Help with round ball gallery loads

[JohnBz]

Finally got .433 balls to load some 44 Russian gallery rounds.

Here is what I have come up with so far:

1st shell is 11 grains FFF with milk carton card ready next to it.
2nd shell is .5cc of corn meal on top, another card ready.
3rd is card on meal and .429 sized ball ready next to it.
4th is firmly seated ball with lube pressed into top gap between ball
and shell. Slight crimp on shell.

Does anyone see any problems with this arrangement?
I have never done gallery loads before and need some guidance.

Thanks............

 

[glowe]

A .433" ball only weighs 120 grains and I wonder why you chose only 11 grains of BP? It would be so much easier to buy .430" nitro cards and load only with BP and the ball. The milk carton wads are way too thin and will burn up in combustion giving potentially erratic performance of the ball.

Track of the Wolf has .430" diameter wads ideal for .44-40 caliber, .025" card cheap, and you can use two or three to reduce BP loading if wanted. Use them to cushion and seal the powder and place them right under the projectile. A bag of these contains 1000 wads and will cost you about $10 to $15.

Second, you are loading only around one-third of the standard BP load for 44-40 and with a ball about half the weight of a standard lead bullet, you might not see velocities high enough to stabilize the ball. If I had to guess, you would be lucky to see 400 fps. The rifling and gun was designed to use 200 grain RNFP at velocities around 750 fps.

 

[Drm50]

Why BP at all? I've loaded many of the large bore short case types like 44Russ , 442, ect with smokeless, a sized pure lead ball. No filler or wads.

 

[applefish]

Finally got .433 balls to load some 44 Russian gallery rounds.

Here is what I have come up with so far:

1st shell is 11 grains FFF with milk carton card ready next to it.
2nd shell is .5cc of corn meal on top, another card ready.
3rd is card on meal and .429 sized ball ready next to it.
4th is firmly seated ball with lube pressed into top gap between ball
and shell. Slight crimp on shell.

Does anyone see any problems with this arrangement?
I have never done gallery loads before and need some guidance.

Thanks............

If you want to be authentic, you can get away with even less than 11 Grains of powder!

Here's some original Load Data from 1887. A 120 grain round ball (corresponds to just under .433") on 7 grains of black powder.

In 1905 they used a 110 grain round ball on 7 grains of black powder, looks like UMC either changed to a lighter alloy, or pulled a Hornady and started cheaping out by slightly undersizing projectiles.

And for gallery loads, Smith and Wesson recommended 3F black powder.

 

[glowe]

I do the same, but I believe that issue was discussed in the OP's earlier thread? Also, there is some question whether the OP has a 44 Russian or a 44 Frontier??

44 Russian bore size?

Forgot to mention that without a crimp, your round ball can well move forward during the firing of the gun and it would not be good to have space between the ball and BP. If it rolls forward too far, it can jam your revolver.

 

[JohnBz]

Gary...........thanks for the lead on thick wads. It is a Russian 44.

Applefish .........charts are very interesting.

I was trying to go with semi original gallery loads and a Lee .7cc yellow dipper gives 11.1 grains of FFF.
Since I couldn't seat the ball any deeper with my Lee die, I went with the filler.

thanks again......

 

[Jim Watson]

Let us know how it works out. I once read that the .38-44 Gallery load was a dirty shooter, not enough pressure under the round ball for good burn.