Black Powder pistol ok with Rifle powder

1022man

I picked up a black powder revolver a while back. It states in the book that only to shoot FFF powder. Would I be OK shooting FF? I don't plan on shooting it alot, and have several jugs of FF.

perry shooter

Hello I would not shoot a small caliber pistol 36 and smaller but light to normal loads of FF in a 44 and larger will pose no problem The more F's the faster the powder will burn so heavy charges will not hurt any thing it just will not burn a high % of the load before the bullet gets to the end of the barrel thus you get big muzzle flash[:0][:p][}:)]

Wolf.

1022man,
Repost this inquiry in the Black Powder and Cowboy Action Shooting Forum to help generate additional responses.

As you know, FF is a coarser grained powder than FFF. I believe you can use it and if you do, you should probably increase the load by 20 to 30 percent IF the revolver cylinder will accept the additional capacity while still allowing you to seat the ball completely. I think it will.

What I don't know is how fast FF will burn as compared to the finer grained FFF. I imagine (I'm guessing here!) that the FF will burn slower. So, if FF DOES burn slower than FFF, the comparatively short 7 1/2" to 8 1/2" barrel of your revolver MAY not not allow complete burning of the FF powder, causing perhaps, problems related to fouling, accuracy, slower muzzle velocity, etc.

Hopefully this helps. While not providing you a direct answer, it will, perhaps provide you with related issues to consider.

allen griggs

What caliber?

1022man

It's a .44 cal, 1858 remington, bought from Cabela's.

charliemeyer007

2Fg will work. 3Fg would work better ie burn cleaner. Read up on preventing chain fire. On empty chambers bust at least one cap to dry out nipples. Do not dry fire period. Clean asap when done for the day.

knightrider

I wouldn't suggest it. I had a 44 1860 Colt that I did that with. Over time the gun became so lose that I didn't feel safe to shoot it. Just stick with fff powder.

allen griggs

I can't see how it would shoot loose with FFg powder. This powder will give you less power than FFFg powder.
Is this a brass frame pistol?

v35

Fill it up so the ball is flush or just below flush with the cylinder, compress it good and let er rip.
See how it goes.
Don't underload any revolver to the point that the rammer wont reach far enough to compress the charge.
If you get too much or too little powder in, unscrew the nipple, fish out the powder and drive the ball out using a punch.
If you can't find a satisfactory load between those limits forget FFG.
Don't worry, you'll never loosen up a Remington Army with any FFG or FFFg load you can cram in there.
I doubt you will get FFFG velocity using FFG.

mongrel1776

Given charges of equal volume, 2F will generate less pressure and energy than 3F. The individual grains are larger, thus slightly more air filling a given space (powder measure or cylinder chamber).

This is why .45 is considered roughly the cut-off, in terms of maximum caliber, for using 3F; in .50 and larger 2F is generally recommended, and in the big musket calibers (.62 and above), 1F is preferred. The use of finer-than-recommended powders CAN result in unsafe pressures. NOTE -- having said this, I will admit to having used 3F in both .50 and .54 caliber rifles, as well as 2F in .45 calibers, but when using the finer-grained powder in the bigger bores I keep my loads moderate (shooting roundballs only, this is easily done, since I have no desire or incentive to try to get "maximum" range or energy out of my guns). As Allen stated, all else being equal, the use of coarser powder than called for is going to result in reduced power, so a steady diet of 2F in a revolver would take longer to tear the gun up than 3F loadings of the same volume.

1022man

Thanks Guys. It is a steel frame. It's been sitting in the safe for a year and here lately I've been dying to take her out!