LaneP
Member
After highs in the teens the past few days, a major storm swept through, bringing howling winds and heavy rain, but it elevated temps to the mid-40’s today. I wasn't sure a range trip would happen, but I found a hole in the clouds long enough to get there and run three different 3F powders at three different charge weights through my Uberti Walker. The three powders, in order of testing were: early 90’s era Goex, and more recent manufacture Schuetzen and Swiss.
I wanted to keep everything as consistent as possible through the test. Each charge would be volumetric. After shooting each cylinder, I removed the barrel and swabbed it with a wet patch using 1:2 ratio of Ballistol and water, followed by a dry patch. I shot a squirt of the Ballistol mix on the cylinder arbor, then reassembled the gun. The arbor pin on this Walker provides a .005” b/c gap with wedge tapped to its max depth, and I brought along my feeler gauge set to verify this setting for each loading.
The projectile used through the entire test was the swaged Hornady .457 RB, which weighs approximately 144 gr each. I did not use a wad or over-powder grease. All caps were Remington #11.
The charge ladder would be: 45, 50 and 55 grains with each powder. I had intended to try on a cylinder of 60 gr Swiss, but with this revolver, 55 gr by volume measure is about max. I might have been able to squeak in another grain or two above 55, but 60 gr basically fills the chamber to the top, leaving insufficient room to fully seat the ball, and on the one chamber I tried 60 gr in, I had to shave the top of the ball off, so that was all the experimenting I did with that charge volume.
45 grains Goex and a .457 RB:
There were some surprises, and some confirmations. The surprises came in the form of how consistent Goex was, followed by how inconsistent Schuetzen was. Lastly, Swiss performed as anticipated, producing good consistency and amazing velocities.
6 shots were measured and loaded from each powder type and charge weight. Here is the data, in order of shooting:
Goex FFFg
Hornady 144 gr .457 RB
Remington #11
45 grains
Avg vel: 1029 fps
SD: 11
ES: 25
50 grains
Avg vel: 1109
SD: 10
ES: 28
55 grains
Avg vel: 1131
SD: 20
ES: 55
===============
Schuetzen FFFg
Hornady 144 gr .457 RB
Remington #11
45 grains
Avg vel: 1014 fps
SD: 35
ES: 82
50 grains
Avg vel: 1009 fps
SD: 24
ES: 71
55 grains
Avg vel: 1019
SD: 40
ES: 109
Now, I know what yer thinkin’---“How does more Schuetzen result in lower velocity??” Well, this took me by surprise as well. The simple explanation is within each of the three different cylinders full of Schuetzen, I would get at least two wildly off-base velocity readings, and I have no solid explanation for it at the moment. Though Schuetzen seemed to burn cleanly compared to Goex, it did not feel as energetic. I visually ensured the powder measure was at the same level with each throw, and didn’t have any incidents of spilling. It’s just one of those things I can’t draw solid conclusions about without further testing, but it’s a head scratcher at this point in time. For now I will blame myself and something I may have done rather than the powder, until further testing. On to Swiss.
Swiss 3F
Hornady 144 gr .457 RB
Remington #11
45 grains
Avg vel: 1190
SD: 18
ES: 55
50 grains
Avg vel: 1261
SD: 19
ES: 45
55 grains
Avg vel: 1282
SD: 18
ES: 50
Conclusions: I didn’t shoot for groups today, partly due to time constraints and partly due to flooding at the range in the area I would have set up my target stands. However, I had walkable ground at the 12’ distance I set up my chronograph.
This was a very unscientific test of course, with a very low sampling rate, so Schuetzen will get another chance another day, with perhaps a different bullet. I am just about out of the old 90’s era Goex FFFg, which is a darn shame because it really showed itself to be a good powder (from a consistency standpoint) on this day, in my Walker.
You may get better or worse numbers depending on your interior barrel dimensions, and what you set for a b/c gap. I know gap is a huge factor in other revolvers I own, and would expect it to have a similar influence between BP six guns.
I did end up shooting the one chamber full of 60 gr Swiss with shaved ball over the chrono, and that one shot hit 1295 fps, so though I can't use that much powder on a normal basis, that is some serious speed for an RB out of this old warhorse.
