So today I took my 1860 Army out to shoot for the first time. I had four packs of paper cartridges from Buffalo Arms (Hornady round ball and 28 grain powder) and a bag of loose Johnston & Dow conicals. My powder flask was loaded with Goex FFFg, and I had two spouts with me: one for 25 and one for 30 grain.
The paper cartridges loaded and fired no problems at all. They popped in quick and easy, and I had no problem seating them with the lever. However the problem came after I shot through the paper carts and moved on to the conicals.
I loaded with 25 grains of powder, and when I tried to seat the ball it stopped with about a quarter of an inch protruding from the top of the cylinder. It would absolutely not go any further.
After ten or so minutes of digging the ball out (thank you, soft lead) I thought, "well maybe it's fouling from the paper cartridges." So I ran a bore brush through the cylinder chambers to clean them out a bit and tried again. No luck. The ball sticks about quarter of an inch out, and I'm pulling down on the lever as far as it will go. At that time I got fed up. A line was queuing at the range, and I didn't have a smaller powder measure with me to try a different load, so I packed up, dug the ball out when I got back to my car, and came home.
So...what's the deal?
Mine is a Second Generation Colt, not one of the reproductions. My understanding was that the 1860 Army could take up to 30 grains of powder with the Johnston & Dow ball (I believe it was made using the Era's Gone mold). Mesa Winds' cartridge former for the Army is designed for 30 grain with the Johnston & Dow. Cap And Ball's former has a smaller charge, but is still 24 grains of powder (can't believe that 1 grain of powder would make THAT much difference). And there's plenty of videos and blog posts out there of people shooting J&D cartridges loaded with 30 grains of powder.
This is my first time trying to load conicals in a cap and ball revolver (I also have an Armi San Marco 1851 Navy). I didnt lubricate the ball before loading (I intended to lube the front of the cylinder) so I dont k is if that would make a difference.