Favorite Loads for 1860 Army

[1860 Army]

I'm using a .454 ball with a Wonder Seal.

 

[dlgraley]

30 grains of Swiss 3F, a .454 ball, topped off with a smear of Precision Lube 2000. Deadly accurate, and very easy to clean.

 

[Mean Gene]

Between 25 to 30 grains of bp or pyrodex, if your using a wonder wad you don't need to put grease over the chamber.

 

[1860 Army]

I don't grease the cylinders.

 

[BullRunBear]

Different guns like different powder charges but I get best accuracy with 25 to 30 grains of 3F BP, generally closer to 25 grains. Then a home made lubed felt wad and a .451 or .454 ball. I haven't used grease over the ball for thirty years.

Jeff

 

[ZUG]

It all depends on the gun and what you want it to do :v . In the .44 cal. I use from 20 gr. to 25 gr. and in a .36 I use between 14 gr. to 19 gr. for punching paper, grease or felt wad depending on what gun I am shooting. I don't hunt with a sidearm so I don't load much more that this :thumbsup: .

 

[bubba.50]

what would be a good load for a brass-framer if ya wanted it to last?

 

[azmntman]

IMHO for brass I'd stick to 10-15, no more and play with that range to get the most accurate load. They will last a long while if not abused.

 

[M. De Land]

I just started using lubed felt wads under the ball instead of lubing over the top like I have for 50 years. I don't think it is quite as accurate but it is much less messy to shoot.

 

[Zonie]

what would be a good load for a brass-framer if ya wanted it to last?

For a .36 caliber, 15 grains of powder will work fine.

For a .44 caliber, 20 grains of powder will produce a lot of BOOM and not damage the frame.

 

[bubba.50]

thanks neighbor.

 

[Mr. Troll]

Out at the range today with both my 1860 steel Armys and my .36 brass 5" Navy. 15 gr. of Pyrodex P in the .36,.375 80 gr Hornady ball, and 25 gr in the Army, with .451 cast ball, using Remington #10 caps...shooting 8" steel silhouettes at 50'....getting 5 out of six all the time, until the wind kicked up, then the .36 was all over the place....

 

[Grenadier1758]

Mr. Troll, was that 50 feet or 50 yards? At 50 feet, I would be concerned about ricochet.

 

[Mr. Troll]

50 feet...no issues with ricochet or bounce back. Some of them fell over in slow motion with the .36, but they all went down hard with the .44s

 

[1860 Army]

So far, It seems my Uberti 1860 Army likes 30grs of 777 3f. I have tried 25grs and it's not as accurate.

 

[Twistofer]

I'm just starting with Black Powder and was wondering the corrosiveness of the 777?

 

[Zonie]

IMO, all of the types of gunpowder used in muzzleloaders will produce a fouling that is corrosive so they all should be cleaned as soon as possible after firing.

I've noticed the powders which contain sulfur are among the worst offenders and both real black powder and Pyrodex contains it.

Although 777 contains the same perchlorates as Pyrodex and perchlorates have been blamed by some for etching steel and doing other harm, the fouling from 777 doesn't seem to cause as large of a problem. 777 does not contain any sulfur at all.

Be that as it may, IMO, a person should not neglect cleaning their gun as soon as possible after it is fired. If they don't, they can expect to see a lot of rust.

By the way, applying a good gun oil after cleaning is also needed.

The soap/water we use to clean black powder (and the substitutes) does a fine job but it leaves the surface of the metal totally unprotected against moisture.
Bare steel + moisture = rust.

 

[Twistofer]

Much obliged.