The Goose
NES Member
Another interesting old gun. Well, actually the gun is a Pietta repro, but the design is Civil War era. Another early stab at a breech loading cartridge carbine. Like a Sharp's, a Burnside and several others it still used a seperate percussion cap for ignition. The Smith used a rubber cartridge case that would swell and seal off escaping gases. Today the cases are nylon, reloadable and last for a while. The original groove diameter was at least .515 or larger. However, like most modern .50's the Pietta us .510. I cast a pure lead Lee .515 350 gr bullet and sized it to .512. Lodgewood Firearms had a special run of these molds made by Lee. Lubed with SPG. By volume the charge was 40 grs of Goex 2f, which by weight is 35 grs. With black powder I always determine the charge by volume, but I find weighing charges to be more repeatable. Dropped the charge down a 24" drop tube and used a compression die with a .030 Walter's wad. At that point the bullet can be thumb seated. I put a small piece of scotch tape over the charge hole in the base. Some folks put a small piece of newspaper on the inside which seals the hole and combusts on ignition. And there we have it, a loaded .50 Smith cartridge. Range report to follow eventually. I have a dozen projects in the fire right now.
