Okay, all... Fair warning: Outside of reading a few threads, I am absolutely knew to the realm of black powder, so pardon my complete ignorance. I have some questions about black powder substitutes loaded in the .44-40.
For background: I was given a full pound of some 3F Triple Seven a while back. More recently, I have been holding onto my Dad's Ruger Vaquero in .44-40 (which he no longer shoots). I would like to try my hand at loading some black powder cartridges for it. I have found that Hodgdon recommends 30 gr. of 2F Triple Seven for .44-40. I have also found lots of threads that say that 3F and 2F are fairly interchangeable, but those posts usually are about moving from 3F to 2F. Finally, the Triple Seven claims to be "sulfur free," which means it is not true black powder, so I am not sure if what people say about black powder translates over to Triple Seven.
Has anybody here used 3F Triple Seven in .44-40 loads? Can you use same amount of 3F as the recommended volume of 2F, or do you scale it back a little, and if so, how much? How much of what people say about black powder is translatable to black powder substitutes, specifically Triple Seven?
Thank you all for your help.
-cstarr3
For background: I was given a full pound of some 3F Triple Seven a while back. More recently, I have been holding onto my Dad's Ruger Vaquero in .44-40 (which he no longer shoots). I would like to try my hand at loading some black powder cartridges for it. I have found that Hodgdon recommends 30 gr. of 2F Triple Seven for .44-40. I have also found lots of threads that say that 3F and 2F are fairly interchangeable, but those posts usually are about moving from 3F to 2F. Finally, the Triple Seven claims to be "sulfur free," which means it is not true black powder, so I am not sure if what people say about black powder translates over to Triple Seven.
Has anybody here used 3F Triple Seven in .44-40 loads? Can you use same amount of 3F as the recommended volume of 2F, or do you scale it back a little, and if so, how much? How much of what people say about black powder is translatable to black powder substitutes, specifically Triple Seven?
Thank you all for your help.
-cstarr3