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Old December 17, 2018, 08:53 PM   #9
Rachen
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Join Date: May 10, 2006
Location: Weekend cowboy
Posts: 542
Quote:
Assuming a gun that is of sufficient strength, hypothetically, a person could use more powder and load two balls for increased lethality. However, that prompts the question, " Is this gun strong enough to be safely loaded like this?".
Mike E. Cumpston in his book Percussion Pistols and Revolvers warns against attempting to load "magnum" charges in the old sidelock single-shot pistols because the recoil would produce a piston effect that would ruin the stocks.

Quote:
The Traditions Trapper can certainly be loaded with more than 30 grains of 3F powder.
Their sidelock rifle/pistol manual clearly states that it can be loaded with 45 grains of 3F which is a conservative load:--->>>[SEE PAGE 48]
So, assuming that is a maximum load for the pistol that could be fired without putting too much stress on the stock, an extra 15 grains of powder would place the muzzle energy of the 175-grain ball at over 450 foot-pounds of energy. That would definitely be able to whack a deer with ethical results.

Most of the deer I have shot with maximum power loads from .45 cap and ball and cartridges were pretty up and close anyway. If the animal is more than 30 yards away, I would most often give up the shot and wait for another opportunity. With only iron sights, you got only a small margin of error. It is a more of a game of patience than anything. The real challenge lies in making the approach without being detected.
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