Great write up, for us over loaders.

[corbanzo]

Self-admitting overloaded lover of velocity. But definitely took some good points from this well written essay.

http://www.customsixguns.com/writings/high_pressure_loads.htm

[Larry L]

I have a world of respect for the Linebaugh bunch but I think he misses one important point, you better have a quality firearm to get away with this. Unfortunately not all firearms are created equal and not all will stand up to high pressure loads. I can say that from experience with a German import in 44 mag. Beautiful gun I took in trade, a SAA clone. But it couldn't hold up to normal 44 mag factory ammo as those rounds blew the ejector rod off of the barrel. It's now a wallhanger. I'm sure there are a lot of folks that would argue about the powder burn rate. There's a lot of folks using much faster powders that are not having the issues he claims. There's a lot of good info to be gleaned from it though and well worth reading if you are a 44 mag fan.

[corbanzo]

I agree that the difference between "trapdoor" and "modern" firearms is a very important split.  And same with the quality of modern firearms as you mention. I try and push my .454 as hard as possible, while staying safe, and looking at the difference of starting and hot loads between powder manufacturers loads, average work up loads from myself and others I have seen posted, and sources like FA arms, which guns can handle the hottest around.


There are a lot of guns out there that with the availability of hot ammo as there is nowadays they should already be wallhangers - unless they are in the hands of somebody who has experience loading for the gun and knows its limitations.


It's a hard lesson as you have gone through to see something marked "44 mag" that was obviously built by someone who understans dimensions, but not pressure.