper in the chamber of the cylinder- sans the filler.
17 grains isn't a "light" load. I believe that was the standard military charge in the Civil War. The 22 grains is what you can get if you forget the wad and crunch the ball down on the powder. In that case (no wad) you want to cover the cylinder ends in lube/grease. Western shootists usually went for the maximum charge.
If the wads are prelubed you really don't have to put grease over the end of the ball, the lubed wad ought to be okay.
Does your flask have a built in measure? Theoretically you are not supposed to fill the chambers from a flask, you are supposed to use a measure to guard against any stray ember in the chamber igniting the charge, sending flame up to the flask, and then blowing up the flask. This argument is valid with rifles and single shot pistols- perhaps the rifling has a greater tendency to hold an ember however I have never heard of a problem loading a C & B revolver from a flask unless paper cartridges are used and then a definate ember problem exists, so.....
I would recommend this.
1. Put a cap on all the nipples with an uncharged cylinder and fire them. This burns off any grease, etc that could cause a cap to slide off.
2. Now charge a chamber with 18 grains of FFFg or substitute. Add the lubed wad and then the ball. There must be no air space, seat the ball/wad firmly on the powder. The ball should be near the end of the chamber. Repeat for all chambers and then cap the nipples.
It sounds like you may be thinking of measuring the charges by weight to work out an ideal load. You can only do this with black powder. The substitutes have a different structure and must be measured only by volume. In fact, I think different batches of the substitute have different densities so you cannot work out a weight scale and use it on any substitute.
The substitutes are just as corrosive as black powder and harder to ignite. If you can get black powder, you may want to switch or your next batch.

 

Throw the fake stuff away, unless you can't fine real black powder, load 20 grs. volume, seat a .375 ball, cap and enjoy. In the '51 Colt Navy, generally, 20 grs. will be "accurate enough", at least as accurate as most of us can shoot, and is ample for any use we can find for that revolver in that caliber. The wonder wads are good and save greasing the front of the cylinder. I've done it both ways and one is as good as the other. Greasing the front of the cylinder is more messy and time consuming but just as good. It's 6 or two 3's. It ain't rocket surgery.

Vic

 

[scott adair]

Hey Guys,

Been offline for a while. Took the .36 out to my cousin's house and we tried out several different loads.

1. 15g pyrodex p with a wad and round ball: could'nt feel the ball seat on the powder so I stuck another wad on top and pressed until I felt and then heard it seat. Not a bad load.

2. 10 g pyrodex, 10 grains cream of wheat and a wad under the ball. Light, my boys could handle this or the 15g load.

3. 20g pyrodex and a wad. Made the gun lift a bit in my hand.

Topped each cylinder with lube. Seemed to be bottoming out the rammer with the 20g loads. Did not hear powder crunch though. Maybe the wad muffled the sound. Might just need some practice "feeling" the ball seat?

Scott

 

[CoyoteJoe]

Pyrodex is much more compressible than black powder. That can be an advantage if you're looking for max ballistics, you can fill the chambers and still seat a ball. In lighter loads such as yours you probably will not feel the ball seat as it does compress so easily but with 15 grains or more the rammer will seat the ball tight on the powder. With 10 grains probably a filler is needed and a filler never hurts if you don't mind the bother. :grin:

 

[scott adair]

Thanks Joe,

That's what I was wanting to know. minimum load to seat the ball without filler.

Scott