Bent_Ramrod wrote on May 24^th, 2014 at 4:17pm:


Thanks, went to the range today, looking for some 357 magnum I could pick up.  Found lots of nickel.  May use those first just to dial in my machining method, before I use good brass.

Thanks again, I'm learning.
Navy

Fill the case with black power up to the base of the bullet.  Do not use fillers.  If the case capacity is too great, use Fg powder.

The compression required for an accurate load is strictly a unique process involving your rifle, a specific bullet, a brand of powder, and specific primer combination.  There are no hard and fast rules for powder compression.

You will never have a problem with a rung barrel if you fill the case with black powder.

Keep on hav'n fun!
MikeT

I found some Grade 1 PTL blanks on Amazon.com and have bought a few boxes to experiment with.
I opened f and measured the powder charge in them at 1.31 grains of a medium gray 'flake' propellant.

I went back on Amazon this morning and found there are still 4 boxes offered as shown by the Qoute below:
"
.22 Caliber Gray Level 1 Powder Load, 100/pk
by Simpson Strong-Tie
1 customer review
Price:      $7.34 & FREE Shipping on orders over $35. Details
Only 4 left in stock.
Sold by Bellcan Corp and Fulfilled by Amazon. Gift-wrap available. "

These are 'star crimped' so might fit your ".38 use" better than the Grade 2 PTL blanks as a primer and included 'booster' charge for igniting a black powder main charge.

Best Regards,
Chev. William

Got my rifle back from the gun smith today.  Long story, but he had some problems getting the job done, however he did an excellent job, the price wasn't bad, and the gun looks really nice.

He fixed the hammer, and then used the Dixie cases with the green (#2) power loads.  No powder or bullets, just wanted to make sure the hammer would work.  

As some have mentioned, the Dixie cases have very thin bases.  He initially had them hitting too high, and then as he modified the hammer, the striking point on the .22 rimfire was lowered, until it hit where he wanted it to.  

While he was getting the hammer position right, some of the cases were damaged.  If the gun shoots well, I'll be ordering some cases that hopefully have thicker bases.  If those don't pan out, I'll make my own, as some have suggested here.

The target below was shot at 50 yards, with open sights, a bean bag under the front of the barrel.  The first part of the bore is a little rough, but the last half is very shiny.  As others recommended, I simply filled the case completely full.  Put the ball in separately, then the full case.

The gun opens like a break-action shotgun.  For the first 2 shots, I found myself pulling on the trigger that opens the rifle, rather than on the trigger that releases the hammer.  Wonder if that ever happened during battle.

Anyway, it's a pleasure to now have shot a single shot rifle.  I can see why it might become addicting.

BR, thanks for your response.  I'll have to take a better look at the rifle.

I don't think the chamber is oversize, the cartridge just barely slides into the chamber.  I think what's happening is that the firing pin is hitting the rim of the blank pretty hard, and the base beneath the rim is thin, and the cylindrical wall is only about .014 inch.  So the force of the firing pin is wrinkling the wall.  Could be wrong, but there isn't much material there at all.

Just got some .38 special cases in today.  I cut them .1 inch longer than the Dixie cases.  The Dixie cases are about .38 short rimfire, my rifle is chambered for .38 long.  But the .38 special cases have a thicker base by about .1 inch, so the case will still have the same amount of powder.

Other than that, the case I made is similar to the Dixie case, just a thicker base.  

Spent most of today shortening the cases, only drilled 2 of them out, and only tried to set off one blank.  It fired, but I'll be moving the blank still further towards the edge.  The firing pin barely caught the edge of the blank.

The Dixie cases actually wrinkled some even when only firing the blank, so the new cases already are performing better.  Hope that continues to be true when the hole moves towards the edge.

Thanks again for all the advice I've received.