Terril Hebert, writing at Ammoland.com, recently tested a few black powder revolvers using black powder and a couple substitutes (Pyrodex and Triple 7). With the larger caliber revolvers, he also tested using standard lead balls and conical bullets. The revolvers tested were a Cimarron 1849 Colt 31 caliber (essentially a pocket pistol), a Cimarron Remington 1858 Navy 36 caliber, and a Taylors & Co. 1858 Remington 44 caliber.
For the .31 caliber he just used a round ball, but didn't give the weight. For the .36 caliber, he used an 84 grain round ball and a 130 grain conical bullet. For the .44 caliber, he used a 147 grain round ball and a 220 grain conical. With one exception, the loadings using the substitutes had higher velocities than the black powder loads--sometimes substantially higher. In fact, at the more powerful loadings, Hebert was able to get over 1,000 FPS with some of the .36 round ball loads using a substitute and over 800 FPS with the 130 grain conical bullet; and over 1,000 FPS with both the ball and conical bullet loads in the .44 when using the substitutes. The latter is particularly impressive considering it was with a 220 grain bullet. That is, respectively, comparable to factory loaded smokeless ammunition in .38 Special and betters factory loads in .44 Special.
Be sure to check out his article for the full information on the velocities for the difference charges used. But even the more mild charges still yielded respectable results.
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