The kids and I have been shooting wax bullets out of some specially made 45LC cartridges that use a 209 primer for a couple of years now. I thought about doing quick draw at one time and got the stuff to practice with. After realizing I don't have the time to seriously compete at it the gear has just become a play time thing. Our 4th of July celebration includes a lot of time on the range. I would like to let the kids use the wax bullets more, but only have one 45LC. I do have 4 black powder pistols that would shoot the wax bullets, but the cap isn't enough to send the wax so a little powder would be needed. My question is how much BP to load? Was hoping someone here has experience with this. Thank you

10 grns would be more than enough, I'd think.

I think that old cartridges like the 44-40 sent that lead away with 40 grns.

2 or 3 grns would be enough.

Experiment a little.

I have just came in from experimenting. I didn't use BP as I still had a partial can of pyrodex 3F equivalent down at the range house. My repro 1858 revolver only cleared the barrel 50% with 5 grns. Cleared 100% but with no velocity with 10 grns. Shot just a bit faster than a 209 primer in the LC with 15 grns and a #11 cap.
My load for the kids will be 15 grns of 3F on top of the #11 cap, this should keep them busy the 4th on a budget. A couple pounds of BP goes a lot farther with more bangs than $50 worth of fireworks. That is as long as they don't get to carried away with the cannons, nothing like watching golf balls go down range at close to 1000ft/sec. They can get a terrible slice at that velocity.

I've been sending a .54 round ball down the barrel of my Lyman percussion single shot with 35-40 grains of 3F.

I used to shoot cotton balls out of a .45 muzzleloader rifle back when I was a kid I would load 45 grains or 90 grains if I wanted a big bang. With essentially a blank you can pretty much load what you want. With kids involved, I would try 20 grains in a pistol.

Bulk packs of cheap ear plugs work great out of a 45 colt for practice rounds just be careful they leave a heck of a welt even with just a primer for power

I used to remove about 2/3 of the powder from a .22 case after bulling the bullet then drip the case full of melted candle wax. Fun to shoot but still dangerous, most times it would only pierce one side of an aluminum can but I didn't weigh it precisely or anything.

I made up some casings for my 38 way back in 1970 something to shoot the wax, had read it in some magazine.. Just drilled and counter set 1/2 dozen casing to hold 209 primer. Then take one them slabs canning wax push the casing into it..Was always amazed at how accurate some of them wax plugs was at 20ft. I still have them casing in my gun room but haven't used them in years..Have to admit way back in the day I popped a few stray dogs in the butt with wax bullets. They come sniffing around my females kennel so I lite them up with wax..Usually didn't see them mutts come back to big a hurry..

Mac

What about AA 5744 rather than pyrodex ?

What and miss out on the neat white smoke ! LOL
Dennis

I actually like the idea of smokeless and will try that another time.
For the 4th we will have the cannons out, so will not have loose smokeless powder around for a mistake to be made. I am afraid if 400 grns by volume of smokeless ended up in a cannon it would make for a very bad day. Not to mention, we would miss out on the neat white smoke.

FWIW2U: The .45 LC cartridge and a .410 shotgun shell are interchangeable, and you can cut the .410's down for a cheaper loading.Uses a 209 primer also. Use a hollow punch of the right size for an over the powder wad out of cereal boxes.

Just curious as to why wax or purpose

coonman, the wax bullets are used in cowboy quick draw shooting by some groups. The wax over a 209 primer shoots fairly well at the short distance, cant recall maybe 20ft. My best guess for why it started would be the lack of lead spray and it dosen't hurt the round target with light in the center used. I seen some fellas from the Ks chapter doing it and thought after watching them I could compete at it. After practicing a bit I still think I could, but don't have the time to invest to compete and win consistently. I like to win and would have to invest the time if I did join in. Lack of recoil and added safety of no lead spray does make it a great time for the kids to participate in shooting with the family without picking up bad habits like flinching and trigger jerking.

Also, you won't kill yourself!