Minimum load for C&B pistols

[Mike Brooks]

Some of you clever fellows have probably already taken the time to figure this out. What is the minimum amount of powder you can use in a .36 C&B and have the ball seat properly on the powder with no air gap and no wad between the powder and ball? How about a .44? :hmm:

 

[jtmattison]

I assume you mean with the ball flush with the mouth of the cylinder.
I'll be interested to hear the replies because I have a new .44 I haven't fired yet.

HD

 

[Zonie]

When folks answer this post, please let us know if your talking about a Colt or a Remington.
Also the model of pistol is important because there is a lot of difference between a Remington, 1851 Colt, 1862 Colt Police, etc.

I would go and frinkle with mine but it's getting late so that will have to wait.

 

[mykeal]

As HD suggests we need a little more data to make sense with the answer.

It could be as little as zero - I can literally put the ball on the end of the nipple with some cylinders using a cylinder loading stand. Which, of course, is a silly answer.

HD's clarification is a good practical scenario.

A third, and the one I thought was intended until I read HD's post, is adding the phrase, "using just the gun's loading lever".

I'd frinkle also, but the wife just found an estate sale in the local paper and my services as a stevedore/driver are required for the next few hours. We'll get back to this later.

 

[wwfeatherston]

I have never been able to understand this.If you want a minimum bang- get something that shoots a BB cap.

Otherwise- take a max load, back off about 5% if you ain't after a Bar- and shoot the dang thing as it were meant to be fired.

Powder isn't THAT expensive( I pay $45/pound)and even brass pistols ain't that fragile, and I see ten-year old boys firing full charges without trouble- but with a big smile on their faces!

 

[Mike Brooks]

Oh golly......I got every body stirred up.... :haha:
Colt clones, '51 navy and '60 army. I'm not afraid to load them to the top, no big deal except I know accuracy suffers. I just don't want to have an air gap between powder and ball loading with the loading leaver. I'm loading 24gr in my .36 navys and 30gr in my armys with no wad between powder and ball.
I'm shooting these guns in cowboy action shoots, so I'm not looking for wimp loads or full house loads, just something that is fairly accurate, that leaves no air gap. I suppose I could figure this out my self if I just sit down to do it..... I just figured some clever fellow would have the answer right off the top of his head. :wink: Nothing like smoking the slicked up Ruger cartridge gun crowd with a C&B revolver!

 

[biliff]

I know of people who have gone as low as 8 grains (back before minimum smoke rules hit CAS). They used a brass rod as an extension for they're loading lever to seat the ball.

 

[Grizzled Roberts]

Mike,
You can fill this gap with corn meal or cream of wheat. Keep a seperate flask for your filler.
I never used a full house load in mine but it was not a wimp load. The tip of the ball would be 1/4 inch below the cylinder edge. I know the very serious boys would put in enough filler to raise the ball to the end of the cylinder. I never bothered with that hell when I shot cowboy action
they shot a big damn targets anyway!!

 

[Mike Brooks]

I never bothered with that hell when I shot cowboy action
they shot a big damn targets anyway!!

Boy, you got that right! :haha: I don't even use the sights, just poke the gun out there , you can't hardly miss unless you're trying.

 

[jeepwj992002]

Mike, for my '51, I use 15gr of 3f for the charge. Then I fill it up the rest of the way with cream of wheat. When you load the ball it will compress just right. This is a nice load that provides accuracy yet does not have much kick to it. Good luck finding something!

 

[arquebus]

I shoot a .36 caliber Pietta '58 Remington in MLAIC competition & load 22gns of Goex 3Fg with just enough Malt O' Meal to bring the ball to just below the cylinder mouth. It's a fairly 'sharp' load but shoots very well.

