I took the opportunity to shoot a little bit last week. My range opportunities are limited these days so I decided to see what the new Johnston & Dow bullets and paper cartridges would do.
http://erasgonebullets.webstarts.com/index.htmlI tried out three different types of cartridges... pull tab type with the paper twisted over the bullet, twisted tail type, and the more traditional envelope style with the bullet glued to the paper. All cartridges were loaded with 30 grains Goex 3F and 216 grain bullet cast from the Johnston & Dow replica bullet mold made by Eras Gone Bullet Molds. I also included a lube cookie in each cartridge.
Closer look at each type
All types were easy enough to load with the Pietta Remington the easiest of all. This is due to the fact I modified the loading window in order to accommodate the tall pointed bullets.
I also had to reshape the rammer in order to avoid deforming the pointed bullets. I used a tapered drill bit and then fine tuned the shape with a cone shaped Dremel bit.
Loading on the Pietta 1860 model takes a little more finess but it is not difficult. If you pay attention then it will go smoothly. I had to replace the Pietta loading lever assembly with one from an Uberti 1860. The entire loading lever assembly from an Uberti is a direct swap with the Pietta loading lever assembly. The Uberti rammer is already a deep pointed profile that accommodates pointed bullets with no modification.
Loading the Uberti 1860 was also easily accomplished and no modifications were necessary.
When it comes to performance of the Johnston & Dow bullets I found that more needs to be learned. The Pietta 1858 did not shoot them well. I had trouble hitting a 10 inch gong target at 25 yards from a bench rest, I never did get a good group with the Remington. I suppose some experimentation with loads is in order to see if the Pietta '58 can be coaxed into shooting the Johnston & Dow bullets with any accuracy. The Pietta 1860 handled the bullets really well with 3 inch groups from a rest at 25 yards. The Uberti 1860 liked the pointed bullets as well with 3 to 3 1/2 inch groups.
After shooting up quite a few of the paper cartridges I shot a few rounds from each revolver with loose powder and bullets only. The results were pretty much the same with the 1860 models doing well and the Remington fairing poorly. I used 30 grains of loose powder for these rounds too. In hindsight it may have been better to try some other loads.
Edited to say.... all photos posted courtesy of Flickr.