Paper Cartridges for my Revolvers!

[Packman]

So after seeing Timuchin's awesome post on paper cartidges, I decided to try my hand at it. I figured I'd start a new post, rather than reviving an old one.

I started out trying Timuchin's method, described in posts 1 and 2 of this thread:
http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=144094

That was tricky. So then I tried Wwalstrom's method in post 124 of the same thread, and that worked a little better.

You can see in the pictures what papers I was using. The ones in the blue box were a hair bigger and easier to work with. However, I did have a problem with both of them sticking to the sharpie marker I was rolling around. The size was pretty much perfect for the .454 balls I was using though.

These loads are for my 1858 Remington. They're 25 grains Pyrodex topped with the same volume of cornmeal, then the ball. If these work out pretty well, I think I'll make some up for my 1851 sheriff. I'm planning to use #11 Magnum caps from Winchester to help ensure that these ignite. Initially, I'm going to try it without pricking the end of the cartridge, but we'll see how that goes.

Couple of questions for you folks. Do you know of any papers that are a little bit bigger, without being TOO big? These are on the small side of just barely working. I tore about a 1/3 of the papers I tried to roll.

Also, I had a problem with the gum on the paper sticking to the sharpie I was rolling around. Am I getting it too wet? How do you guys wet the paper? I was just licking it, but I found that tricky to do without over-wetting the paper.

Enjoy. I hope to have a range report up next week sometime. I'm also considering making a couple with just the powder charge and filler, loading the ball separately on top of the cartridge. Thoughts?

Comments welcome.

 

[Oyeboten]

I found that folding the end so no twist is in the center, or for the twist to be off center as far as possible, made for better ignition in my Revolvers.

Ball-in-Paper is the most convenient I think, just drop the Paper Cartridge in to the Cylinder, and Ram the Ball down.

 

[wittzo]

Don't make them too big around or they won't fit in the chamber.

 

[arcticap]

Will a total of 50 grains of powder and filler along with a ball fit in the chamber?

 

[Rail Driver]

Zig Zag 1 1/4 papers work nicely, and they leave room for a bit heavier charge if you like that. They're also a bit thinner than those you were using and ignite much easier. You could also try a brand called "Elements" which are VERY thin rice paper and your caps should easily ignite the cartridge. Be warned, though, the Elements are very slick.

 

[wittzo]

I use French Lights, but can't remember what size..I like the natural brown papers for my Mississippi rifle.

 

[Hellgate]

Back when I was rolling my own paper cartridges I would use a nipple pick to pierce the paper for more reliable ignition. I also would dip the papers in a solution of KNO3 (stump remover) to make the paper more combustible. I found that I still needed to keep a pair of tweezers handy to pick out remnants of unburned paper in the bottom of the chambers. Eventually I just went to rolling the bottoms of the cartridges as I loaded them in order to break them open so I had some loose powder in the bottom of the chamber for more reliable ignition. Now I just use a flask, wads and balls and forgo the paper cartridge fabrication but I see everybody seems to go through a phase where they want to make paper cartridges. I enjoyed it but don't have the time for it any more as I shoot 1-2 matches a month (60-120 rounds a month). The flask works fine for me.

 

[Oyeboten]

Fun thing with Paper Cartridges...you can keep a handfull of them in an antique Cough Drop Tin or other interesting sort of small tin Box.

Making the Paper into 'Flash Paper' is a good idea.

 

[Tango2]

My paper cartridges for Remington 1858 and Colt Army .44 Revolvers. Full round cause fat.

 

[BHP FAN]

Nice! False advertising though, those ain't metallic...

 

[Hellgate]

Tango2,
I'll have to say, those cat'ridges are a work of art.

 

[Jaymo]

What about using actual magician's flash paper?

 

[Hellgate]

Where do you get flash paper? It oughta work quite well but I have no Idea if it is nitrocellulose (i.e. smokeless powder like) and whether there would be any effect on the BP burn rate. Also I don't know how easily it would ignite/burn through with a cap.

 

[Oyeboten]

I have not done it, but, I gather that various kinds of Flash Paper are said to work well in Paper Cartridge Making.


Soaking the Paper in a Saltpeter solution...or, dissolving some Smokeless Powder in Acetone, and soaking the Paper in that.


Might add just a few FPS, but not likely much.

 

[Packman]

Ok, range trip results:

I'm not impressed. These turned into a monster pain in the butt to load, even when they weren't too large. Having the paper above the ball was a hassle. It also made a genuinely impressive mess out of my chambers. Loading speed, which was the whole point of the exercise, was not significantly increased. I don't have any intent on making these again. They're too much work to get right, and they don't make it much faster to shoot.

The bright side!

I added a lot more filler than I normally do when I load. This moved the ball a lot closer to the mouth of the chamber, which brought my accuracy from a 6 inch group at 7 yards down to a 2 inch group at the same range. That's pretty good, and I think once I've had some more practice with the gun, I'll be able to bring that down even more.

I also scavenged some .38 special casings from the range, and started loading them up with lightly packed cornmeal, which I dropped in between the powder charge and the wad under the ball. I didn't measure that exactly, but it's about double the filler I was using, which brought the ball up close to the mouth and helped out accuracy a lot. I also discovered that just filling up 6 of them and then charging my powder measure, dump, grab a casing, dump, wad, ball, ram was pretty durn quick. I still need to work on my capping speed though.

I really really like black powder.

 

[Gambit88]

I tried this once they fell appart before i could get to the range. Im going to make some just for ease of loading for blanks. Using a flask while ducked behind earthworks isnt the most fun thing to do.

Gambit