Re: 4F

3
Been following a discussion elsewhere about the duel between Davis Tutt and Wild Bill Hickok, and it's been suggested that if Hickok made the lethal shot with a Colt navy, he had to be using something faster than 3F, with the conclusion being that Hazard powder was the likely propellant, and that it was equivalent to 4F or perhaps even Null-B.
Sadly, like most such discussions, nobody knew anything about Hazard powder nor had ever fired 4F in a .36, so tempers became heated, remarks were passed, and impotent old gentlemen who ought to have behaved better became frustrated and began to curse and thrash about like turtles in a vinegar crock.
I don't have any 4F to experiment with, so came here on the chance that somebody might have tried it, or dissected an antique revolver cartridge in biology lab, or just gotten out of the hospital after having poured a Walker Colt full of Null-B on a whim, and you tell me i'll "shoot my eye out". Snort.

Re: 4F

5
Carbonizer wrote:Been following a discussion elsewhere about the duel between Davis Tutt and Wild Bill Hickok, and it's been suggested that if Hickok made the lethal shot with a Colt navy, he had to be using something faster than 3F, with the conclusion being that Hazard powder was the likely propellant, and that it was equivalent to 4F or perhaps even Null-B.
Sadly, like most such discussions, nobody knew anything about Hazard powder nor had ever fired 4F in a .36, so tempers became heated, remarks were passed, and impotent old gentlemen who ought to have behaved better became frustrated and began to curse and thrash about like turtles in a vinegar crock.
I don't have any 4F to experiment with, so came here on the chance that somebody might have tried it, or dissected an antique revolver cartridge in biology lab, or just gotten out of the hospital after having poured a Walker Colt full of Null-B on a whim, and you tell me i'll "shoot my eye out". Snort.
4f powder was not available till 1920. Myself I have never used it in my flintlock for priming, I use my main charge powder just like Daniel Boone did. I would never use it in a revolver either.
"Hillary Clinton is the finest, bravest, kindest, the most wonderful person I've ever known in my whole life" Raymond Shaw

Re: 4F

6
I had some 4f when I first started shooting my flintlock as it was recommended for priming. I found I had more flash in the pans with 4f than with the 3f I was using for the main charge so I stopped using it. I need to find some holy black - I haven't had any since we moved north over a year ago :(
Live like you will never die, love like you've never been hurt, dance
like no-one is watching.
Alex White

Re: 4F

7
Keith appears to have loaded his SAA with about double the charge supplied in combustible cartridges intended for the 1860 Colt army, it's not surprising he blew the thing up. People do supposedly use 4F in smaller caliber percussion revolvers, .36 and under. The rule of thumb is powder charge less than or equal to 10% projectile weight. The folks who do this operate on the assumption that Hazard's powder was 4F, and developed by Hazard in collaboration with Colt as suitable for Colt's revolvers. W. W. Greener illustrates a revolver powder on page 552 of The Gun And Its Development which tends to support the conclusion that pistol powders were manufactured sub 3F.
Mind you, i'm not one of those big bang guys. Pipsqueak gallery loads suit me fine in my navies. Faster burning powders do interest me though since they mean less fouling, and less un-burnt powder out the muzzle.
Anyway, the rule of thumb load for 4F in a Colt navy is like 13 grains with a typical conical, that just doesn't sound very scary, but then i've never had any 4F to experiment with, my mom refuses to sign for it, the old bitch.

Re: 4F

9
Yeah, what i wouldn't give for a happy birthday, just once. I dunno, sometimes it seems that the harder i try the tougher things get, just once to bask briefly in the affection of a doting parent or kindred soul, and i could die happy. I had a pet woodpecker once, and taught it to peck out "good morning Humphrey" in Morse code, but it caught the rinderpest and died.

Re: 4F

11
I shall seek out a dog with some experience firing 4F out of percussion revolvers, when i am sad he can lick my hand, and at other times discuss ballistics and the unfathomable secrets of the chronograph while swilling Redstripe.

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