I am aware of the benefits of APP, but I just can't bring myself to do it. Twenty years of Cowboy matches have been shot exclusively with blackpowder, and I am dedicated to unlocking "the mysteries" of this stuff. My wife has finally started back shooting after a number of years absence due to surgeries/injuries and my ammo production will need to be increased even further. I load for too many calibers already(along with the casting and lube making) and this is the only factory bullet I use. Just trying to cut down on the time spent at this chore. Hope Speer gets back to producing their version of this bullet.
Ah My Good Navy Six -
Therein is the difficulty. Since nobody commercially sells a .38 Long Colt (.365) HBRN, Using a .38 (.357) HBWC bullet does make it easier, but is actually a bit of a kludge and the only ones available have "smokeless lube".
If one wishes to stay with real BP, then one will actually need to get a differrent bullet. If I might suggest,
going with .38 LC heal-based bullets would solve a number of issues!
The plusses are numerous:
They are available from a couple of sources, so you would not need to cast,
they actually fill the grooves better and are more accurate,
they "fit in " better with a BP Navy conversion
you can actually use .38 spcl brass
the only downside is crimping, which can be done either with a hand tool or a lee "factory crimp " die .
lubing can be done before or after loading by dipping.
hth
prof marvel