Greetings all. Several years ago when a friend gave me the reloading stuff I started with I also got Speer #8 & 10 manuals. In the #10 it shows a round ball "gallery load" in several calibers. I was immediately fascinated and determined that I would one day load some of these. Between then and now I researched and read all I could find about them. About 3 or 4 weeks ago I finally got everything aligned and loaded up 50 of them. Let me add here that I am talking .44 Spl here. Recipe from Speer #10 calls for W-W cases CCI 300 primers and a Speer .433 120gr ball. I selected the Unique load @ 3.0gr. There are no minimums and maximums listed, just the one weight.
Actual loads were made using new Starline brass trimmed to 1.14" Wolf LP Primers, Speer .433 120gr ball & 3.0gr of Unique.
I shot these in a Charter Arms Bulldog with a 2" bbl, S&W 696 with a 3"bbl & a S&W 29 with a 4" bbl.
First up with the Bulldog I fired 5 single action. Accuracy was abysmal and you could actually see the ball flying towards the target. My 696 was not much better altho it did put a couple to within 4" of POA. I noticed that the cylinder was a little sticky opening and most of the primers were backed out a little. Case extraction was no problem though I did notice that the outside of the brass was almost completely and uniformly covered in soot.
So I loaded up the S&W 29 and cut loose.... well one round anyways cause the primer backed out to the point of tying up the cylinder. Got it freed up, tried it again with the same result. No problems with case extraction and lots & lots of soot.
When one of these goes off it sounds sort of like a flintlock where you can distinguish between the primer ignition and the charge ignition with a third sound of the ball striking the target. As far as report, it is no louder than an air rifle and sounds remarkably like one. Recoil is of course almost non-existent. All rounds were fired SA at a fire & check target rate of speed as I was a little concerned with a barrel obstruction. It looks as if all the primers backed out to some extent or another with the ones from the 4" bbl being the worst. I have maybe 20 or so left out of the original 50.
So friends, neighbors and reloading experts worldwide, what is going on??? Speer #10 sez that accuracy can be very good out to 50' and I guess if hitting the barn is your only aspiration then there is some truth in their claims. I was hoping for something I could use for plinking & such but the primer issue concerns me. What could or would cause this issue. Is there a fix for it?? Anybody else ever load anything like these??
Thoughts & comments welcome.