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Author Topic: Older late 1890's BP cartridge revolvers?  (Read 1369 times)

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Offline 1911crazy

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Older late 1890's BP cartridge revolvers?
« on: November 17, 2012, 06:33:31 AM »
I been eyeing a 32cal turn of the century black powder cartridge revolver.  Is there a way to load it with a light load of modern gun powder today to shoot it?  Or where do i get the BP load from?
I found a few of the older turn of the century revolvers but i'm not sure how to shoot them if i purchased them.
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Offline Mikey

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Re: Older late 1890's BP cartridge revolvers?
« Reply #1 on: November 18, 2012, 02:27:34 PM »
Crazy: if you are talking about a 32 S&W, look in the old Lyman manuals for smokeless powder loads.  Bullseye, Red Dot and Unique are used and give light loads which should be safe but I would still check with a gunsmith familiar with those older revolvers.
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Offline Cleburne

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Re: Older late 1890's BP cartridge revolvers?
« Reply #2 on: November 23, 2012, 02:54:59 AM »
I have no experience with shooting smokeless rounds in the old revolvers but have loaded black powder in .38 S&W cases for an old Iver Johnson top-break I had awhile back. As in all black powder cartridge reloading, simply fill the cases with enough powder to allow about a 1/16" crush when seating the bullet. I was very pleasantly surprised at how well my old five shot pistol performed. One word of caution though, .... use soft lube for bp use. I shot commercial bullets that had hard lube intended for smokeless rounds. After shooting a few cylinders, a projectile hung up in the bore, short as the barrel was. The hard lube cakes up in a bore terribly. No harm to the gun, but I had a heck of a time dismantling the gun and punching the slug out of the barrel when I got home.  ::)
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Offline Airsporter

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Re: Older late 1890's BP cartridge revolvers?
« Reply #3 on: November 29, 2012, 11:07:25 AM »
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Offline NickSS

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Re: Older late 1890's BP cartridge revolvers?
« Reply #4 on: December 11, 2012, 12:28:19 AM »
I have a couple of Iver Johnson 38 S&W revolvers that I shoot occasionally. All I do is look at an old Lyman reloading manual and pick a tarting load and load them up.  I forget the charge but it was in the manual and works fine with a 125 gr RF cast bullet.  Loads of fun to shoot it.
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Offline Bob Riebe

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Re: Older late 1890's BP cartridge revolvers?
« Reply #5 on: January 08, 2013, 08:31:15 AM »
By the 1890s most firearms had steel that would withstand the smokeless loads.

Just do not run hot loads.

I have a Spencer pump shotgun that I have run boxes of smokeless shells through with no problem.
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Offline shinjin

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Re: Older late 1890's BP cartridge revolvers?
« Reply #6 on: January 30, 2013, 03:46:41 PM »
Trail Boss!
I've used it in several of my older pre-1898 revolvers like my Colt's 38 Long and 41 Long and its pretty good. Most of the Sass guys I know use it for their BP cartridge  guns
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