Accurate Charge Weights BP In 60 Army

[DPris]

What are you finding to be an accurate weight in your 60s?
Denis

[Ifishsum]

26-28 grains of FFFg or Pyrodex P is where mine seems to shoot best.

[Hawg]

Mine was Coke can accurate at 25 yards with 30 grains of Pyrodex RS. Not saying I could hit them every time but most of the time.

[DPris]

Thanks.
One load in the middle of that did fair, one load way down did best, but I don't want to just plink, I'm hoping for some fairly decent power combined with fairly decent accuracy.

Just wondered what experiences others were having.
Denis

[Bishop Creek]

Mine is most accurate at 25 yards with 22 grains of 3f black powder, lubed wad and Cream of Wheat filler under a .454 round ball. More power with 30 grains but accuracy goes down, a little, at least that has been my experience.

[bedbugbilly]

DPris - just remember that BP revolvers are like any revolver - cartridge or BP - each one shoots different. Working up a load in a BP revolver is just like working up a load in a cartridge handgun. As far as charge - start on the lower end and work up until you find what works best in your particular revolver.

Powder loads - you can do it the traditional way by "volume" with a powder measure - just remember though that you will get a minor variance in grain weight. i.e. - I can measure out 24 gr. in a volume measure and you can do the same - weigh them and I'll bet they won't match. Or, if you are really OC about it - you can weight each charge out by grain weight.

Start on the lower end and change your load by 1 grain until you hit the right combination with the slug you are shooting.

Projectile - I only shout RB out of my revolvers. I do a lot of casting for cartridge reloading and BP. And . . . regardless of if it is a RB or a conical shape - cast ten and all ten will not weight the same grain weight. So . . you can be pretty consistent with your powder charge - but if you don't weigh out each ball and use the exact same weight - the ball can affect your accuracy as well.

As far as pistols - I usually shoot "51 Navies. I can have one and you can have one - the things that can affect the two different handguns as far as shooting accuracy can be sights, cylinder gap, chamber dimensions versus bore dimensions. A BP revolver chamber is no different that a cylinder throat in a cartridge handgun - a tight cylinder throat smaller than the bore will squeeze the bullet on the way out and the bore fit will be "sloppy" (such things cause leading of the bore for example) - but - a larger cylinder throat, which allows the bullet to remain larger in diameter as it exists the cylinder allows it to "squeeze" into the bore and make a nice tight fit for gripping the rifling better, better seal, etc. Variations such as those may make a "pet load" that shoots well in one person's revolver perform poorly in your revolver or vice versa.

[DPris]

Bought my first percussion revolver at 17. In 1969.
All these years it's been Navies, aside from a custom Ruger Old Army that goes head-to-head with my Blackhawks.

This is the first time I've tried anything with a 60 Army & I'm finding accuracy is generally dismal above 25 grains of Swiss, with .454 Speer & Hornady balls, CCI & Rem 11s, and a commercial lubed felt wad.

One exception at 27 grains wasn't too bad.
Best accuracy was one test load at the end of the day, at 20 grains.
I prefer more power than that.

Not expecting to find one single universal Best Load, but looking for multiple experiences & trying to see if there's a general trend that might give me a reference scale to judge mine against, in terms of charge weights & accuracy level correlations.

Thanks for any & all comments.
Denis

[DD4lifeusmc]

one small thing though.
Black powder and the substitutes are measured by volume, not by weight.
30 gr of fffg does not necessarily transpose to 30 grains by weight.

But in all my 44's I use 30gr by volume regardless of the powder used.
I also normally load one of two custom conicals I cast.

[DPris]

Never messed with conicals, hope to avoid 'em.

I measure by volume, always have.

30 grains was running 6 & 7 inches at 25 yards off a steady rest.
Denis

[DD4lifeusmc]

supposedly these guns were designed to be on target (POI / POA) at 75yd.
If that is true then high at 25 would be correct.
Mine are nomally within 2 inches, at 20 to 25yd.

But I don't punch paper anymore. I prop up a chunk of 4x4 wood.
I hit it more than I miss, so I am happy with that.

I do the conicals when reloading at home. They have more kinetic energy than a round ball.
They work just fine. and conicals were used back in the 1800's so are period correct.

[DPris]

I should have been more clear.

With 30 grains, 6 & 7-inch group spreads at 25 yards.
Roughly 8 inches high.
Denis

[maillemaker]

Black powder and the substitutes are measured by volume, not by weight.

It doesn't really matter how you measure it.

What matters is once you find the amount of powder that creates the most accurate load that you can dole out that exact amount of powder each time for subsequent loads.

You can do this volumetrically provided you can handle the powder mechanically the same every time so that you do not end up with different amounts of powder due to settling differently.

The most precise way to do it is with an accurate precision scale.

I used to weigh every charge when preparing my competition loads, but I have found that the Lee Perfect Powder measure is accurate within .2 grains if you operate it the same way every time. So I set up the Lee measure using my Chargemaster scale to get it to drop what I want it to drop, then I volumetrically drop and test every 10th cartridge.

Steve

[Shotput79]

Really do believe you'll find the best with the 20 to 25 gr loads. I know that in most every one of my pistols any loads over 30 grs is just a waste of lead and powder. The Walker and Dragoon love the heavier loads.

[rodwhaincamo]

I haven't tried anything below 25 grns, and have only used more energetic powders such as Olde Eynsford and Triple 7, though I've also used Pyrodex, and have found, with a ball or my 170 and 195 grn bullets, that 30 grns is the more accurate load in my Pietta Remington, and 35 grns is the more accurate load in my Ruger.

As someone who intends to hunt with them anything less would be a waste of powder, lead, and caps, and could also put myself at risk of injury.

As I haven't tried lighter powder charges I cannot say whether or not accuracy would have returned, but it was certainly waning at the 25 grn mark.

I also tried cereal grains, but it's just a bit much to deal with in the field, especially on a windy day. I have been considering trying felt wads to fill the space to see if it helps enough to warrant doing.

[DPris]

The 20-grain "best accuracy" charge in my gun would make it only a "paper" gun & I want a field gun.

If I wanted those low energy figures I might as well stick to my Navies.
Looks like 27 grains is the compromise here.

Appreciate all the comments.
Denis

[44 Dave]

The nice thing about ball and cap, you can load to punch paper, ring steel, or drop bad guys.

[DPris]

Very true.
Denis