Goex FFFg load for .38 SPL?

[woad_yurt]

Hi. I'm usually hanging out in the smokeless area of this forum but I have a question or two some of you may be able to answer. I reload .38 SPL and I know that it was originally a black powder cartridge. I have a can of Goex FFFg in the house and was wondering what would be a good load with that particular powder. I Googled and found someone that said a .38 SPL case will hold 25 gr. of Goex FFFg. 30 gr. is about normal for a .44 Colt Army repro I have, if I remember correctly, but I'm not sure. It's been a while since I used it.

Anyway, the reason I ask is that I would like to shoot some black powder loads from a K-frame S&W. Would a .38 SPL case full of Goex FFFg and a 148 gr hollow base wadcutter be ok for my K-frame? Thanks for any help.

 

[Tommygunn]

IIRC the load for the .38SP in BP was 22.5 grains.
Assuming my memory cells haven't scrambled things around ... again.

Your revolver should be OK with it, but cleaning it will be messier.
The one thing I am not so sure about is the hollow base. Minie balls had a hollow base and they worked in rifles.

Remember: no air spaces in blackpowder cartridges. You can use a greased "wonderwad" or grits or inert filler, but the bullet must be properly seated on the powder charge.

 

[arcticap]

I only shot less than 18 black powder .22 rimfire blanks out of a small .22 short tackle box revolver and it was a real mess to clean and was not worth the hassle at all.
But then I knew a guy that used to shoot .357 mag. black powder loads out of his Blackhawk and he didn't complain about cleaning it.
Every gun and shooter is different I guess.

 

[Hellgate]

After a few rounds you may need to wipe the cylinder face off as BP fouling can build up on a narrow cylinder gap and cause drag on the cylinder face. Also you may need a bullet with a larger carrying capacity for lube. The bore could get fouled by hard, dry caked on BP residue. If you are not going to store the ammo for a long time you could put some SPG or other BP lube into the hollow base before you load the bullets or a grease cookie under the bullet. I seem to remember putting about 18grs FFFg into the 38 cases under a 158gr RN. The bigger the grease grooves the better.

 

[woad_yurt]

Except for the mess, black powder seems so worry free. With smokeless, a little too much and it could be a disaster. This stuff isn't so temperamental.

Thank you very much, folks!