Paper cartridges.

[Fightin Creek Slim]

Howdy Marsh:
I've got a batch of em for my pistols but I don't shoot em very often. I usually load up a bunch of spare cylinders fer my Remingtons the night before a match, And since I got them conversion cylinders fer them newfangled cartridges I'm gettin down right spoiled and lazy.  :roll:
 When I do shoot them paper cartridges its mostly outta my 1860 Army Colts.

[David L]

Hiya Marsh,

No experence with paper cartridges here, just watching the thread as anything on the subject of BP is interesting.

I found a little info at the search engines but did not bookmark it, wishing I did now. Just wanted to say good luck with 'em and I hope we have some more folks that can add to this as I'm interested too.

David L

Man cannot live on peanutbutter alone, him need bread too!

[Singing Bear]

I make the tear-n-pour type for both 44's and 36's.  Sure beats having to lug around extra powder, balls and wads.  :-)

[Dan Chamberlain]

Here's an idea.  Glue a ball to a wonderwad and glue the wonderwad to a pyro pellet!  Wrap the whole thing in paper and stuff it in the gun!  No one would have to know your secret.  They'd think you were a master pistolero!

Dan C

[Fightin Creek Slim]

Dan!:
That thar's outright Heresy :roll: Ya aught ta be ashamed fer saying such sacreligos thangs. :shock: Next thang ya know you'll be tellin us to go out 'n buy them newfangled inlines with plastic stocks on em. :twisted:

[Dan Chamberlain]

Dan!:
That thar's outright Heresy :roll: Ya aught ta be ashamed fer saying such sacreligos thangs. :shock: Next thang ya know you'll be tellin us to go out 'n buy them newfangled inlines with plastic stocks on em. :twisted:

Cap and Ball revolvers ARE inlines!

Dan C :-D

[1860]

All kidding aside, I wonder why they have not just made a 150gr. pellet with a bullet kind of glued to the end.  It must be madening for those inline guys to have to count out 3 pellets for a reload, and the time it must take.... :eek:  

I don't use paper cartridges anymore, I just prefer my method.  I roll my own charges of 25grs or so in a standard Cig paper and twist the ends.  I stuff 30 or so in a cig pack I get from a guy at work, the box type.  The balls I just keep loose in my back pocket and lube is in an old/small tooth past tube-(heat it up and pour it in).  I just found that the paper cartridges were too fragile with the ball in them unless you had some sort of container that didn't let them roll around.  I just load up my pockets, take a walk and go shooting.

1860

[The Shrink]

1860

When made that way, with twisted ends, do you need to punch the ends through the nipple?  That's the operation that's keeping me from doing this, it just seems like it slows down a streamlined process.  

Or do you break the cartridge before loading it, using the paper for a wad?

[David L]

I was just thinking about what 1860 said about the cigarette papers. The main drawback with paper cartridges in my opinion is having to punch a hole through the nipple after you load the cylinder, otherwise they are fast, and easy to deal with.

Bring your scientific minds to bear on this idea and see what you think. Remember how to make a fuse from a 100% cotton shoelace? Why-not do the same thing with the cigarette papers? Dilute a small amount of BP in water, keep mixing BP into the water until you have it almost like past, yet still retain some of the water, a soupy mix. Now place your cigarette papers into this mixture and let it soak, lay out to dry. Now roll the 20 - 25 gr of BP into it and load. Don’t bother with punching the hole, the paper “should” set off the charge….OR will it?

Anyone tried this? What are the thoughts of those that have been dealing with BP for a while….WILL it work of am I just “all wet” here? Would it be safe?

Just a thought……

David L

[Fightin Creek Slim]

Howdy David:
Loading the paper cartridges isn't that much of a hassle. Rolling them is kind of a pain though. I use Top cigarette papers. I roll the paper around a round ball using a dowell. I then pour in my powder charge and twist the open end. When I've got a batch of them made I pack them onto an empty Hornady bullet box left over from the last batch of swaged round balls. This keeps them from getting bounced around and damaged. In the old days paper cartridges were carried in cartridge boxes that had individual dividers to protect the cartridges. A heavier paper was also used in the cartridges than cigarette paper. Cigarette paper is nitrated paper which is a combustable paper. A nipple pick could be used to pierce the paper but it is much easier and quicker to just tear off the twisted end of the cartridge and pour the powder into the chamber then stuff the paper into the chamber atop the powder and seat the bullet. I stil use crisco to seal the chambers or during the hot weather a mixture of crisco and beeswax. I prefer the paper cartridges for my Colt revolvers. With my Remingtons I just swap out empty cylinders for loaded uncapped cylinders.

[1860]

I just bite the ends off, sometimes I just kind of fold them in half over the cylinder, depending on the paper type they will break and the powder pours in( fold them in have and rub them in the chamber mouth-they break easy).  I stuff the rest of the paper in and ram a ball.

The TOPS papers are the best for loading ball and powder, they are thick.  I like the thinner papers for my method because the break easier.

To be real honest, most often I just take a flask, once you get a routine down it's really quick enough.  I can usually survive a horde of charging beer cans by just reloading from a flask.  I use the papers when the cans are trying to escape by floating down the creek I've just tossed them in...

1860