New muzzleloading pistol

[Ben Towe]

I just bought a used CVA pistol to play with until my new 1847 Walker Colt arrives next week. It is .45 caliber with a barrel somewhere in the range of 9 inches. My question is what powder charge should I use and what diameter ball would be best?

[Kadmos]

Oh, I know this one .440 round ball, patched, starting load of about 15-20 grains of Fffg black powder.

But you can bring up the charge by quite a bit if you like, I've gone up to 40 grains with no ill effect

[Ben Towe]

Thanks Kadmos!