Do you shoot revolvers with cartridges packed in real black powder

Yes. Mostly .44 WCF most of the time 3fg but have used 2fg, about 37 grs. My "cowboy load" is 15 grs. topped with c.o.w. ,saves on powder and recoil.

Yes I reload 45 Colt,32 SW dont realy worry too much about granulation FF or FFF are both great.
Cast my own dont remember the weights for the .32 I can weigh them when I get home but use a 250 and a 200 grain for the 45 colt.
I just fill up the cases so as to get a little compression so the powder isnt loose
I use beeswax as my bullet lube for reloading

.44-40, .45 Schofield, .32-20 in blackpowder, professionally loaded.

I shoot cap n ball revolvers, but interested in the bpc revolvers.

45-70, 44WCF and .45Colt. All fffg Goex with Starline brass. I like using the big lube boolits for the smaller two cartridges and I forgot who cast my huge 500gr 45-70 monsters. I use SPG lube. My “old west” firearms never see smokeless powder. That’s sacrilege!

1. Can't afford factory ammo, as I have too much invested in reloading gear!

2. I load 45 Colt and .577 BPE (infrequently). 44-40, 45-60, 45-70, 45-90, 45-110, and 50-90 are loaded with black exclusively.

3. Either GOI '2F' or Austin 'R' black.
Again, my (co-owned) powder magazine has way too much black to allow me to be able to afford playing with the more expensive substitutes!
Not to mention, I have no desire to try them anyway.

4. From the 200 gr. .44, 300 - 350 and 540 gr. .45, 550 gr. .50, and 640 gr. .577.

I drop tube all of my rifle loads.
Bullets are all lubed with home made lube, and the .45 -110 and .577BPE use a lube 'cookie'
(made with ox-yoke type wonder lube tightened up with some beeswax)
between the over-powder wax paper wad and the card wad to protect bullet base.

ClemBert said:

and Hornady (460 S&W) for my 45 BPM.

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What is a BPM?

JT

I'd like to try some black powder .38 Special, as I have a revolver from before the cylinders were heat-treated, but real black powder is unavailable here.

ClemBert said:

You can order BP online.

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Maybe so, but it's illegal here. Fire hazard, I reckon.

Nope. I shoot black in my percussion guns but the cartridge guns are a nice break from the hassle. Plus, I like to see where my bullets hit.

Howdy

I only shoot Black Powder in my cowboy guns in CAS. 45 Colt, 45 Schofield, 44-40, 44 Russian, and 38-40. I only use the Big Lube bullets these days, no wads nor cookies necessary. I used to cast them myself and lube them with SPG, but now I buy them already cast and lubed from Springfield Slim. Compression is somewhere between 1/16" and 1/8". 45-70 too, but I use bullets from Montana Precision Swaging for them. I put a card wad between the bullet and the powder for 45-70, really remember right now how much I compress the powder for. I use a compression die for 45-70, but do not need one for all those other cartridges, the base of the bullet does the compression. I only use a drop tube for 45-70, not necessary for all those other cartridges. I use Schuetzen FFg almost exclusively. I find it burns a little bit cleaner than Goex. I used to use a combination of FFg and FFFg, but to keep things simple I only use FFg now.

12 gauge too, 1 1/8 ounces of #8 with 4.3CC of Schuetzen FFg. Works out to about 64.4 grains. I use Circle Fly over powder card, cushion wad, and top it all off with a 1/16" over shot card. Usually use Remington STS or Winchester AA hulls.

Driftwood Johnson said:

Howdy

I only shoot Black Powder in my cowboy guns in CAS. 45 Colt, 45 Schofield, 44-40, 44 Russian, and 38-40. I only use the Big Lube bullets these days, no wads nor cookies necessary. I used to cast them myself and lube them with SPG, but now I buy them already cast and lubed from Springfield Slim. Compression is somewhere between 1/16" and 1/8". 45-70 too, but I use bullets from Montana Precision Swaging for them. I put a card wad between the bullet and the powder for 45-70, really remember right now how much I compress the powder for. I use a compression die for 45-70, but do not need one for all those other cartridges, the base of the bullet does the compression. I only use a drop tube for 45-70, not necessary for all those other cartridges. I use Schuetzen FFg almost exclusively. I find it burns a little bit cleaner than Goex. I used to use a combination of FFg and FFFg, but to keep things simple I only use FFg now.

