.36 Navy Load?

[rifle]

Wild Bill was said to like the high velosity of the Navy Colt. He may have raised the velosity by using a fine powder like priming powder FFFFg for flintlocks. I've tried it and it does seem to shoot faster and penetrate further with a finer powder. The fine powder burns faster due to black powder being surface igniting and fine powder exposes more surface.
I have had little debates as to whether or not fine powder exposes more surface than larger grained powder. It is known that finer powder burns faster than course grains.
Some shootists elite just compress with the loading lever and crush the powder into finer granuals while loading. 
Anywhoooo.....75 yards is a long shot witNavy Colt but they can do it.
I read Wild Bill used a Dragoon the day he shot Tuttle (spell) in the square. I read Wild Bill got the pair of engraved Navy Colts later after guiding some appreciative rich guy on a buffalo hunt.
I believe a 36 ball could make it to a mans heart at 75 paces by going in between the ribs and coming out between the ribs.
The 36 ball wasn't known as a great penetrating ball at longer range (anything but short range) especially when a man was wearing a buffalo robe coat. People supposedly petitioned Colt to make a better penetrater and that turned out to be the 1860 Army Colt 44.
Anywhoooooo....if you want to get the best,or hottest, load from a Navy Colt maybe you should try FFFFg black powder? That peps it up pretty well. Converting to cartridge using a heavier bullet peps the Navy Colt up too using smokelss powder in the amount recommended by the manufacturers of the conversion cylinders.
The 777 powder peps the Navy up real well. So well that 27gr. fffg hurt one of my Navy Colts. The FFg 777 is a better choice than the FFFg in a cap&baller. The FFFg was highly accurate but the FFg isn't bad neither.
The Navy can only get so much powder in the chambers with a ball so that limits it's velosity. I've reamed the chambers of Navy Colts and that little bit makes a little more room but....reaming the chambers to get the ball sized at groove diameter or .001-.002 inch more than groove raises the "pressures" and the velosity so doing a reaming is a matter of choice for the operater. The higher pressure from reamed chambers and tight balls in the barrel make for more velosity so...more penetration. Modifying a gun like that is done at the operaters choice making safety an issue but....I've never had any pressure problems. I thunk I still have at least half my head still up there?

[harleydavis]

I read Wild Bill used a Dragoon the day he shot Tuttle (spell) in the square. I read Wild Bill got the pair of engraved Navy Colts later after guiding some appreciative rich guy on a buffalo hunt.

Wild Bill used 1851 Colt .36 caliber revolvers in his fight with Davis Tutt. The use of Dragoon revolvers has been disproved in recent years. It is not known exactly when or from whom, the ivory handled Colts were obtained. The engraving on the backstrap has been attributed to a grateful populace of Hays City. The other version has to do with the supposed buffalo hunt but the politician involved was never on a hunt with Hickok. Most mysteries may never be answered beyond any doubt.

[Oregon Bill]

i thought I saw somewhere that Bill used paper cartridges with the conical bullet, as issued in the Civil War.

[Advertising]