Made Some .36 Caliber Paper Cartridges

I drove up to Dixon’s Muzzleloading Shop today. Their rifle and revolver selections were really picked over and they had no 3Fg left in stock (although a truck with BP is supposed to arrive on Monday). The only caps they had in stock were RWS 1075s, which were being rationed to one tin per day per customer.

One item they had was an Uberti Paterson revolver. It was the model with no loading lever. Unfortunately, the price tag was flipped over and I couldn’t see what they were asking for it. The store was busy so I didn’t bother them about it.

I ended up buying 15 grain and 20 grain powder flask spouts, a spout to fit the new plastic Goex powder cans, the current issue of Muzzleloader magazine, and the 2021 Dixie Gun Works catalog, plus two 100 count bags of Rush Creek .380 round balls.

After getting home I made up 50 cartridges for my Uberti Colt 1851 Navy. I’ve had a can of Hodgdon Triple 7 for a few years and decided to use up some of it. T7 supposedly loses potency after you open the can. However, it’s about 10 - 15% more potent than Goex to start with. When I’ve shot it in the past it’s been very easy to clean up afterwards.

For these cartridges, I used Zig Zag rolling papers for the tubes, with end caps from the Guns of the West kit I got recently.

One downside to this method of paper cartridge construction is that when using cast balls, it's difficult to ensure that the sprue remains facing upward when you drop it in. I expect accuracy to be fine for plinking or short range target shooting. For hunting or match shooting, swaged balls would be more consistent.