Several years ago I made this page, which is a chart for loading Colt’s black powder revolvers. Figures were taken from the manuals.
I used to hear ‘You can’t overload a black powder pistol. You’ll run out of room before you can put in enough powder to cause damage.’ Metallurgy not being quite as advanced a century and a half ago, the Colt Walker revolver was known to burst its cylinder from time to time when overloaded (or – and I’m guessing – loaded to spec). I wonder if this is why the Walker was discontinued and replaced by the various models of Dragoons?
Where did the myth of ‘You can’t overload a black powder revolver’ come from?