Yep, that's a looker! Since you're not going to be knocking down silhouettes with it, .38SPL or .38 Long Colt will be just fine. And should you decide to go down a rabbit hole, reloading for that cart should be fairly simple, though a number of vendors are showing 'IN STOCK' for ammunition for this, including Buffalo Arms and Midway. My suggestion would be to stick with Cowboy Loads (850fps or under) or black powder loads. Congrats on a real drooler, Tim!
Roger that Cap!! Thank you sir. Thanks for the load suggestions. A little disappointing that it's not strong enough for a silhouettes? Not that I have access to those but still Oh well.
THis is my favorite ballistics chart.
http://poconoshooting.com/blackpowderballistics.htmlPer his chart equating that to a Taurus 5" barrel, you're shooting around a similar spec to .45 ACP factory ball ammo , 80 fps slower, with 100#'s of energy less.
Colt 1851, .44 8 inch 35 grain 3F Pyrodex 143 grain, .457 ball 786 ft/s 242 ft-lbs 17.77 ft-s
.36 Remington, 1858 6.5 inch 25 grains 3F Pyrodex 160 grains, Conical 816 ft/s 236 ft-lbs 18.65 ft-s
Contrasted against:
.380 Factory Ammunition (love me a .380)
Gun Ammunition Bullet Avg Speed Calculated Energy Calculated Momentum
Ruger LCP Tulammo 91 gr FMJ 882 ft/s 157 ft-lbs 11.46 ft-s
Ruger LCP Federal 95 gr FMJ 817 ft/s 140 ft-lbs 11.08 ft-s
.38Spl:
38 Taurus 5" MFS 158 gr FMJ 791 ft/s 219 ft-lbs 17.85 ft-s
The soulless wonder:
9mm Factory Ammunition
Gun Ammunition Bullet Avg Speed Calculated Energy Calculated Momentum
Glock 19 Federal (brown box) 115 gr FMJ 1094 ft/s 305 ft-lbs 17.97 ft-s
Glock 19 RWS (orange black box) 124 gr FMJ 1078 ft/s 320 ft-lbs 19.09 ft-s
Glock 19 Winchester White Box 115 gr FMJ 1168 ft/s 348 ft-lbs 19.18 ft-s
and my slab-sided drug of choice:
.45 ACP Factory Ammunition
Taurus 1911 Winchester (white box) 230 gr FMJ 780 ft/s 310 ft-lbs 25.62 ft-s
Taurus 1911 Federal (brown box) 230 gr FMJ 795 ft/s 322 ft-lbs 26.12 ft-s
.45 ACP Reloaded Ammunition
I'd reckon that .38 should make a resounding clang, when it hits the silhouette.
Nice piece.