.44 mag

[Longcarbine]

Sorry for all the newbie questions, I shot flintlocks for 25 years but know nothing of BP cartridge. I just bought an 1885 low wall in .44magnum and was wondering about reloading for this with black powder. Would 2FF or 3FFF be best and how many grains would be a good starting load, I will be measuring by volume. In muzzleloading the ball sets right on top of the powder, for cartridge would I use a thin over powder card to compress or would the space left make it a dangerous load or simply use a large enough load so that the bullet itself compresses the powder. I'm not going to be doing any large volume reloading in fact I was thinking of getting one of those Lee single caliber reloaders for this, what do ya'll think...Thanks!

[Nuclearcricket]

I would guess somewhere in the 30 to 35 gr volume of powder would work. I would use 3f. In my 44-40 I just use powder and bullet and dont have any problems with either a hand gun or rifle. Just adjust your powder volume so that when you seat the bullet it compresses the charge just a little and you should be in good shape.
One thing you do want to be mindful of is the bullet lube. You want to use lube made for black powder and not the hard lubes for use with high speed smokeless. SPG, DGL and some of the home brews all will work good. That rifle with BP should be a fun thing to get out and enjoy the great outdoors with.
Sam

[Longcarbine]

I use a bee's wax/deer tallow mix for muzzleloading I think would work fine if I add a little more wax to stiffen it up a bit. Yep! I think it's going to be a lot of fun, I may even deer hunt with it this fall or try it on coyotes.

[Randy Bohannon]

Be sure and anneal your brass as 44 mag brass is designed for high operating pressures.Your goal is to get it soft enough to seal the chamber and reduce or eliminate blow by

[Nuclearcricket]

Good thought Randy, after I had made my post that thought came to mind and then kind of wondered off. Your rifle should work just fine for deer and up close yots should be a one shot drop. Your lube mix sounds good. You don't need any of the super hard bullets, someplace between 30-1 to 16-1 will work just fine. Depending on your chamber, you might not even need to size the bullets, just shoot them as cast.
Sam

[Longcarbine]

Good thought Randy, after I had made my post that thought came to mind and then kind of wondered off. Your rifle should work just fine for deer and up close yots should be a one shot drop. Your lube mix sounds good. You don't need any of the super hard bullets, someplace between 30-1 to 16-1 will work just fine. Depending on your chamber, you might not even need to size the bullets, just shoot them as cast.
Sam

What diameter bullet would you recommend.

[Randy Bohannon]

A soft cast .429-.431 with 1:20 alloy and bullet with big lube grooves. RCBS makes a RNFP in .428 it's being reported to cast .430" that is excellent. Midway has the double cavity mould for $80.00 a very good price for a iron mold with a "rebate".

https://www.midwayusa.com/product/126912...-flat-nose

[Lumpy Grits]

I shoot in SASS comps with a .44mag use'n real BP.
Starting point for loading is to have the bullet compress the powder(3F)1/8-3/16".
Wether you'll want/need a card wad on top of the powder depends on what the target tells you.
What will you do for fouling control? Wipe or blow tube?
Gary

[Longcarbine]

I shoot in SASS comps with a .44mag use'n real BP.
Starting point for loading is to have the bullet compress the powder(3F)1/8-3/16".
Wether you'll want/need a card wad on top of the powder depends on what the target tells you.
What will you do for fouling control? Wipe or blow tube?
Gary

I will be wiping. Is fouling a big problem with BPC. Is powder fouling or lead fouling more of a dominate. I never really saw a problem with it when shooting muzzleloaders as far as powder fouling, I could shoot 20-25 rounds with out having to wipe the barrel, even in the smaller calibers. Of course lead fouling was never a problem because the ball never touched the inside of the barrel, being patched and all.

[Lumpy Grits]

Fouling control is vital for accuracy in BPCR.
G.