30 Grains Max?

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Glen

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I just got my new .44 1858 Remington steel framed Uberti and I was surprised when I read in the instruction manual that the max load I should use for round ball is 30 grains of fffg!

I am sure I have read about people using 35 or more. I have an old Lyman manual that shows a load of 39 grains of black powder for the .44 1858 Remington.

So, what's the deal? Why does Uberti suggest such a low max load?

Thanks in advance to any responders.

Glen
 
I doubt you could get enough powder in the chamber to hurt it. The most accurate load is around that 30gr area. Guys are stuffing 60gr in Walkers. I don't think you can over load a black powder revolver.
 
We don't work for Uberti, so we don't know why. All we can do is speculate about lawyers and grain sizes and phases of the moon.
 
One thing for sure do not under load it. What happens if you put in about 15 or 20 grains of powder. You will put in the ball and press it down. The load lever will go all the way down. Now if you catch it you will have noticed that the ball did not go all the way back the loading lever went as far as it can go. So you would have to either get an extension to make something push it down all the way. or take out the cylinder and push out the ball. or could be that you did not even catch it. So now you continue to load the remaining balls the same way. Making your own little 6 shot grenade. Then you take it to the forward bench cap it and everyone gets to see the huge fireworks display before the ambulance comes to pick you up.
 
On my Ubertis I found that with 30 grains and no wad the ram runs out of movement "just" as the ball could be felt "crunching" the powder. There's no way to run with less unless you're using a wad or some sort of filler over top of the powder. Like they said above you do NOT want the powder to be loose in there and that would certainly happen with a lighter load. It may even happen with a lighter load AND a wad if you load it lightly enough and the wads are not thick enough to compensate.

I found that with 30 grains the recoil was similar to a regular power .38Spl or maybe just a hair more. Certainly not as much kick as even a .38Spl +P though. The frame is solid enough that if it's going to have issues with a 30 grain load or even 33 to 35 grains then I'd be pretty annoyed with the company.
 
scrat,

Could you show your work, please?

If I read your post correctly, that there are no doubly loaded chambers, I can find no risk in what you seem to describe. Black powder, so far as I know, does not have the detonation problem attributed to (but, again so far as I know, never reliably demonstrated) light smokeless loads. As to 15-20 grains of FFFg in an 1858 Remington replica, I have loaded 18 in my Armi San Paolo 1858 many, many times. (Still haven't decided what was more fun: actually shooting with the ten year old, or hearing him crow to Mom "I shot the .44! I shot the .44!)
 
Ratdog, I was between internet suppliers and had to go cold turkey for the last week. I'm like a druggy getting his fix this morning now that I'm back.... :D

Chuck, from all I've read about black powder it DOES have a pressure spike issue when not packed firmly. I'm not sure but I imagine it's due to the loose powder being too well exposed to the flame front so it all goes up at once instead of a controlled burn. This is why it's so important that there's no air space.

And some modern powders also share this issue. I'm just about to start with some reloading and my first education will be S&W500 loads using H110. In talking with the fellow that's going to be aiding me and looking over my shoulder H110 has this same issue with loose packing. While it's not as critical as black powder the load variation given in the manual is far, far more narrow and constrictive than with many other powders. Basically with the H110 the case must be filled and the bullet needs to be seated onto the powder. Not packed hard but definetly far enough in that the powder can't shake around. The only variation in powder weights for different loads being in relation to the tolerance for bullet seating. While this may be an isolated case for modern powders it shows that it can happen.

I know that when shooting my own Remington '58 with the ball seated firmly on the powder the kick was gentle with a longer "POOMP" sort of sound rather than a "CRACK" if that makes sense. I gather the packing of the powder is essential so that it burns from the back in a smooth manner and produces the softer "POOMP" sort of kick.

With only 18 grains there's no way my Uberti ram would be able to seat the ball against the powder. It wouldn't even be close in fact. Is your ASP version able to travel far enough to seat it correctly or are you using a thick wad behind the ball?
 
Well... glad to see ya back in the hunt once again BCRider. Must've been rough spending the week watching washers rust. :D
 
That 30 grain recommendation will give you the most bag for the buck. It is accurate and the recoil is mind and the "BOOM" factor is still there. I use a 25 grain charge in my 1860 Army, 1858 Remmie and a 50 grain charge in my WALKER. A 50 grain charge in a WALKER give you all the hell fire and brimstone you want and still have a accurate as well as pleasant load to shoot. One more thing, I have NEVER been attacked by a wounded paper target that was shot with a 25 or 30 grain load.
 
Not even a paper cut in revenge? MAN, YOU'S LUCKY! One of them took exception to me one day for having at it and stuck me with its staple while I was crumpling it for the Coup de Grace slam dunk.... :D
 
BCRider said:
Not even a paper cut in revenge? MAN, YOU'S LUCKY! One of them took exception to me one day for having at it and stuck me with its staple while I was crumpling it for the Coup de Grace slam dunk.... :D
Click to expand...
Only 'cause you weren't a good enough shot to kill it in the first place... ya tree torturing terrorist you !! :evil:
 
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