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The Darksider's Den / Re: Which rifle for BP?
« Last post by Mako on Today at 08:18:35 AM »A .38 full of BP will never be accused of being a bunnyphart load
Abilene,
That is very true. I have had pardners on the posse I was shooting with who were picking up spent brass come to the unloading table apologizing for not finding any of my rifle brass when I was shooting a .38 Spl when I tell them I was shooting a .38, they say, "oh, well I found these .38 cases", and I say "that's mine". The BOOM from a .38 is impressive to those who shoot smokiless powder. Of course there is fire and SMOKE too. I get a good plume of fire from my 20" and 19" .38 barrels.
Truth be told, the .44 Russian Case and the .38 spl have almost identical volumes., I usually leave the powder measure with the same adjustment for .38 spl and .44 Russian with coarser powders like 2F, reenactor, skirmish (floor sweepings) or if I got goofy and loaded 1F. I can get more good quality 3F under a 200 grain in a .44 Russian than a 160 gr .38 Snake Bite. However the heavier .44 bullet recoils a more and smacks the steel harder.
Many times I have had spectators come over to the unloading table (where I am charging my cap guns with ball and powder again) and ask what I am shooting. You know how it is, we tend to attract people who are curious when they see the fire and smoke. They almost always ask if my rifle is a .45, when I tell them it is a .38 spl, they are almost disbelieving because they have been watching other shooters with Rugers shooting 105 grain .38 spl loads that have a rainbow trajectory out to the target 30 feet away. But, if was shooting one of my .44 rifles they just nod and say, "it figures". They really have no idea. Now the guys shooting the 38gr of BP out of a .45 with a 250gr bullet mainly make more smoke., but there is a deeper boom and more fire.
Plus bunnypharts don't smell like burning sulfur...well unless they are a VERY large bunny.
~Mako