Help for a rookie please

[RATKAS]

Hi fellow muzzleloaders!

There's no such thing as a dumb question especially when it comes to being a rookie.......and guns......so here goes.

I have a brand new Pietta 1863 Remington Pocket in .31cal. Afaik Pietta states a max load of 10grs of black powder. I live in South Africa and muzzleloading equipment is extremely hard to come by here, so I make everything myself, which is partly why I love muzzleloading so much. At the moment I don't have a volumetric measure. I do own a scale though and I ONLY use REAL FFFG black powder, no substitute.

When I throw 10 grains of real fffg black powder on the scale and throw that into the chamber of the revolver it almost comes to the top of the cylinder chamber. There is only 4mm of space to the top. That means when I place a ball of basically 8mm on top, 4mm will still protrude above the cylinder chamber. I will have to compress that ball at least 4mm to get it to sit flush with the chamber top, which I don't think will happen. What am I doing wrong here? Afaik 10grs of real black powder on a scale will weigh pretty much the same as dispensing 10grs on a volumetric measure. I do realise 10grs of substitute weight less, but thats another story because I only use real black powder. Please help. PS: I don't use the loading lever on the revolver. I built a reloading press to load outside of the gun.

 

[hawkenhunter50]

Just use less powder. A couple of grains one way or the other isn't going to make any difference.

 

[KingOfKindling]

Just use less powder. A couple of grains one way or the other isn't going to make any difference.

Yep, and even if you mess up and can't compress the ball far enough for the cylinder to turn, there are ways around the problem.

Cut off the excess lead with a razor knife, or pull the nipple and remove some powder out of the back so you can push the ball all the way in.

If you were really in a pinch and without tools, you could assemble the gun with the hammer back and the bullet inserted into the barrel, prime, then fire it out. I'd avoid that unless you find yourself on a battlefield though.

All that said, I think the ball will compress that much powder without difficulty. Still, better to start out with a bit less.