Has anyone here tried "express" loadings in BP? 

Can greasers run at 1700+ fps, or is this territory strictly for paper patching?

My experiments this summer did not include GG.

"Why do it?" : We're just curious what the Victorians were trying.

I did do some "express" or "fast" BP loading of the 303 Brit
and the -30 USA/ aka 30-40K
Got 70 grains of BP, VERY compressed-- with difficulty BTW.
220 grain cast GG bullet
Velocity about 1750fps.
I did it just to see if I could get the 70 grains
as per the original 1890s loadings of these cartridges.
Did not do extensive accuracy testing, though.
The original loads for the 40-65 was a 265 grain bullet.
Same with the 40-72, 40-70, 45-90.  They all are loaded with a light bullet and Could be considered  Express loads at the time
My "standard" loading of my 40-65 could be considered "express"
A 371 grain DDEPP bullet clocking 1402fps
beltfed/arnie

Some years back on another forum I read a topic where guys were experimenting with pushing cast bullets to see how fast they could shoot without leading. Their results got loads up around 2500 fps with good accuracy, and no leading.

45-70:
Mold: Lyman 457658
Bullet: 490 grains
Powder: IMR3031      
Weight: 47.0 grains
Velocity: 1704 fps
Lube: Alberta Schuetzen Lube
No Gas Check

Yes plain base cast bullets can be shot without leading to 1700 fps without a gas check.
However it usually requires using smokeless powder and it is very difficult to exceed 1700 fps with Black Powder.

The fastest I was able to shoot 100 cast bullets (no gas check) in a row without leading was 1,826 fps.
Of course the quality of the Alberta Schuetzen Lube contributed to the success to shoot cast bullets at high velocities.

MartiniBelgian wrote on Dec 21^st, 2022 at 2:11am:


I, too, have a copy, here on my PC. A scan of it is available from google books. I'd missed that Walsh's nickname (or perhaps that was the name he used in The Field) was "Stonehenge," but looking at my copy, I see it's on the title page.

I found Ross Seyfried's articles on the BPE cartridges interesting. There were printed in Wolfe magazines about 20 years ago and are still available in print. I believe he tried both GG and PP with BP, and I do need to review these.

westerner asked about the cartridge. I'm having an unused Ruger No.1 converted to 450/400 BPE, for my son who's eager to play with these. We just finished resizing some cases this week, but the rifle won't be ready until summer, I'll guess.

As for me, the 360 BPE is more of interest. (It's similar to the 38-55 but used lighter bullets.) Two weeks ago I got to inspect a side hammer Alexander Henry miniature with this chamber. What a truly delightful rifle! Only the Hagn miniature can be compared.