7.5mm 1882 Ordnance

Eaglelord17 said:
As far as I can tell .303 would have been the last black powder military cartridige ever adopted, and even then I am sure someone could still dig up another round adopted later.

The whole reason for keeping the 1882s had everything to do with cost. It was roughly a third the cost to make a 1882 over a Luger. Give the Lugers to the Infantry officers and those expected to be in combat, and the 1882s to those they felt were likely to never use it.

As mentioned reason they kept producing the 1882s and later 1929s was simply it was much cheaper to make those revolvers than to buy Lugers for everyone. Every model the Swiss adopted in the late 20s early 30s was a attempt to cheapen the cost of producing the firearms (which is fair considering they literally had their troops walking home with pretty much everything they made). M1929 Lugers and M1929 Revolver both are simplifications of the earlier models. The K31 was a cheaper design than the K11 to produce.

To the OP, as mentioned the cartridge is fairly similar to .32 S&W Long. It would also be fairly similar to .32 ACP or stronger than .25 ACP both very popular carry cartridges, and one a very popular military pistol cartridge for decades. Personally not my ideal round for 'manstopping' but all that doesn't matter if you can't hit your target in the first place.
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There are NO manufacturing shortcuts on pre-1898 M1882 revolvers. They are among the most exquisitely finished revolvers you will ever find. Do a fit and finish comparison of pre-1898 M1882's to those manufactured after 1908, especially those made in the 1920's... you will clearly see less man power and time was spent to manufacture them. The M1929's are very crude.

I have 1961 headstamp BP military ball ammo... I would say that Swiss 7,5 mm Ordnance was the very last of the BP cartridges, and in service use well into the 1950's.

Handloads can easily exceed the velocity and energy of 32 ACP, my upper end/hot loads are comfortably producing ~220-225 ft-lbs of muzzle energy.
 
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The Kurgan said:
There are NO manufacturing shortcuts on pre-1898 M1882 revolvers. They are among the most exquisitely finished revolvers you will ever find. Do a fit and finish comparison of pre-1898 M1882's to those manufactured after 1908, especially those made in the 1920's... you will clearly see less man power and time was spent to manufacture them. The M1929's are very crude.
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Never said that there was shortcuts on the M1882 revolvers, simply that they kept producing them because even with the high level of fit and finish, it was still cheaper than a Luger.

And I do agree it is very likely the last blackpowder cartridge in regular usage, but doesn't mean it was the last one adopted.
 
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Hikochk 45 there on YouTube had a video where he was shooting black powder loaded 45 acp cartridges through his glock. They were smoky and dirty, but pistol was working fine and it was shooting accurately. This says that bp as proppelant is fairly easy to produce and cost much less than let say smokless powder load. I think its just cost savings that 7.5 ordnance was loaded with bp. Simple as that.
Why fix something that ain't broken
 
I don't mind shooting black powder, in fact, I find that I can get excellent accuracy with BP loads. It's just a major PITA to clean up afterwards for the novelty of a bunch of black smoke! You are right about not fixing something that ain't broke.
 
The 1882s are some of the nicest antiques available. The action is smooth, trigger pull is great, and ive yet to see one that wasnt still in good condition. At a time where no one wore vests the 7.5mm was more than adequete. Ive heard they can handle decent loads and ive seen 72gr at 1100 fps mentioned by a member or too. I bet you could safely get 300 ft pounds out of the right load but im not reccomending it.
 
I max at about ~220-225 ft-lbs and look to .357 for cannon duty. They're well overbuilt, but I want to preserve mine for future generations. Easy to reload for, and with exception of the odd case getting crunched in my press, brass seems to last forever.
 
Eaglelord17 said:
As far as I can tell .303 would have been the last black powder military cartridge ever adopted, and even then I am sure someone could still dig up another round adopted later.
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I should clarify, it was the last cartridge still in service using black powder. It's not hard to find cartridges adopted after it that used black powder in their initial form but they were all converted to smokeless or later dropped for a smokeless cartridge. 7.5mm Ordinance is an exception in that regard.
 
BlackPowderBurner said:
I should clarify, it was the last cartridge still in service using black powder. It's not hard to find cartridges adopted after it that used black powder in their initial form but they were all converted to smokeless or later dropped for a smokeless cartridge. 7.5mm Ordinance is an exception in that regard.
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100% true. It is odd that they never did go to smokeless considering they were big on having non-corrosive ammo early.
 
The Kurgan said:
depends on a lot of factors: top strap variant, condition, use/abuse... but I tend to keep my loads in the ~865-900 fps range for plinking and target work. As noted above, I will occasionally pop a few more spirited loads. I don't risk squib loads. According to a few published sources, the latter 1882's are factory tested at ~26,000 psi... so I don't worry.
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How can you tell which top strap your gun has? What do you think the maximum FPS would be for a thin strap model?
 
gord1986 said:
How can you tell which top strap your gun has? What do you think the maximum FPS would be for a thin strap model?
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serial 4400 or less = thin strap
serial 4400 or more = medium strong strap

Keep thin strap pressures to around 32 S&W Long levels or a bit more and you're fine.

I load my medium strap M1882 into 38 Special territory.
 
The Kurgan said:
serial 4400 or less = thin strap
serial 4400 or more = medium strong strap

Keep thin strap pressures to around 32 S&W Long levels or a bit more and you're fine.

I load my medium strap M1882 into 38 Special territory.
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So a serial number in the 3950 range would almost certainly be a thin strap model eh? Bummer will have to keep an eye on the EE

Thanks for all the info
 
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