Doc McCoy, SASS #8381

Sounds like a modern shotgun with 3 1/2 " chamber for modern smokeless loads. Meaning with BP the gun can handle anything you're willing to shoot! Back to your question. The old formula was a balanced load, equal volumes of powder, wand and shot. You can do a little experimenting to visually find how much powder fills 1/3 of your hull, same for shot & wad. Then you have the max. Try it and taper down to suit your comfort as needed. Somebody will come along and tell you what those numbers are. I have not used the full 3 1/2" hull so I don't have the exact numbers. I knew a guy who shot 200 gr in his 10 ga. I tried one, then stuck to trying his 180 gr loads!

As I recall, the Dixie Gun Works catalog showed the original load as 105 grains of BP. I have used that in my old Colt Model 1878 (hammer double) and in my original Winchester Model 87. Both guns ate it up with no trouble. I don’t recall the shot charge, but it was similar to what you asked and what Three Foot said. I shortened the hulls so they fit the chambers. I had a chamber gauge. You didn’t say if you have a modern or antique shotgun.

Plenty of them in the house. It’s just practice for the winter. When driving with the camper to AZ we cross time zones every few days. It’s no big deal after a while. Coming home it’s often two changes in a day. EST to EDT at the NM border and a time zone that afternoon in W TX. If EDT bothers a person I guess they must be miserable on the road. I just call it time travel and laugh.

I check all my rounds with a 38-40 case gauge. I think I got it from Midway.

I love my 38-40 for BP. It shoots soooo much cleaner with BP than my 45 with smokeless. The carrier seldom needs more than a casual swabbing after 10 stages. I only clean the barrel on Saturday night at a 2 day shoot. I use big lube bullets and Goex (or equivalent). It took some learning to get the loading process up to speed, but not a big deal. It was one of the first cartridges I learned when I started reloading.

Way to go Muerto!