60 grains Swiss is more than this Walker can handle:
If the powders of yore were anything like Swiss is today, I can see where the old Walker would have been a thumper with max loads.
I wanted to keep everything as consistent as possible through the test. Each charge would be volumetric. After shooting each cylinder, I removed the barrel and swabbed it with a wet patch using 1:2 ratio of Ballistol and water, followed by a dry patch. I shot a squirt of the Ballistol mix on the cylinder arbor, then reassembled the gun. The arbor pin on this Walker provides a .005” b/c gap with wedge tapped to its max depth, and I brought along my feeler gauge set to verify this setting for each loading.
The projectile used through the entire test was the swaged Hornady .457 RB, which weighs approximately 144 gr each. I did not use a wad or over-powder grease. All caps were Remington #11.
The charge ladder would be: 45, 50 and 55 grains with each powder. I had intended to try on a cylinder of 60 gr Swiss, but with this revolver, 55 gr by volume measure is about max. I might have been able to squeak in another grain or two above 55, but 60 gr basically fills the chamber to the top, leaving insufficient room to fully seat the ball, and on the one chamber I tried 60 gr in, I had to shave the top of the ball off, so that was all the experimenting I did with that charge volume.
45 grains Goex and a .457 RB:
There were some surprises, and some confirmations. The surprises came in the form of how consistent Goex was, followed by how inconsistent Schuetzen was. Lastly, Swiss performed as anticipated, producing good consistency and amazing velocities.
6 shots were measured and loaded from each powder type and charge weight. Here is the data, in order of shooting:
Goex FFFg
Hornady 144 gr .457 RB
Remington #11
45 grains
Avg vel: 1029 fps
SD: 11
ES: 25
50 grains
Avg vel: 1109
SD: 10
ES: 28
55 grains
Avg vel: 1131
SD: 20
ES: 55
===============
Schuetzen FFFg
Hornady 144 gr .457 RB
Remington #11
45 grains
Avg vel: 1014 fps
SD: 35
ES: 82
50 grains
Avg vel: 1009 fps
SD: 24
ES: 71
55 grains
Avg vel: 1019
SD: 40
ES: 109
Now, I know what yer thinkin’---“How does more Schuetzen result in lower velocity??” Well, this took me by surprise as well. The simple explanation is within each of the three different cylinders full of Schuetzen, I would get at least two wildly off-base velocity readings, and I have no solid explanation for it at the moment. Though Schuetzen seemed to burn cleanly compared to Goex, it did not feel as energetic. I visually ensured the powder measure was at the same level with each throw, and didn’t have any incidents of spilling. It’s just one of those things I can’t draw solid conclusions about without further testing, but it’s a head scratcher at this point in time. For now I will blame myself and something I may have done rather than the powder, until further testing. On to Swiss.
Swiss 3F
Hornady 144 gr .457 RB
Remington #11
45 grains
Avg vel: 1190
SD: 18
ES: 55
50 grains
Avg vel: 1261
SD: 19
ES: 45
55 grains
Avg vel: 1282
SD: 18
ES: 50
Conclusions: I didn’t shoot for groups today, partly due to time constraints and partly due to flooding at the range in the area I would have set up my target stands. However, I had walkable ground at the 12’ distance I set up my chronograph.
This was a very unscientific test of course, with a very low sampling rate, so Schuetzen will get another chance another day, with perhaps a different bullet. I am just about out of the old 90’s era Goex FFFg, which is a darn shame because it really showed itself to be a good powder (from a consistency standpoint) on this day, in my Walker.
You may get better or worse numbers depending on your interior barrel dimensions, and what you set for a b/c gap. I know gap is a huge factor in other revolvers I own, and would expect it to have a similar influence between BP six guns.
I did end up shooting the one chamber full of 60 gr Swiss with shaved ball over the chrono, and that one shot hit 1295 fps, so though I can't use that much powder on a normal basis, that is some serious speed for an RB out of this old warhorse.
60 grains Swiss is more than this Walker can handle:
If the powders of yore were anything like Swiss is today, I can see where the old Walker would have been a thumper with max loads.
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