Shooting a Colt SAA revolver made in 1880's

[Alex McKr]

Some years back, gun writer Ross Seyfried published an article in the Double Gun Journal, where he discussed loading smokeless powder in black powder-era sporting rifles. His conclusion was pretty much the same..."pressure is pressure".
LawrenceN is quite right...if the gun will handle it...it should be safe to use. With one caveat: This can only be determined by a competent gunsmith familiar with those arms. I'm not a purist either...but do prefer to take a cautious approach, when dealing with these old guns.

 

[jethunter]

Some years back, gun writer Ross Seyfried published an article in the Double Gun Journal, where he discussed loading smokeless powder in black powder-era sporting rifles. His conclusion was pretty much the same..."pressure is pressure".
LawrenceN is quite right...if the gun will handle it...it should be safe to use. With one caveat: This can only be determined by a competent gunsmith familiar with those arms. I'm not a purist either...but do prefer to take a cautious approach, when dealing with these old guns.

If it isn't safe for low pressure smokeless loads then it is not safe for the equivalent pressure black powder load either.

That said, I will not use the faster smokeless pistol powders (bullseye, trailboss, imr700, etc) in my old bp handguns. Unique is close to fffg BP burn rate and that's as fast as I go.

 

[appleorangefish]

If it isn't safe for low pressure smokeless loads then it is not safe for the equivalent pressure black powder load either.

That said, I will not use the faster smokeless pistol powders (bullseye, trailboss, imr700, etc) in my old bp handguns. Unique is close to fffg BP burn rate and that's as fast as I go.

Have you ever tried slower medium-burn or even rifle powders in pistol cartridges? (like Blue Dot, Acc. No 5 or 7, or even Accurate 2400 or IMR 4227?
I know some rifle folks will use 4227 or 2400 for reloading 45-70 in original winchesters and springfield trapdoors since it apparently mirrors the pressure curve of FFg, though I don't know if that translates over in a smaller pistol cartridge.

 

[Win 38-55]

I reload for my original Colt SAA made in 1882, using a pure lead bullet, and 5744, which is a medium speed powder, with ballistics slightly lower than the original. That being said, mine is tight, with no end play. Carefully inspect your cylinders, inside and out to see if there any large pits or bulges, and with the hammer down, grab your cylinder and see how much endplay there is. Also, grab your cylinder and pull back while measuring the gap between the forcing cone and your cylinder. If it's within original factory spec (can't recall what that is at the moment) then you should be good to go. If your gap is twice as large as spec, it's still safe to shoot, but you'll lose a lot of pressure out the gap so definitely do not load to original ballistics or you'll be way over pressure. Matter of fact, 5744 is my powder of choice for both the 44 Russian and 45 Schofield. The peak pressure is lower than BP for the same ballistics.

 

[fingers284]

I reload for my original Colt SAA made in 1882, using a pure lead bullet, and 5744, which is a medium speed powder, with ballistics slightly lower than the original. That being said, mine is tight, with no end play. Carefully inspect your cylinders, inside and out to see if there any large pits or bulges, and with the hammer down, grab your cylinder and see how much endplay there is. Also, grab your cylinder and pull back while measuring the gap between the forcing cone and your cylinder. If it's within original factory spec (can't recall what that is at the moment) then you should be good to go. If your gap is twice as large as spec, it's still safe to shoot, but you'll lose a lot of pressure out the gap so definitely do not load to original ballistics or you'll be way over pressure. Matter of fact, 5744 is my powder of choice for both the 44 Russian and 45 Schofield. The peak pressure is lower than BP for the same ballistics.

Thanks for that, I use 5744 ( now that 4759 has run out) exclusively in my old cartridge rifles but would have never considered it for my 1883 SAA but it makes sense to me... thanks.