Using smokeless cowboy loads in Conversion cylinder

[SixShootinSam]

Having recently acquired a 45 LC conversion cylinder for my new remmie new army, I've used some cartridges loaded with about 30 gr.of BP substitutes.

A friend of mine reloads 45LC all the time, using 6 grains of smokeless Bullseye and a 250 grain lead flat nose bullet.

He is saying it should be fine in the remington, but I'm a little uneducated on this aspect.
I'd really prefer to use the smokeless ones if I could.

So my question is, has anyone used cowboy loads of smokeless in their conversion cylinder (and gotten decent results)?

 

[sltm1]

I use 8.5g Unique w/ a 255 rnfp bullet in my Rogers & Spencer w/ R&D Conversion Cylinder. I haven't dialed it in for accuracy like with the bp cylinder, but I use it for a house gun and am very confident it will serve that purpose well! For CAS, I'd experiment w/ differnt loads and bullets till you found the most accurate for your gun. Get yourself as reloading book that covers 45lc and you'll see there are a lot of options and they'll be rated with muzzle pressure and fps.

 

[craiso]

I'm in the same boat, Sam. I have been using Ultramax 45Colt 200 GRN ammunition with no problems. The website cites 650 fps., so I thought these are safe for the cylinder. I just got some GOEX Black Dawge 235 GRN cartriges in the mail, can't wait give these a go.

 

[rcflint]

I have two Piettas and six Ubertis, and have fired almost exclusively smokeless loads in all. Actually, the foul-to-a-stop using black powder is greater than as a cap & ball....

I've used the conversions smokeless in CAS/SASS matches for several years, there has been no problem. The stress is on the cylinder for the smokeless pressure curve, and the cylinders, Kirst or R&D are arsenal grade an treated 4140 and 4150 steel.

The Remington has a broad flat breech face for the cylinder to recoil against, and it won't "stretch" like the Colt can because of the topstrap. However, it is not recommended to convert a brass framed revolver.

It is wise to make sure the barrel has a decent 11 degree forcing cone, as many of the cap & ball barrels are not at all well tapered at the cylinder end. Particularly as the bullet is heavier and harder than the roundball, the bullet's entry to the barrel should be eased if it wasn't done at the factory. I shoot 200 gr bullets rather than the 240 or 250 gr as the rifling is designed for the short roundball, so a 200 gr or less bullet will probably be more stabile and easier on the impact of barrel entry.

 

[SixShootinSam]

Thanks a ton for putting my mind at ease guys
Gonna try the smokeless saturday (if it doesn't rain) , will try to have some pics then.

 

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Craiso

That Goex 45 Colt is pertty mean Stuff!! I was very impressed

 

[craiso]

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How bad is the clean up? Any different than loose powder?

 

[Loyalist Dave]

I believe that Universal Clays is a good option, for (iirc) you can look in the Hodgdon CAS reload data, and find a recipe for UC that has less pressure than some of the stouter BP loads. So I figured that if it will take the BP pressure, then it will take a lower pressure generated by the smokeless powder.

LD

 

[rcmodel]

Perhaps the best powder available right now is Hodgdon Trail Boss.

It was designed light & fluffy to better fill the big black powder cases, all the while producing very low pressure.

Hodgdon website lists .45 Colt Cowboy loads as low as 8,100 CUP & 606 FPS.

rc

 

[tango2echo]

The R&D cylinder "recommends" Cowboy Action loads (8000-9000cup), but is "approved" for standard pressure loads, which are less than 12-14,000cup. Don't run any hot stuff or +P loads and you'll be fine. I'm shooting 8.5grs Unique with the 250gr MBC RNFP and 6.8 of TrailBoss with the 200gr RNFP. The 250gr load is "Medium" hot, and the TrailBoss load is very "Mild". I'm pretty new to this conversion revolver stuff though.

t2e

 

[scrat]

Again Rc model is correct the best powder for this is Trail Boss by IMR. i use 5 grains of Trail Boss. The clean up is very very easy. compared to Unique or others. Unique is a very dirty powder. Shoots good but very dirty. The properties of Trail boss is great. Same time it's shame being O shaped fills up the case better than any other powder

 

[Palehorseman]

I use Trail Boss in my Kirst, have been satidfied with it, very clean. As another poster wrote, real BP in the conversion is also a no-no for me, one bang, it is stoppage fouled and on manual assist for a second shot.