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lancaster
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how much grains had Samuel Colts drachm?
      #357757 - 31/10/21 09:48 PM

this is from a 1865 Colts instruction


Colt is giving the powder charge in drachm or dram and there are different so its not eays for me to decide which one is the right.

wikipedia have different and most logical would be for me to use the apothecaries system for gunpowder but 60 grains for a dram is to much.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dram_(unit)

the common dram is given with 1,771 gramm or 27,27 grains and seems to be the right one. is this the drachm used by colt in 1865?

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DarylS
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Re: how much grains had Samuel Colts drachm? [Re: lancaster]
      #357765 - 01/11/21 04:52 AM

Today, Drachm is an apothecary weight of 60gr.

Due to the loads, ie: 1, 1 1/4, 1 3/5 - Colt was using the dram weight of 27.5gr., not the apothecary's weight of 60gr. per drachm.

In the mid 1800's, it appears both English and Americans were interjecting dracham and dram as being the same measurement in their writings.

This is evident with James Forsyth's book 'The Sporting Rifle and it's Projectiles, printed in 1862/3, where he talks of rifle loads in a 14 bore rifle not having
any great recoil with up to 5 drachms. Now, in a 14 bore rifle, 5x27.3 = 136.5gr. and yes, that is not great recoil in a 9 1/2 pound rifle, however 5 x 60 =
300gr. DOES. I've shot that and it lifted me up off the log chunk I was sitting on. Had my feet not been back to the rear of the log, it would have knocked
me over. I was expecting only the recoil of 6 drams (165gr.) mu hunting load, however, with talking, I had double charged the rifle with 330gr.2F.

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Daryl


"a gun without hammers is like a Spaniel without ears" King George V

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lancaster
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Re: how much grains had Samuel Colts drachm? [Re: DarylS]
      #357767 - 01/11/21 05:55 AM

yes, logic tells it must be the dram for 27,27 grains

I read the maximum load for the .44 as 1 3/8 dram whats a little bit over 39 grains blackpowder and sounds rigth if you think about later cartridges like 44/40 or the original 45 long colt which was loaded also with 40 grains, iirc.

question was if britain and the united states still share the same dram around 1850 but if we look deeper america was still a colony in this for a long time.

--------------------
Norwegian hunter misses moose, shoots man on toilet
.
bringing civilisation to the barbarians

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DarylS
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Re: how much grains had Samuel Colts drachm? [Re: lancaster]
      #357769 - 01/11/21 11:25 AM

The cylinders of most revolvers in
44 held around 37 to 40gr. The larger
44 dragoons of course held 45gr. to 55gr.
The US. stopped being a colony in 1778 however their commerse was likely in British nomenclature for some time.

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Daryl


"a gun without hammers is like a Spaniel without ears" King George V

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lancaster
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Re: how much grains had Samuel Colts drachm? [Re: DarylS]
      #357775 - 01/11/21 04:05 PM

Benjamin Disraeli "Colonies do not cease to be colonies because they are independent."

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Norwegian hunter misses moose, shoots man on toilet
.
bringing civilisation to the barbarians

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DarylS
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Re: how much grains had Samuel Colts drachm? [Re: lancaster]
      #357778 - 02/11/21 03:16 AM

I'd wager there are a lot of Americans who disagree with Benjamin Disraeli.
I've always thought colonies are "holding"/"submissive" to the Empire Ruler. That ceased in '76 at the start of the war & most certainly was the rule by '78.

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Daryl


"a gun without hammers is like a Spaniel without ears" King George V

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lancaster
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Loc: There's a lighthouse in the mi...
Re: how much grains had Samuel Colts drachm? [Re: DarylS]
      #357781 - 02/11/21 06:07 AM

something that startet as a colony will be
if you called former or not the word colony is still in

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Norwegian hunter misses moose, shoots man on toilet
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bringing civilisation to the barbarians

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