The British Bulldog lives again!

[tinbum]

In the past I had tried a few experiments with this revolver and low doses of smokeless powder, it ended in stretch marks.

Since then I have had it tested at a local gunsmith which turned out fine. Today I ran a couple of dozen 158 grn rounds through on my test bed with black powder before taking it into the garden and doing some plinking with my home cast, soft lead 110 grn SWC bullets.

Firstly, what a mess! Every shot is a symphony of smoke, soot and smell!
Secondly, I am getting around 500 fps from a .38 s&w. Is that normal? Would moving up to 140 or 158 grn effect the fps much? I know I could try it myself, but I’m not much into needless housework

TIA

[BaskervilleDog]

Back in the days when we were allowed these guns in the UK I had a .44" Bulldog and loaded it with Black Powder under a .429" bullet, God knows what it weighed but it was cast from the Factory Mould for the Colt Army, repro of course.
It shot, that's all I am prepared to say! Cleaning was a nightmare, smoke was great! I loaded cut down 44 Special Cases and had about 10 spare. It was an experiment, nothing else and not one that I have ever done since. In fact the gun was cashed in during the Pistol ban, I seem to recall it made £150 which was nearly ten times what it cost!