Correct Charge For .69 Caliber Pistol?

[Burke888]

A couple of you folks may have read another topic of mine where I gave a quick rundown on a Pedersoli AN IX .69 pistol. I'm not satisified with the power of this pistol, it didn't even penetrate a 1 lbs. Goex can filled with water. Earlier I accidentally discovered that the balls will bounce off medium size tree trunks!

I'm currently using a .66 caliber Lyman roundball, made with 99.997% pure lead. Behind this I've got a charge of 35 grains FFG Goex blackpowder. This is the MAXIMUM charge Pedersoli states for this pistol.
I did a bit of reading (Page #49 (Dram Chart) ) and the book lists a "carbine pistol, musket bore" at 3.5 drams. A "common pistol" is listed at 3 drams.
That's anywhere from 82 through 95 grains of powder :shocked2: :shocked2: !!!!

So my question to you is what is the correct charge for this pistol? Based on my two range trips, a .66 caliber ball with 35 grains of FFG would have a hard time penetrating anything.
As always, I appreciate the advice!

 

[bingo1952]

Go with 45-50 grains of 3f and you will see a marked improvement. Much more than that and recoil will become a problem. Your shooting in a .69 what I shoot in a .54 caliber.

 

[biliff]

Went back and read your earlier post. In it you said you were bare balling after the fouling built up a bit. You're probably getting a lot of blow by, coupled with a fairly mild charge for bore diameter and velocity is going to be pretty low. Willing to bet the gun sounds pretty "punky" when you touch it off. Best thing you can do is either patch (with a good tight patch that doesn't fall apart) or wad the ball to get a better seal. A quick cheapy wadding would be toilet paper but it does tend to burn on the ground.

Definately would not go with a 3 dram charge. Waste of powder and not going to do your wrist any good either. You could probably go up a bit from the 35 grain load though. Manufacturers tend to low ball their max loads, but you do do it at your own risk.

 

[torn moc]

I agree with roundball...Stay away from a 80-90
grain charge !!! I have done it with your type pistol and it nearly jumped out my hand...Not good. 50 grains of 2 ff should be plenty with a tight patch combo....

 

[Burke888]

I agree with roundball...Stay away from a 80-90
grain charge !!! I have done it with your type pistol and it nearly jumped out my hand...Not good. 50 grains of 2 ff should be plenty with a tight patch combo....

I was primarily worried about the barrel bursting :shocked2: ! I had no idea these things could actually handle that much powder! So, the book I was reading was correct, these things actually did use 80/90 grains of powder?
WOW!

 

[Russ T Frizzen]

You've got an 8 and 1/4" barrel there so you are limited in the amount of powder you can burn. 50 grains is about it. But you are throwing an ounce of lead so your foe receives a nasty thump! 80 or 90 grains would be a waste of powder and money. Despite the bore size, these pistols were short range affairs at best. But within that range they were to be feared indeed.

 

[Many Klatch]

I have a .64 smoothbore pistol that shoots well with 35 grains of 2F with a patched ball. I have tried it with 65 grains of powder and the recoil becomes noticeable but not particularly uncomfortable. I shoot 90 grains of 2F in my Brown Bess, I don't think I want to have that load in a pistol. Sounds like the 90 grain load listed in the old books was just a standard cartridge load for a carbine. That would make sense, one ball and load for both pistol and carbine.

Now if I was actually using the Howdah pistol to shoot an upset Tiger climbing up the side of an Elephant after me, 90 grains would be comforting. So if you aren't worried about Lions or Tigers or Bears, shoot what is comfortable and safe.

Many Klatch

 

[Burke888]

Hate to revive an old topic, but I was wondering if anyone had more input on the matter?

I did finally shoot 90 grains out of the pistol. It makes for an impressive recoil to say the least. The wooden stock on the pistol is chipped slightly near the lock plate due to a heavy regime of 90 grain and 60 grain charges.

 

[torn moc]

Wouldn't have " chipped" if reasonable loads were used..it"ll probably crack down the tang if loads aren't dropped. . . .shoot safe...
you have to realize the type of pressure you are generating with that much powder and that huge slug of lead...no need to max it out and risk anything...
I have a pistol that's rated to shoot 80 grains of 3 fff. I find that anything over 60 grains has ridiculous recoil...I wouldn't EVEN try 80 grains.....

 

[Zonie]

:shake:

 

[mooman76]

Not trying to bash you but you're mostly just wasting powder. Allot of it will be burning outside the barrel.

 

[Bob in iowa]

One way to find out much powder is actually burned in your barrel and what might be a max load is to shoot different loads over new snow or old bed sheets to see how much unburned powder comes out of the barrel and lands on the snow or sheets.
If you have to compress the powder to get the ball into the barrel, that's too much powder. :wink: