My black powder revolver chrono data

[Almar]

I dont have that exact bullet, but i have swiss 3f and a 220 gr johnson and dow bullet i can try. Ive been doing most of my BP testing with a 45 colt and 250 grain bullet in a repro SAA. A 30 grain charge of swiss will give about 912 fps with the 250 gr in a 45 colt if memory serves. I will not try higher charges, this beats up a SAA pretty bad i beleive.

 

[Ugly Sauce]

That sounds a little high, but different guns on different days using different chronographs, different lots of powder, etc., can certainly vary. From a 5.5" El Patron, 40 grains of 3fg Swiss, and a 256 grain cast bullet I get/got 898, 929, 879, 890, and 896fps.

The "standard" 9 grains of unique smokeless load gives almost identical velocity, from the same gun with slightly more velocity variation (low of 869fps, high of 926fps) or standard deviation. I think (not sure) that factory loads run at about the same speed, and that the 9 grain load of Unique is "supposed" to duplicate factory ammo, so I'm not sure how charges or black powder over 30 grains could beat up a SAA at all. ?

 

[Almar]

This is a 7.5 inch SAA and that could be, different lots etc...the chrony as well maybe, its a new cladwell G2, its what i have to rely on for now. It seems that my previous comment got shortened a little by accident me when i edited it. I was talking about the powder i make that shoots a 250 gr bullet at about 1020 fps with 30 grains by weight or 33 gr on the volumetric scale. I wont go higher than that, i kicks alot.
I cant figure out the picture posting thing here, but i detailed the results of ladder tests i did with swiss here on post #4915.

https://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?103852-My-homemade-black-powder/page246

This is screenshot (#4964) of the chrony results from my newest powder.

https://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?103852-My-homemade-black-powder/page249

but you do have me wondering about this chronys calibration, i never really cared about absolute values onluy comparative. Ill test it with a standard load in a 5 inch 45 acp to see if it gives something way off. Irregardless, i didn't want to derail this thread, i think i might have a bit.

 

[Blackpowderwarrior]

This is a 7.5 inch SAA and that could be, different lots etc...the chrony as well maybe, its a new cladwell G2, its what i have to rely on for now. It seems that my previous comment got shortened a little by accident me when i edited it. I was talking about the powder i make that shoots a 250 gr bullet at about 1020 fps with 30 grains by weight or 33 gr on the volumetric scale. I wont go higher than that, i kicks alot.
I cant figure out the picture posting thing here, but i detailed the results of ladder tests i did with swiss here on post #4915.

https://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?103852-My-homemade-black-powder/page246

This is screenshot (#4964) of the chrony results from my newest powder.

https://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?103852-My-homemade-black-powder/page249

but you do have me wondering about this chronys calibration, i never really cared about absolute values onluy comparative. Ill test it with a standard load in a 5 inch 45 acp to see if it gives something way off. Irregardless, i didn't want to derail this thread, i think i might have a bit.

I appreciate the added info brother

 

[Ugly Sauce]

This is a 7.5 inch SAA and that could be, different lots etc...the chrony as well maybe, its a new cladwell G2, its what i have to rely on for now. It seems that my previous comment got shortened a little by accident me when i edited it. I was talking about the powder i make that shoots a 250 gr bullet at about 1020 fps with 30 grains by weight or 33 gr on the volumetric scale. I wont go higher than that, i kicks alot.
I cant figure out the picture posting thing here, but i detailed the results of ladder tests i did with swiss here on post #4915.

https://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?103852-My-homemade-black-powder/page246

This is screenshot (#4964) of the chrony results from my newest powder.

https://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?103852-My-homemade-black-powder/page249

but you do have me wondering about this chronys calibration, i never really cared about absolute values onluy comparative. Ill test it with a standard load in a 5 inch 45 acp to see if it gives something way off. Irregardless, i didn't want to derail this thread, i think i might have a bit.

Not de-railed at all, I don't think.

 

[Almar]

ok thanks guys. I just got home, loaded 2 rounds of 45 acp with 5 grains of W231 under a 230gr cast round nose and the lee cast bullets book says 799 fps, I got 768 and 794 fps so the chrony is not off at all (or if so, not by much). I'm confident in those numbers now, and thanks Ugly sauce for making me doubt it, I'm glad I checked it.

One thing to think about, and im not sure if it is typically done, but slugging the bore and reaming the cylinders to proper resulting measure plays a role in how that bullet fits and how much gas blows by. I did this on all my revolvers (except the python) especially percussion guns. It must have been mentioned before but these revolvers often have undersized cylinder bores, not good.

