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Originally Posted by threedogdad
So, I guess my long-winded round-about question is…is it dangerous or unwise to fire a steady diet of these BP cartridges out of an 1860 Army revolver with a conversion cylinder?
Am I risking catastrophic failure, early and unnecessary parts wear, or some other unknown complication?
Or is it entirely OK to do this and I’m just being a Nervous Nelly?
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You might want to read the
Wiki page on the .45 Colt cartridge.
I quote: "
The .45 Colt originally was a blackpowder cartridge, but modern loadings use smokeless powder. The original blackpowder loads called for 28 to 40 grains (1.8 to 2.6 g) of blackpowder behind a 230-to-255-grain (15 to 16.5 g) lead bullet. These loads developed muzzle velocities of up to 1,000 ft/s (300 m/s)."
There are a number of us who like to load up .45 Colt with 250 grain lead bullets on top of 40 grains of FFFg BP just for grins.
As you can read from the Wiki quote a typical .45 Colt load was generally 28 to 40 grains of BP. I would consider these loads to be within the "cowboy load" range.
So, to answer your questions....No, it is NOT dangerous to fire a steady diet of BP rounds through your revolver configuration. At least that is my opinion but you know what they say about those.
Assuming your converted revolver is a modern steel replica and in good working order (you should always monitor/inspect a firearm as you shoot it) I don't see any particular issues arising from the BP cartridge loads. This of course assums proper loading with good brass, gapless BP loads, and the proper lead bullet. Do NOT use jacketed bullets just soft lead 0.452.
Absolutely nothing wrong coming in here as a nervous nelly and asking any question on this topic. Better safe than sorry. That is what these forums are for.
BTW, it is likely that you will want to load your .45 cartridges with 30 - 35 grains of BP most of the time. For most people 40 grains BP under a 250 grain RNFP lead bullet is just for [color=#FF0000]█[/color][color=#FF0000]█[/color][color=#FF0000]█[/color][color=#FF0000]█[/color][color=#FF0000]█[/color]s-n-giggles as 30 -35 grains makes for a nice .45 Colt load. Besides, without a drop tube and/or a compression plug 40 grains is a bit of work to fit into .45 Colt brass but it is do-able with the right tools.
