Thread: 8x58R Black powder jacketted bullets ?

I have tried BP in the .303 - as you suspected, you cant get enough powder in to make it worth while. Sort of turns it into a .32-40. I mean, you could use it.

I have used jacketed bullets in the .44/40 with black powder successfully. I used to put a priming of fast smokeless in to help with fouling. It was very accurate - five shots around an inch at 100yds and then it would start fouling and you would wipe it out and shoot another group.

The smokeless was 6 grains of H4227 / AR2205 (and 32 grains of BP on top of that. No wad under the bullet or anything, no grease cookie or nothing. (Tried all those things.) Bullet was Hornady XTP.


It turned out the load above was very sensitive to how much smokeless priming was used. Any more than 6 grains and groups would go all over the place, looked like a dropped lasagna. Any less and it would foul too quickly I think, same result.

I would try the same with the 8mm (you have to start somewhere.) 6 grains of 2205, then enough BP to compress it. Advantage is you can compress and load the jacketed bullet itself instead of seperating compressing and bullet seating as you would with a soft lead bulllet.


Dammit I would be all over BP again with a flintlock or a rolling block if I could get some black powder down here. It is simply not possible to get it down south now.