The most I tested with swiss was 35 grains and it got me 1019 fps with a 250 grain heeled bullet from accurate molds, 576 ftlbs. The powder I make is much more potent and cleaner. But it isn't the typical YT homemade stuff, lots of R&D went into this.

 

[SomebodyMakeRiderRepro]

I dont have that exact bullet, but i have swiss 3f and a 220 gr johnson and dow bullet i can try. Ive been doing most of my BP testing with a 45 colt and 250 grain bullet in a repro SAA. A 30 grain charge of swiss will give about 912 fps with the 250 gr in a 45 colt if memory serves. I will not try higher charges, this beats up a SAA pretty bad i beleive.

johnson and dow bullet is a very bad choice if you go for pure power. It is very long and pointy and all that void space means you're wasting chamber capacity. A 220 gr flat point bullet will allow you load 5-10 more grains of powder which are a lot with that bullet weight.

 

[Ugly Sauce]

Well dang, that's some fine performance.

 

[Almar]

johnson and dow bullet is a very bad choice if you go for pure power. It is very long and pointy and all that void space means you're wasting chamber capacity. A 220 gr flat point bullet will allow you load 5-10 more grains of powder which are a lot with that bullet weight.

Completely agree, I just wanted to test a 220gr bullet like the op, but with Swiss in the Remington. I use a better bullet now, better lube groove, heel, short cone.

http://accuratemolds.com/bullet_detail.php?bullet=46-247C

I ordered my mold to drop at .46 but made the heel a bit larger. It fits in the Remington, dragoon and walker.

 

[Blackpowderwarrior]

Completely agree, I just wanted to test a 220gr bullet like the op, but with Swiss in the Remington. I use a better bullet now, better lube groove, heel, short cone.

http://accuratemolds.com/bullet_detail.php?bullet=46-247C

I ordered my mold to drop at .46 but made the heel a bit larger. It fits in the Remington, dragoon and walker.

do you use those in paper cartridges or do you load them loose?

 

[Almar]

Both but in the Remington, you can fit about 30 maybe 31 grains with this bullet no more. A bit less with the cartridge. I prefer loose.

 

[Blackpowderwarrior]

Both but in the Remington, you can fit about 30 maybe 31 grains with this bullet no more. A bit less with the cartridge. I prefer loose.

I prefer to load loose myself also.

 

[Ugly Sauce]

I load loose, but keep some cartridges with me for when I get attacked by that pack of evil wolves. !!

 

[rodwha]

Completely agree, I just wanted to test a 220gr bullet like the op, but with Swiss in the Remington. I use a better bullet now, better lube groove, heel, short cone.

http://accuratemolds.com/bullet_detail.php?bullet=46-247C

I ordered my mold to drop at .46 but made the heel a bit larger. It fits in the Remington, dragoon and walker.

Did you ream your chambers up over 0.460”? I’m curious why you designed your bullet to drop so large.

 

[Almar]

Did you ream your chambers up over 0.460”? I’m curious why you designed your bullet to drop so large.

My uberti bores are 0.454 and my cylinder is 0.456, I could have made the mold to produce 0.458 bullets but added an extra 0.002 for a more positive swage. I use pure lead with a bit of tin so its not hard to squeeze in. I don't typically use this bullet anymore in 45 colt because I just got a 45-460F that is more suited for it but when I do I size them down to 0.452 with a lee sizer for my pietas 0.450 bore in my SAA.

To summarize, you don't need to make them that big, but I don't regret it.

 

[Bljacque]

I dont have that exact bullet, but i have swiss 3f and a 220 gr johnson and dow bullet i can try. Ive been doing most of my BP testing with a 45 colt and 250 grain bullet in a repro SAA. A 30 grain charge of swiss will give about 912 fps with the 250 gr in a 45 colt if memory serves. I will not try higher charges, this beats up a SAA pretty bad i beleive.

Not precisely on subject but related. I'm trying to get the full dimensions for the Johnson & Dow .44 bullet. I know the overall length is .739, width @ band is .460, width @ ojive base is .451 & width @ the tail is .428. I'm trying to determine the length of the conical (tip to top of band), the thickness of the band & the length of the tail (band bottom to end of tail). If you have this info readily available I'd appreciate you sharing. Also, my apologies in advance if this is inappropriate for this thread. Thanks, Bljacque

 

[Almar]

sorry for such a late response.
the answer is 0.460 from tip to band.

 

[Bljacque]

Much appreciated.