Colt 1851 and Baby Dragoon speed check.

[Skinny 1950]

I finally bought a chronograph and took two of my black powder revolvers to the range to see how fast the round balls are moving.
The Baby Dragoon .31 cal with full chambers (about 14 grains Goex FFFG) averaged 710 FPS.
The Colt 1851 Navy .36 cal with full chambers ( 24 grains Goex FFFG) averaged 856 FPS.
Just to see how my re-loads in .45ACP compared to factory ammo I also clocked my Commander length 1911.
Factory ammo = 771 FPS
Re-loads = 632 FPS
I could tell just by the recoil that my re-loads are lighter than factory ammo, with the figures I now know how much difference there really is.
I was quite surprised by how fast the .36 cal is with that load, one clocked over 900 FPS.

 

[Win 38-55]

Those Chrony's are well worth it for the reloader. I wouldn't want to reload without one.

Do you know what the ball weights of those two calibers are? That 36 really moves that ball along.

 

[Skinny 1950]

The .31 cal. ball weighs 49 grains and the .36 cal. is 79 grains, the .36 cal is very accurate possibly due to deep rifling. Both of these guns have very tiny sights cut into the hammer so aiming them is a bit of a chore.