 

[Blizzard of '93]

'frinkle'? is that when ya put a shot cup atop the powder and fill with #9? :hmm:

 

[Mike Brooks]

Actually I'm trying to stay away from fillers as that's just one more thing to have to do at the reloading bench. These cowboy shoots are pretty fast paced and there isn't a whole lot of time for reloading. I've settled on a 32gr load in the '60 armies I'm shooting tomorrow. I can feel a good compression of the powder with this load. Should produce a pretty big bang and lots of smoke! I hope I can hang on to the darned things once they get greasy! :haha:
I think I'll stick with the 24 grain load for the '51 navies.
Thanks one and all for your help. :bow:

 

[slowpokebr549]

Mike, I know that it is heresy to say the word around here but....pyrodex(cringe) RS works really well in revolvers. You can fill the chamber full and compress a ball on it flush with the chamber mouth. RS has enough air space that it compresses just the right amount. I like this loading in a 44, it is fairly powerful, reasonably accurate in my ruger and it takes all the measuring out of a fast reload.

 

[Russ T Frizzen]

Mike, those sound like reasonable loads. Easy to measure and these loads have always been accurate enough for me. And you save a step when you don't have to load any breakfast cereal into the chambers!

 

[Mike Brooks]

I've tried all kinds of powders in these guns. Pyro, APP, 777 and real BP. I find pyro and real BP about the same, both work well as long as you lube over the ball. I have troubles with APP. It's dry and will seize up my guns unless I use lube over the ball, which kind of defeats the purpose of APP. I like 777. It shoots wet enough you don't need lube over the ball. The only draw back is it's about 15% hotter than the others. That's fine, but the recoil gets noticeable with full cylinders! So, I'm back to real BP with lube over the ball. It's actually cheapest to shoot, I have a 1/2 case of elephant and Goex that I bought years ago for $4 and $6 a pound to use and I can by Shutzen for $10 a pound locally, which beats pyro and the other subs which go for at least $20 a pound around here.
I have tried corn meal, just too much hassle, and a pretty near full cylinder of black is plenty accurate for cowboy shooting anyway.
Oh, thanks for that info slowpoke, I never thought to fill the cylinder flush then ram the ball compressing the powder till the ball sets flush with the cylinder mouth. I'll give that a try with BP soon and see how it works.
Thanks again all! :bow:

 

[slowpokebr549]

Yikes! that will make for a heck of a bang Mike. I only do that with RS pyrodex. The large, loose grains of pyrodex allow for a nice non-overload crush.It is a powerful load but not overly so. Don't do that with real black, especially with 3fff. That will shoot a pistol and your teeth loose in no time. A chamber full of RS is a cruddy load though, I'll give you that. Oh well, If ya love her lube her I always say.

 

[Mike Brooks]

Well, I'm back from wringing out those armies..... 32gr of 2ff shutzen is a pretty stout load. Humidity was fairly low today so I had to lube the hell out of the guns. Never got hung up or had a cylinder drag, but they were close to it. On the third scenario my fake ivory grips on one of the guns cracked in half and fell away :shocked2: I had to finish with only 1/2 a grip on one side. So, these guns get cleaned and put up until I get another set of grips fit.
Today was probably the worst I've ever shot, probably missed 2 to 3 pistol shots at every stage, hardly ever miss with my navies. I'm going to have to do more work with these when I get them up and running. The recoil doesn't bother me, I think it's the light weight of the armies as compared to the navies. Seems these armies tended to wobble all over while aiming, my navies are pretty much dead steady.....always something. :haha: I'm wondering if this stout load is inherently too inaccurate? Going to have to test some different powder loads too.

 

[mykeal]

My experience is that full chamber loads in any bp revolver are inherently inconsistent and inaccurate. My opinion is that you will get much better accuracy with moderate loads even without filler to bring the ball up to the chamber mouth.

Just my experience, your mileage may vary. But I think you're seeing the true results of heavy loads. Fun, but inaccurate.

 

[Mike Brooks]

Just my experience, your mileage may vary. But I think you're seeing the true results of heavy loads. Fun, but inaccurate.

I agree. I wonder if anybody makes a fat little fiber wad you can stick between ball and powder to take up space? I'll have to check circle fly and see if they have anything.
There's a heck of a good C&B shooter at the cowboy shoots I go to, he showed me his guns and I noticed the balls were WAY down in the cylinders....must be using an extension under the ram? I'll be shooting with him tomorrow and I'll have to check.
Edit: Yep, they have just the wad I'm looking for! Lubed too!
Cricle Fly