Hangtown Frye,
Prior to 1894 cartridges used by cowboys were all loaded with black powder. Beginning in late 1894, smokeless powders made their appearance.
I would certainly agree with your friend about Swiss being the closest equivalent we have to the excellent b.p.'s of a century + ago. I had done a bit of research and posted information in this thread a few years back........
http://www.theopenrange.net/forum/index.php?PHPSESSID=9f3ed090e0ef271d9e56e43d2752b86a&topic=13.0About 10 years ago I had the opportunity to obtain some early W.R.A. CO. 44 W.C.F. cartridges and was able to compare the b.p. contained in those cartridges to the ones we have today. I dissected the cartridges, annealed the cases, replaced the primers with current ones, placed the powder back into the cases and used bullets from a Lyman 427098 mold (copy of the original bulllet). Lube was SPG.
Long story short, the early b.p. used in those cartridges had the ability, with the 2 lube grooved bullet, to launch many bullets accurately without fouling out the barrel (hard ring of fouling developing at the muzzle and extending back into the barrel).
The only other powder able to do that was SWISS. Cartridges loaded with Goex, Schuetzen and Elephant would foul out the barrel in 12 rounds or less with accuracy degrading rapidly**. By comparison, Swiss would run for 50+ rounds (most fired at one time) with no “foul out” or loss of accuracy. The current lot of KIK powder appears to have the same ability as Swiss in my limited testing of that powder. More to be done......
My concern with the full load (40 grs by weight) of Swiss 3F is that it produced a velocity that was 10% higher than the original b.p. loading (1,301 f.p.s.) and thus the pressures would be higher than the standard cartridge the ’73 was designed for. I would feel much better about using that load in a reproduction ’73 which would be stronger.
These days, 36 grs of Swiss 2F in modern brass replicates the original ballistics and shoots very well. Not much compression is required either.
Nice to hear that you found some original loading tools for your vintage ’73. I have loaded 44 W.C.F. cartridges with the same tools…..pretty neat…..like stepping back in time…..
Based on my experience, the fouling issue will be the same with the 2 lube grooved bullet that the Winchester mold produces. If you get the chance to pick up some Swiss 2F or KIK 3F (has about the same ballistic strength as Swiss 2F) that would be a plus.
** (Goex and the other powders work fine with the “big lube” bullet and also the Accurate 43-215C due to their additional lube capacity.)
http://www.cascity.com/forumhall/index.php/topic,40897.0.htmlHave fun!
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