New to the 1851 Navy

[garyca]

Well an 1847 Walker got me into cap n ball and you gentlemen gave alot of good advice on how to handle her - thanks again for that !!
Happened upon a 1851 Navy in 44 cal ( Traditions) and had to have her. She feels right and action smooth and tight. Great trigger !!
My questions is this : I've got 2 1/2 lbs. Pyrodex P and 1 lb. 777 P - What loads do you gentlemen suggest ?? I make my own wonderlube and wads - cast my own balls so that part is handled. Perhaps someone can enlighten me a bit on this matter. Respectfully submitted .... Gary

 

[Foto Joe]

Your MAX load will be determined by whether it's a brass frame or not. If not, fill 'er up and then start backing down the load until you find the one that provides the best accuracy, that is with the Pyrodex P at least. You might want to cut back on the T7 10 or 15 percent below what your Pyrodex P load is on the max, it's a little more stout than the other subs. If it's a brass frame I personally wouldn't go more than 20g Pyrodex P and zero on the T7.

My pet load for my brass Fake Navy is 16gr 3f Goex with 20gr of cornmeal filler then either a lube wad or just seat and top with Crisco depending upon my mood and whether I feel like taking a shower and doing laundry after I shoot. That load in "my" particular gun is extremely accurate causing golf balls at 15 yards to go distances that would make a golf instructor proud.

Historically correct or not, these .44 Navy's are a lot of fun to shoot. Have fun with it and let us know what your results are.

 

[arcticap]

If your revolver is a .44 cal you will need either .451 .454 or .457 round lead balls. As for the load it can vary. If your revolver is brass I would stay below .20 grains and steel frame you can go as high as 40 gr, but 30 is a good load. All powder measures are by volume not weight. Pyrodex is the only powder I know of that list as (P) and it will work fine.

http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=639119&highlight=.44+loads

Here's a PDF copy of the Traditions Owner's manual which provides the recommended loads of 22 - 30 grains with a .454 round ball.

http://www.traditionsfirearms.com/cmsAdmin/uploads/BPRevolver_manual.pdf

 

[Hellgate]

What the other two guys said.

 

[garyca]

Thank you for all the good advice gentlemen - this one has a steel frame. I have not yet experimented with the cornmeal filler I simply put in the powder, wad & then ball - works great in my Walker. But i'll definitely try it on this Navy as I like the feel and especially the trigger ( you get lucky sometimes ). Everybody tells me to avoid conicals and I shall. These cap and ball revolvers are definitely alot of fun - I'm stuck getting replicas but hey a guy has to have fun ... there will be more. I'll study the threads and work on this filler thing as I value accuracy highly. I guess I'll annoy the youngsters with their Mark 4 carbines at the range this weekend

 

[Foto Joe]

If you want to "Impress" as well take the Walker and show them what real guns look like.

 

[Hellgate]

Gary,
No need to avoid conicals as there' no way you could load them anyway unless you take the cylinder out and use a loading stand. I can shoot conicals in my ASM Hartford 1860 Army and all my Remingtons but the Navies would require hogging out a lot of metal to make room for the taller conical.