12 gauge too, 1 1/8 ounces of #8 with 4.3CC of Schuetzen FFg. Works out to about 64.4 grains. I use Circle Fly over powder card, cushion wad, and top it all off with a 1/16" over shot card. Usually use Remington STS or Winchester AA hulls.

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And you have done some outstanding how to s on the subject

https://www.thehighroad.org/index.p...owder-in-cartridge-guns.821193/#post-10546093

I use Pyrodex FFG in one revolver - an old Colt double action Frontier Six Shooter in .44-40

Everything else that I load gets smokeless powder.

I use schofield brass with 28 grains of 2f under a 200 J/P bullet for my CAS pistol loads. 44wcf with either a Mav44 or Accurate 43-215C. I shoot a lot of 32wcf also with either a lyman 311008 or a custom bullet mold like it but with one large lube groove.

CraigC said:

Nope. I shoot black in my percussion guns but the cartridge guns are a nice break from the hassle. Plus, I like to see where my bullets hit.

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Cartridge guns are a break in the hassle regardless of powder. I don't spend any more time cleaning guns after shooting BP cartridges than with smokeless cartridges. In fact probably less time on rifles.

I don't clean my smokeless guns at all so......shooting blackpowder out of them would be a definite added hassle. Plus, I like to see where my bullets hit.

I reload BP in .45 Colt and Schofield. For historical accuracy for the Calvary, they used .45 Schofield in the Colt SAA. The original .45 Colt was loaded with 40 grains in a balloon head case, but was found to be heavy on recoil for the troops. They went with .35 grains afterwards in the Colt case and the Schofield was loaded with 30 grains and a 230 grain soft lead bullet. Those are next to impossible to find commercially and you may have to cast your own. I go ahead and use the 250 grain the same as I use in the Colt cases. Have fun and enjoy. They are hard hitting rounds and still will do the job just as they did 130 years ago.

Just for fun, I load .45Colt, .38spl and .357mag with black powder and shoot them from time to time. I load them with as much BP as they will hold. Accuracy with BP is truly eye-popping. Some of the most accurate loads in these guns are the BP loads.

Saddlebag Preacher said:

I reload BP in .45 Colt and Schofield. For historical accuracy for the Calvary, they used .45 Schofield in the Colt SAA. The original .45 Colt was loaded with 40 grains in a balloon head case, but was found to be heavy on recoil for the troops. They went with .35 grains afterwards in the Colt case and the Schofield was loaded with 30 grains and a 230 grain soft lead bullet. Those are next to impossible to find commercially and you may have to cast your own. I go ahead and use the 250 grain the same as I use in the Colt cases. Have fun and enjoy. They are hard hitting rounds and still will do the job just as they did 130 years ago.

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Howdy Again.

Slight correction. The original 45 Colt was not loaded into Balloon Head cases. That came a little bit later. The first iteration of the 45 Colt was loaded in copper cased, Benet primed cases. The two cases in the center of this photo are copper cased, Benet style cartridges, 45 Colt on the left, 45 Schofield on the right. The cannelures near the bottom of the cases hold the interior 'anvil plate' in place.







The priming compound was sandwiched between the rear of the case and the anvil plate. You can see an interior view on the right. From the rear, they appeared like rimfires because there was no separate primer. But they were not, they were centerfire. Benet priming was named after Colonol S.V. Benet who was the commander of the government's Frankford Arsenal. This is probably the only type of 45 Colt cartridge that could truly hold 40 grains of Black Powder. They had a bit more interior capacity than the later Balloon Head cartridges.






For a comparison, here is a section of a 45 Colt Balloon Head on the left, and a modern solid head 45 Colt on the right.






I picked up this box of Benet primed 45 Colts a few years ago. A modern round is on the far right.






Notice the charge in these was 30 grains, not 35.






Benet style priming was used for a number of cartridges produced at the Frankford Arsenal. The original 45-70 cartridges were copper cased Benet primed rounds. Here is one on the left.

I would if I bought one of the top break .32's or .38 S&W that weren't rated for smokeless. The only issue is I'd have to find a manufacturer that lubes their bullets with a black powder lubricant, not a smokeless one, and does it for .32 or .38.

I'd do it for .45 Colt if I had to. I don't have to so I don't do it.

When I get into reloading minishells, I might use 2F substitute.

Driftwood Johnson, I stand corrected.

AZAndy said:

Maybe so, but it's illegal here. Fire hazard, I reckon.

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What do you mean. To order or to store in your home?