.44 Magnum BP PPB

Building black powder (BP) paper patched bullet (PPB) bore rider cartridges for .44 Magnum chambered Henry lever and single shot rifles. Due to the very long cartridge length it will be a single feed for lever rifles.

Components are - Starline brass that's been fire formed and annealed (NO sizing required), Federal LPPs, 35.x grains of Swiss 3F powder (completely fills the case), Circle Fly .030" card wad, Accurate 42-296 slick ("slick" - a bullet with no lube grooves and meant to be wrapped with paper patching) cast @ 1:20 tin:lead and drops at an average 299 grains, Fidelity 10lb paper (rhomboid shape, double wrapped dry).

After the brass is cleaned (much attention is placed on getting the inside case residue removed as much as possible as leaving it there will afford purchase to the case upon detonation and aid in case stretching), annealed, and primed, it's charged with BP by powder weight. The card wad is pushed into the case mouth and the wad/powder column is compressed .125" below the case mouth using a press compression die. The PPB is put into the case mouth - it will be loose and require some light case mouth squeeze using a press mounted crimp die. The result is the PPB is not hard crimped but can be rotated in the case and even removed and replaced back.

The PPB slick has a hand-in-glove fit to the .424" bore of each of the aforementioned rifles.

BP PPB bore rider cartridges have no OAL consideration because the PPB is minutely smaller in diameter than the rifle's bore and rides inside the rifling bore diameter. This is as opposed to any groove runner bullet (lubed or patched) that has a diameter that's larger than the rifling bore, and typically slightly under, or possibly over the rifling groove diameter. In the case of these Henry rifles the bore for each is .424" and their groove diameter is .431", as measured with a lead ball slug pushed through the entire bbl length.

Black powder fueled cartridges require no air space between the powder and the seated bullet, which could cause a ringed bbl or worse.

Black powder cartridge detonation results in incredibly less fired pressure results than any common smokeless powder.

Range firing results to follow.