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.54 Lee reals in a lyman plains pistol

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Howie1968

40 Cal.
Joined
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ive got a ..54 lyman plains pistol, i have some 300 gr lee reals ive read in my lyman manual about he used 300 gr ballets for load data. how would this bullet penetrate compared to a patched roundball close range 15 to 20 yards also ould this be safe and the lymans published data
 
Howdy Howie, I hope you're well in east Texas. The REAL has almost 30% more mass than a 220 gr prb, so you should get more penetration than the PRB, all things being equal. My experience with ML pistols are you SHOULD use much less powder than with your rifle. When I built my 45 Kentucky pistol I thought well 60 grs is a kitten in the rifle, should work fine in the pistol...boy was I wrong. The thing tried to jump out of my hands!

That being said, I recall one writer using a Rem 44 to take a pretty big boar, I think he used around 40 grains fffg. As the old saying, its all in where you hit em.

Good luck brother, stay safe.
 
ive got a ..54 lyman plains pistol, i have some 300 gr lee reals ive read in my lyman manual about he used 300 gr ballets for load data. how would this bullet penetrate compared to a patched roundball close range 15 to 20 yards also ould this be safe and the lymans published data

Lyman doesn’t show load data for conicals, but in a book I have it shows them shooting the 250 grn REAL from a .50 cal Plains Pistol using 40 grns of 3F Goex and Pyrodex P, which is the max listed for a PRB.
 
My Lyman "BLACK POWDER HANDBOOK & LOADING MANUAL" 2nd edition, shows load data for a 310 grain Buffalo Ball-et in a .54 caliber, 8 inch pistol. (p 292)
Using GOEX 3Fg powder, the loads they list vary from 35 grains to 50 grains. The muzzle velocity varies from 838 fps to 952 fps and the energy from 484 to 624 pound feet. I notice the chamber pressures vary from 7,800 psi to 10,100 psi. IMO, that's a lot of pressure.

If I was shooting a single shot pistol I would keep the powder load to 40 grains. That gave a velocity of 889 fps and an energy of 544 pound feet. More than enough for anything a pistol needs to do.
 
My Lyman "BLACK POWDER HANDBOOK & LOADING MANUAL" 2nd edition, shows load data for a 310 grain Buffalo Ball-et in a .54 caliber, 8 inch pistol. (p 292)
Using GOEX 3Fg powder, the loads they list vary from 35 grains to 50 grains. The muzzle velocity varies from 838 fps to 952 fps and the energy from 484 to 624 pound feet. I notice the chamber pressures vary from 7,800 psi to 10,100 psi. IMO, that's a lot of pressure.

If I was shooting a single shot pistol I would keep the powder load to 40 grains. That gave a velocity of 889 fps and an energy of 544 pound feet. More than enough for anything a pistol needs to do.
thank you Mr. zonie that 40 grains sounds good thank you sir
 
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