Smokeless power in 1858 Remington New Army.. BOOM!

[FC]

https://youtu.be/Q_XNWeMqCT0

[Dr.Hess]

Yeah, you don't want to do that.  I wonder how much powder was in there.  You can get cylinders that take a modern smokeless cartridge for those guns.  The smokeless load is pretty small in comparison to the black powder load.  Regardless, the pressure profiles are way different and just loading smokeless in there is A Bad Idea.

[Racepres]

Wondering aloud if a decent place for that Trail Boss Stuff??

[FC]

I’ve got a conversion cylinder. Officially you’re not to exceed 850 fps. The lead bullet just makes a big, flat petal when it hits metal. Maybe I should do a Paul Harrel test on clothing and ribs?

I still am intrigued at how powder outside of a firearm isn’t that impressive when ignited.

[Dr.Hess]

If you look at comparable loads, a 44-40 had 40 grains of black powder.  A low velocity load has 6.5 grains of bullseye.  I would GUESS that the cylinder on that pistol would hold in the 40 grain area of black powder, give or take.  So, trying to even load that to 5 grains of a smokeless powder leaves a whole lot of potential for too much powder.  Not saying to do it, certainly, but it would be pretty easy to over charge a cylinder made to take 30 or 40 grains of powder when you're trying to use something that 5 grains may be too much for.  Whoever shot it was lucky no one got hurt.