Maximum loads for 1858 Remington

[springfield art]

They say any black powder load that will fit in the cylinder is OK, from what I've read. Real BP, that is! Percussion revolvers are cool enough without having to compress anything, I'd say! But whatever floats your boat!

 

[rodwha]

You can't know exactly what happened unless you have slow motion video or something. Just too many possibilities

I saw his pictures and listened to what he had to say, and that bullet was specifically designed to increase the pressures tremendously over a commonly used one…

 

[rodwha]

Wrong post

 

[Sun City]

38 grains FFF with RB is enough for me in my 1858!

 

[AlexB]

35 to 40 under roundballs is what I like as well.
Usually 30 to 35 under conicals seems to be where I like it.

 

[rodwha]

Both of my pistols seem to have a more accurate powder charge that doesn’t change with projectile. For my NMA it’s 32.5 grns of 3F Olde Eynsford and for my ROA it’s 37.5 grns. Point of impact changes but group sizes stay about the same.

 

[Frod733]

Given that I am not a hunter, and more of a target shooter; I never understood the idea of maximizing powder charges. My personal thought would be to get the best bullet/load combo that gives the most precise accuracy. Again, I am a target shooter. I noticed Mr. Cap and Ball in his videos uses rather light charges to get precise accuracy.

 

[45D]

Given that I am not a hunter, and more of a target shooter; I never understood the idea of maximizing powder charges. My personal thought would be to get the best bullet/load combo that gives the most precise accuracy. Again, I am a target shooter. I noticed Mr. Cap and Ball in his videos uses rather light charges to get precise accuracy.

Well, you can "lob" a projectile or you can try to make the flight flat and fast. My revolvers seem to like the latter and are most accurate with that setup. You'd almost think the hole gets there before the bullet!!

Mike

 

[Sun City]

I don't think I can improve much on this by reducing my load of 38FFF with .44 RB! From 41 yards.

IMG_4884 by Sharps Man, on Flickr

 

[rodwha]

Given that I am not a hunter, and more of a target shooter; I never understood the idea of maximizing powder charges. My personal thought would be to get the best bullet/load combo that gives the most precise accuracy. Again, I am a target shooter. I noticed Mr. Cap and Ball in his videos uses rather light charges to get precise accuracy.

I was given a honey bottle filled with cereal grains like Malt-O-Meal or something long ago by my father. It came with the Ruger his passed friend had. It always baffled me that people would shoot cereal out of their guns to make them work properly and seat the ball close to the mouth to improve accuracy. It clearly works or so many people wouldn’t be doing it, but it’s rather odd to me. Loading is tedious enough without needing to measure something else.

 

[rodwha]

Given that I am not a hunter, and more of a target shooter; I never understood the idea of maximizing powder charges. My personal thought would be to get the best bullet/load combo that gives the most precise accuracy. Again, I am a target shooter. I noticed Mr. Cap and Ball in his videos uses rather light charges to get precise accuracy.

How would a ball with 15-20 grns and a bunch of cereal, possibly the most accurate load/charge possible for the sake of argument, be ideal when it lacks most of anything required to work well? It’s precisely why I started at 25 grns of sporting grade powder and found their more accurate reasonable hunting loads, and will fill in the majority of the excess chamber space with lead. Thereby it’s as accurate as it can be and still be humane and useful. I’m not after all the horse power I can get. I’m not looking for a “magnum” or some such. Good accuracy with good performance, a nice balance.

I did, however, create a very heavy bullet for my Ruger that does not utilize its more accurate powder charge, but then it’s meant for up close and personal, and I wanted something I knew had penetration for days. It doesn’t need to be the most accurate. If I’m using it then it’s likely right here. I designed it for bears as a secondary weapon after I shot it with my muzzleloader. It’s a real stomper.

 

[muzzleloadingat18]

I saw his pictures and listened to what he had to say, and that bullet was specifically designed to increase the pressures tremendously over a commonly used one…

Yes but was the cylinder x rayed to make sure it didn't have any flaws from the factory. Did it have micro cracks from work hardening. Was it quenched or hardened steel that could have formed cracks. Was the powder 100% on the up and up not a bad batch or something. Was there a squib. Was the barrel undersized causing pressure spikes. Was the cylinder over sized causing pressure spikes. Too many variables for a non scientific and controlled scenario.