Conversion Cylinder Loads. What do YOU shoot?

[Legionnaire]

Okay, I have acquired conversion cylinders for the Pietta Remington New Army and a Ruger Old Army. I've not shot them yet. Yes, I could purchase a box of cowboy loads, but for less than the price of two 50-round boxes of factory loaded cartridges, I purchased a set of Lee dies in .45 Colt and 100 new Starline cases with money left over. Now I'm looking at some Missouri Bullets.

So what loads do you shoot through your conversion cylinders? Anybody loading with black powder? If so, what's your load? I plan to shoot these only as range toys, plinking and such. Loading up some BP cartridges sounds fun to me, but I've never done it. Trail Boss would no doubt work for mild loads. What other powders are you using in your conversions?

 

[Smokepole14]

Trail boss is all I have used and it works great in my remmy conversion. I've thought about tryin out American select, bullseye, and unique. The only thing I have against trail boss is it leaves the cases extremely dirty. Also it has a very distinct smell.

 

[TomADC]

I just bought some Trail Boss for my conversion loads, I have 226 gr LRN bullets will load 5.5 grs of Trail Boss with it, looking to pick up some 250 gr LRN bullets to use with the Trail Boss.

 

[scrat]

lee mold 452-200rf. 200 grain. backed by Goex Lubed with combination of bees wax and olive oil

 

[hang fire]

For my 1858 Remmy with Kirst .45 LC gated cylinder, most accurate boolit is air dropped WW cast 185 grain SWC, best powder is Trail Boss.

Lube, equal 1 cup volumes of melted beeswax/coconut butter with one tablespoon of Mobil 1 oil stirred in. No leading, remains softly firm, yet won't separate or melt in this AZ 125 degree heat, fouling is soft and almost wet.

 

[ClemBert]

Very smart of you do go down the path you're going. I also have NEVER bought boxed .45 Colt loads from the store. Everything was a re-load to begin with using new Starline brass and Lee dies.

For .45 Colt BP loads I use:

35-40 grains GOEX FFFg, vegetable fiber wad, 250 grain BigLube bullet.

For smokeless loads I use:

Unique, 250 grain RNFP smokeless bullet. The bad thing about Unique is that it doesn't meter as well as other powders in my powder dispenser. Using smokeless powder is cheaper (about $0.05/round) than using BP. However, it ain't nearly as fun.

 

[Ghost Dog]

I don't have a conversion cylinder yet... But I've been looking at the threads for a while, when you are measuring smokeless powder for reloading are you doing it by weight or volume?

Thanks, G D

 

[scrat]

smokeless powder should always be weighted. using powder measure scale going to grains

 

[ClemBert]

I don't have a conversion cylinder yet... But I've been looking at the threads for a while, when you are measuring smokeless powder for reloading are you doing it by weight or volume?

A loaded questions....pun intended...hehehehe...

Technically, most folks are doing volumetric loads. Specifically, they are calibrating their volumetric powder dispenser to throw a charge that when weighed it matches their weight criteria. This is what I meant when I said that Unique doesn't meter well as compared to other smokeless powders. That is, when I set up my volumetric powder dispenser to throw a calibrated weighted charge it isn't a precise as other powders. If I set my dispenser to throw 7 grains of Unique I might end up with 7.2 or 6.9 grains in weight. I think this has to do with the shape of the powder grains. Unique isn't a ball powder like some others are.

Smokeless powders come in different shapes and sizes. There are flake shapes, sphere and flattened sphere shapes as well as itty-bitty cylinder shaped grains. Thus some powders "meter" better in volumetric dispensers better than others...or I should say some are more consistent than others but then again your volumetric dispenser's mechanism can make a difference too. Always check and re-check your volumetric dispenser to make sure the weighed charge is correct. I do this with black powder too. when BP cartridge reloading.

 

[crazyjennyblack]

I'm especially interested in seeing load data for .45 colt and schofield round out of an 1860 conversion. Looking mostly for bullet weight, powder type, and velocity.

 

[Legionnaire]

ClemBert, why the wad in the BP cartridge? Spacer?

I use Unique for intermediate loads in both my .357 and .44 magnums, and I find that it meters fairly well through my measure. However, based on others' recommendations, I may switch to Universal when I finish this can of Unique.

 

[ClemBert]

"Walter Wads over powder wads are used primarily for loading blackpowder cartridges used in long-range shooting and cowboy action shooting. Walters' Wads were used by more shooters, by a margin of over 2-1 over the second most popular type of wad, at the 2001 Blackpowder Cartridge National Championships held at the NRA Whittington Center in Raton, New Mexico. Made from vegetable fiber gasket type material and pre-cut for most popular calibers. Tough, fire and water resistant, biodegradable, NRA acceptable for Blackpowder Cartridge Nationals, smooth cut sides, leave no barrel residue, absolutely consistent and ready to use. Bag of 1000."

It is not all that uncommon for BP cartridge shooters to use a thin wad between their BP and the bullet to protect the base of the bullet. I use Walter Wads which are vegetable fiber wads with a thickness of 0.030. Many folks punch their own wads from cardboard milk cartons. So, in theory, a wad will prevent damage to the base of the bullet, minimize barrel fouling and seems to tighten groups in most loadings.

 

[Driftwood Johnson]

Howdy

I only shoot Black Powder out of the R&D conversion cylinders in my 1858 Remingtons.

I shoot both 45 Colt and 45 Schofield.

For 45 Colt I put 2.2CC of FFg under a 250 grain PRS Big Lube bullet, lubed with SPG. I usually use Schuetzen, sometimes Goex if I can't find Schuetzen. 2.2CC of Goex FFg works out to about 31.3 grains, 2.2CC of Schuetzen FFg works out to about 33 grains. I say 'about' because not only does Black Powder vary in weight from manufacturer to manufacturer, it can also vary in weight from lot to lot. The real point is, when I load Black Powder I put in enough so that when the bullet is seated, the powder has been compressed by 1/16" - 1/8'. Using the PRS Big Lube bullet, that comes out to 2.2CC.

For 45 Schofield I put in 1.9CC of FFg under the 200 grain J/P-200 Big Lube bullet lubed with SPG. That works out to about 27.2 grains with Goex FFg and about 28.5 grains with Schuetzen FFg. This load also compresses the powder by 1/16" - 1/8".

The only real significance to the numbers 1.9CC and 2.2CC is they are two of the standard dippers that come in the Lee dipper set. I worked those loads up a number of years ago, but now I have a Lyman Black Powder measure that I have set up to throw the same charges.

I cast my own Big Lube bullets and size all my 45s to .452. I lube them with SPG. I cast them from a mix of about 25/1 lead/tin. I do not use a wad between powder and bullet, I compress the powder directly with the base of the bullet when seating the bullet. This is not the same as loading 45-70 for precision long range shooting, in that case I use a drop tube, compress the powder with a compression die, and put a .030 thick card wad between powder and bullet. But my tests a bunch of years ago demonstrated to me that there is no need to use a drop tube or a compression die or a wad with pistol ammo at close range. It just makes for extra steps in reloading and is not really necessary.

By the way, the 'J' in the J/P-200 bullet stands for Johnson.

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