Starting load advice?

[dogfood]

Hi all,
I recently got a couple of sidelock pistols. Though new to this discipline of BP shooting, I cannot imagine that the standard grains equal caliber as in rifles. Revolver load infor seems to suggest about 2/3 # of grains to caliber.
Any input would be greatly appreciated. Thank you for your time.
Cheers,
dgfd

 

[biliff]

https://www.muzzleloadingforum.com/...r-charge-be-equivalent-to-the-caliber.145418/

 

[SDSmlf]

I was always told the rule of thumb for roundball shooting with pistols or handguns was about half the caliber in grains of powder as a good place to start (36 caliber divided by 2 would suggest 18 grains for example). Then one would work up and down from there in small increments to find the most accurate load, although the starting load of half the caliber worked pretty good without any adjustment in many guns for me. This goes along with the rule of thumb for rifles being to start with the caliber in grains of powder. The explanation for the lighter charge with pistols is that one was wasting powder in the shorter barrel with heavier charges behind a roundball.

 

[cynthialee]

SDSmlf has it right

I start at half caliber -2 grains and work up in 2 grain increments
also the longer the barrel the more powder you can use
short barrels with too much powder will blow the ball out before all the powder is burned, thus a waste of powder

every pistol will have its' own preferred load

 

[rafterob]

The half grains to caliber seems right. Not knowing that, I ended up with a 25 grain ffg load for my .50 cal. Kentucky pistol.

 

[Red Owl]

I use 37 grains in a 50 caliber

 

[Rudall]

The Pedersoli website gives load information for all their guns. You should find some suitable information for your guns there. FYI I use 12gr in my Pedersoli Le Page .36 and 18gr in my Kuchenreuter .44. Both percussion.

 

[deermanok]

With my old 50 caliber CVA Mountain Pistol, I started out with 20 grains of 3f and a round ball.
Today's most accurate load is 45 grains of 3f and a 240 grain PA conical bullet. It's a tack driver out to 25 yards.

 

[frankie]

I use the pedersoli web page on loads.

 

[user 49399]

Maybe this will help. It’s a little hard to see, but I don’t have a better picture.

 

[cw1873]

One of the aspects of single shot pistols I like the most is that I can vary the charge, especially to the down side. I've shot a 50 cal with as little as 5 grains of FFFg (~360 fps) to 40 grains of FFFg (~1040 fps). If your main use is paper targets or tin cans, I would start on the lower side.

 

[Red Owl]

I have always used a patched round ball- I never thought about a conical in a single shot pistol- it ought to make it a far better back up for hunting, etc.

 

[dogfood]

As always, thanks gents for being such a helpful fount of knowledge.
Just got my range set up for the season. Can't wait to see how various loads do for me.

 

[hanshi]

I have a .50 flint pistol that I like a lot. The 1/2 caliber suggestion does indeed work as a general guide. My regular load for the pistol is 30 grains of 3F but I have shot it with 45 grains. The 30 grn load with prb lets you know exactly what you are holding onto. The rare times I take it out with the potential of serious work I may go to 40 grns or so.

 

[Red Owl]

Patch thickness enters into the mix. Try a couple of different thicknesses and different lubes.