Hey, Evil Guy - you don't sound evil at all! Just a good ol' Darksider!
Welcome and glad to have ya join us! We'll do our best to bore you with our experiences (speaking for myself ONLY
![Wink ;)](https://www.cascity.com/forumhall/Smileys/cowboys/wink.gif)
) or help with any questions you may have. SOMEONE here will probably know of an answer - and it's usually a right answer!
The only real complaint I have of Pyrodex pellets is the price, and that can't be helped. Yes, Pyrodex IS harder to ignite, that's why CCI (one reason, anyway) made their Magnum caps, but I had this solution.
I recently became the proud owner of a Colt 1st mod. Dragoon. (2nd Gen) A you may know, the Dragoon cylinder was designed to handle 50 grain charges, down from the 60 grains that a Walker would hold - and had trouble with. I don't want to get into the discussion with everyone why they don't think I should use this big charge - I KNOW it isn't needed for CAS nor is it all that good to feed this monster a steady diet of
BIG, heavy charges. I DID, however want to try it out at full blast, just to get the feel of the original experience.
I had maybe 20-30 Pyro. pellets left over from my only purchase of them about 10 years ago. I have a brass spout that is sized to throw a 20 gr. charge of loose powder. It throws a MEASURED charge of about 17.5 - 18 grs. depending on the type, granulation, lot, and make of loose powder. I simply threw a spout full of loose powder then put a Pyrodex pellet in on top. (By the way, it could EASILY have held 10-15 grs. MORE, had I wanted to be foolish.) Anyway, I lit it all with some Remington caps.
BOY! It sure was fun - and VERY accurate. It was also the first time I ever experienced a BP C&B gun that kicked more like a gun using nitro powder - and a good amount of it, too. I wouldn't want to speculate how much powder was actually wasted going unburnt out the barrel, but ... It didn't seem to waste ANY, but I'm sure it did.
Due to the ease of ignition of loose 3f GOEX, the Pyrodex lit off perfectly. Since then, I have settled on a charge (volumetric) of about 45 grs. which measures a bit under 42 grs. I use one of the adjustable Walker Flasks which were often issued with the original Dragoons, especially like mine - a 1st Model.
IF you wish to see this charge in action, here's a link to our club's inaugural shoot. I'm the guy in the Indian War era uniform near the end of the "film clip."
http://www.cascity.com/castv.htm?bcpid=716337934&bclid=823382883&bctid=1197714975Happy Shooting
and keep yer powder dry!!