Hi Vapo- I respect your advice on darned near everything, but KNOW your knowledge is about two mountains higher than mine when it comes to pistol cartridges in particular.

Have you any advice for a good working load with a 200 gr. cast bullet from a Ruger Blackhawk in .38-40? I'd like something about middle of the range, velocity-wise. (I tried a load recommended elsewhere, but won't try IT again. Need a small plastic mallet to drive the fired cases out of the cylinder!)

Anybody else with any genuine REAL LIFE experience with Blue Dot and the .38-40, I'd appreciate your knowledge too.

TIA

AC

I only have data with 180 grain lead bullets....to wit:
clays/univ.....6.5 grains....900 FPS
Viht n340......7 grains......900 FPS
Unique.........6.2 grains....850 FPS

if one likes jacketed bullets or (I'm assuming) gas checked bullets of 200 grains:
2400...........13.7 grains...1050 FPS
IMR-4227.......18.6 grains...1050 FPS
unique.........8.4 grains....1000 FPS

This data comes from the Hornady manual 5th edition and is only for the Ruger Blackhawk....they warn against using it anywhere else!

I'm surprised that they do not list Blue Dot anywhere for this revolver and cartridge....

FWIW, I wouldn't be afraid to use the data for the 200 grain jacketed bullets with lead bullets if the lead was gas checked.....and agan/.....only in the Ruger blackhawk

quote:

Originally posted by vapodog:
I only have data with 180 grain lead bullets....to wit:
Unique.........6.2 grains....850 FPS

if one likes jacketed bullets or (I'm assuming) gas checked bullets of 200 grains:
2400...........13.7 grains...1050 FPS
IMR-4227.......18.6 grains...1050 FPS
unique.........8.4 grains....1000 FPS

This data comes from the Hornady manual 5th edition and is only for the Ruger Blackhawk....they warn against using it anywhere else!

I'm surprised that they do not list Blue Dot anywhere for this revolver and cartridge....

It may partially be rough chambers in my revolver's cylinder that's causing my extraction problems, I guess. The load that was recommended to me was 8.5 grs of Blue Dot, and I cut it to 8.0 grains to try... I'll never use THAT load in my gun again.

I too am surprised that none of the manuals I have (which is substantially more than two dozen) shows any loads for the .38-40 with Blue dot.

So, as I do have some Unique on hand (for my 28 ga. bird guns...Ruffies, greenheads, Huns, prairie chicks), guess I'll have to give 6.5 grs. of that a whirl with my 200 gr. GC straight lino .401" bullets and see what happens. Thanks for your help.

(N.B.: In the meantime, I'm going to polish the chambers in the cylinder a bit too.....)