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Originally Posted by Rachen
I want to load these cartridges using 777 or another BP substitute and seat the bullets by hand. Has anyone here ever done this before? How was the accuracy and performance of these "hand"loads?
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Your biggest issue when loading cartridge without a press is going to be consistant compression. As Hawg noted 777 doesn't get compressed but, on the other hand a case load of 777 is gonna first of all eat a lot of powder and secondly probably smack the snot out of your hand. You also may run into a muzzle velocity issue (too high) for competition. I don't know if they have rules about that or not but a case load of 777 in a longer barrel revolver is going to send that bullet out of the tube at a pretty good speed.
You might want to consider reduced loads and a lighter projectile with filler in between (
Gallery Loads). The gun tends to stay cleaner and cooler because there is less powder. I haven't used 777 but I load quite a few 45 Colt cartridges using 20gr of Goex or Swiss and a
150gr RNFP EPP Ultra Gamer Bullet. These things still get your gun dirty of course, but you can drive nails with them, the recoil is minimal and they don't eat much powder.
If the dirt part of the factory Cowboy Loads is your only reason for switching to Black Powder or a substitute, you're not gonna like the results. On the other hand, if you're lookin' for smoke and boom then there will be a huge grin on your kisser then first time you fire one of these.
Now that you've got me all ramped up and the weather is nice, I think I'm going to go out and "unload" some of those 45 Colt cartridges I've been storing.
Have Fun