4f in a C/B?

[himem777]

was at the range this week and a man noticed that I was shooting my remmie, came over to talk. In the conversation he told me that he uses 4f in his colt navy (.36). He also told me that he was a cowboy action shooter, and I believe him as he was shooting his SXS coach gun faster than I can shoot an auto. Buuuttt I thought 4f is a no no in all but small portions?

 

[Pete Gaimari]

Did he say why he used it?

 

[himem777]

more ummf for less powder used.

 

[Pete Gaimari]

More power for CAS???????

Ray Charles could hit the targets. The point is to hit them fast.

 

[himem777]

Per less powder used, if I understood him right.

 

[mazo kid]

4fg powder will generate higher and unpredictable pressures. Best to use it for what it is designed for....priming powder.

 

[himem777]

Thats what I thought. I figured that if 4f could be used more would. You figure that people would be trying to get more shots for there pound.

 

[Norinco]

My dad has used 5F or whatever firework powder is in my Colt Navy. They were light loads. He just filled a 9mm Luger case with powder and dumped it into the chamber. At 35 feet the first shot (clean barrel) hit dead center, point of aim. The second shot didn't even make it past the forcing cone. The third shot fell two inches below point of aim. The 5F made the gun really dirty.

I've used 5F as blanks before. It makes the gun incredibly dirty as well.

 

[CaptainKirk]

Not a good idea in my book. :nono:

 

[George]

I would not use it in any C&B except the Ruger Old Army. They certify it to be safe with a full cylinder, 40 grains, of 4F.

Spence

 

[himem777]

Wooo :shocked2: What kind of velocities could you generate with 40grns of 4f?

 

[Zonie]

Unneeded velocities for doing most things IMO.

Folks who don't know about the Ruger Old Army should understand that its cylinder is made of high quality alloy steel like the rest of Rugers guns.

The low carbon steel the Italian cylinders are made from are much closer to the original guns and they cannot take the high pressures that the Ruger can tolerate.

Do NOT shoot 4F powder in your Italian replicas.

A possible exception might be the use of small 4F powder charges in the little .31 caliber revolvers but even here I see no need to risk the guns or the shooters hand by doing this.

 

[kwilfong]

I agree. MAYBE some use in the ROA. And the NAA mini's call for it. I use Swiss 5F there.

 

[Dave Rosenthal]

4F is generally a bad idea. No need to stress the gun so it has a shorter life!

Why look for trouble :idunno: .

Stupid is as stupid does :shake: .

Dave

 

[napolean]

I would think that any reduction of load to the point of getting more shots per pound to really make a difference would require the use of fillers or wads. The only application for 4F other than priming may be to get louder Blank loads.
Jon D

 

[biliff]

Because people were downloading their BP rounds to the point you couldn't tell if people were shooting BP or Unique,SASS instituted a minimum smoke standard for the BP categories. Has to be the smoke equivalent of 15gr BP. (And yes I know it's a very subjective standard, but they had to do something as some of the loads being used were a joke.)

If this guy is following the load guidelines, he's using a pretty hefty charge of FFFFg and I wouldn't want to be standing too close.

 

[bangfxr]

I thought that the use of 4F was strickly for priming. 3F is the recommended powder in my books for the pistols and 1 rifle I use and 2F for the muskets. I dont think I was to be any where close to that guy on a range.

 

[Trep11]

I have a 44 cal 1860 Colt BB replica made by ASM (Armi San Marco) of Italy. I purchased the gun new 35 years ago. I must admit that the last couple times out to the range, I used 25 g of 4f. It does give a sharper recoil. What is the recommended powder load for target shooting? Also if I wanted to up the load some what is a good heavy load size? What are your thoughts on using BB substitiues? How well do they work?
Thanks, Chuck

 

[Norinco]

Substitutes like Triple Seven and Pyrodex P work fine. Pyrodex is most likely more corrosive than black powder and Triple Seven has the notorious crud ring.

Triple Seven or Swiss powder is a better way to push high velocities than using 4F Goex blackpowder.

 

[himem777]

What I get out of this is that if you fill your chambers up in your 44 repo with 4f, it can be used as a hand grenade. :shocked2: Long and short do not do it.