Some Old-School Black Powder Shooting

[JGalt]

Beautiful day today, I thought I'd shoot some reproduction black powder rifles and pistols. From top to bottom is a 50 caliber Lyman Plains rifle, a reproduction of a Civil War era 1863 Remington Zouave rifle in 58 caliber, an Italian-made 58 caliber Hawken rifle, a reproduction Remington 1858 revolver in .36 caliber, and a reproduction Colt 1860 Army revolver in .44 caliber.

I have all the necessary items to shoot these in a toolbox: Powder, bullets, patches, percussion caps, tools, and stuff.

I'm going to shoot the 58 caliber Hawken rifle first..

It's loaded from the muzzle end by pouring a measured amount of powder down the bore. I'm using Pyrodex, which is a cleaner-burning substitute for black powder. I'm shooting a 440 grain cast lead maxi-bullet that packs a wallop, and loading it with 70 grains of Pyrodex. That's a medium load, as I could go up to 100 grains of powder. The bullet get greased with a lubricant, shoved down the bore with a ramrod, then a percussion cap is put on the nipple...

As you can see it's pretty accurate. I'm only shooting at 25 yards but this rifle is good out to 300 yards..

Next I'm going to shoot the 1863 Remington Zouave rifle. I'm using some different bullets that have a hollow base but this rifle really likes the traditional Minnie ball, which I don't any of right now. So it won't be as accurate...

Next I'm going to shoot the reproduction Remington 1858 revolver in .36 caliber. I start by pouring 15 grains of Pyrodex P (pistol) powder in each chamber, followed by some cornmeal as a buffer. Then I press the 36 caliber ball in the the loading leaver on the pistol. I thin put a dab of Bore Butter bullet lube on each chamber to keep from having a chain fire. That can happen when the fired chamber sparks over and ignites the adjacent chambers, which is not something you want. The last step is putting a percussion cap on each of the nipples...

Last is the reproduction Colt 1860 Army revolver in .44 caliber. It gets loaded the same way. I'm going to shoot this one at a 12" steel target I have 75 yards up the hill..

Tomorrow comes the fun part: Taking these apart, cleaning them with hot soapy water, blowing them dry with an air compressor, oiling them up, and putting them away until next time. They rust up pretty fast if you don't do that.

Adios.

 

[bluzman61]

Beautiful day today, I thought I'd shoot some reproduction black powder rifles and pistols. From top to bottom is a 50 caliber Lyman Plains rifle, a reproduction of a Civil War era 1863 Remington Zouave rifle in 58 caliber, an Italian-made 58 caliber Hawken rifle, a reproduction Remington 1858 revolver in .36 caliber, and a reproduction Colt 1860 Army revolver in .44 caliber.

I have all the necessary items to shoot these in a toolbox: Powder, bullets, patches, percussion caps, tools, and stuff.

I'm going to shoot the 58 caliber Hawken rifle first..

It's loaded from the muzzle end by pouring a measured amount of powder down the bore. I'm using Pyrodex, which is a cleaner-burning substitute for black powder. I'm shooting a 440 grain cast lead maxi-bullet that packs a wallop, and loading it with 70 grains of Pyrodex. That's a medium load, as I could go up to 100 grains of powder. The bullet get greased with a lubricant, shoved down the bore with a ramrod, then a percussion cap is put on the nipple...

As you can see it's pretty accurate. I'm only shooting at 25 yards but this rifle is good out to 300 yards..

Next I'm going to shoot the 1863 Remington Zouave rifle. I'm using some different bullets that have a hollow base but this rifle really likes the traditional Minnie ball, which I don't any of right now. So it won't be as accurate...

Next I'm going to shoot the reproduction Remington 1858 revolver in .36 caliber. I start by pouring 15 grains of Pyrodex P (pistol) powder in each chamber, followed by some cornmeal as a buffer. Then I press the 36 caliber ball in the the loading leaver on the pistol. I thin put a dab of Bore Butter bullet lube on each chamber to keep from having a chain fire. That can happen when the fired chamber sparks over and ignites the adjacent chambers, which is not something you want. The last step is putting a percussion cap on each of the nipples...

Last is the reproduction Colt 1860 Army revolver in .44 caliber. It gets loaded the same way. I'm going to shoot this one at a 12" steel target I have 75 yards up the hill..

Tomorrow comes the fun part: Taking these apart, cleaning them with hot soapy water, blowing them dry with an air compressor, oiling them up, and putting them away until next time. They rust up pretty fast if you don't do that.

Adios.

Wow, nice arsenal, J!

 

[night_son]

Awesome. Thanks for posting.

 

[Tijn Von Ingersleben]

Beautiful rifles.

 

[Canon Shooter]

Why use that bracket/mount thing when shooting the rifles?

 

[Vastator]

Great post! I love BP as well, Ahhh... Nostalgia!

 

[gipper]

Very cool. Always wanted to own and shoot black powder guns, but never have.

Thanks for sharing.

 

[JGalt]

Why use that bracket/mount thing when shooting the rifles?

That's a Caldwell Lead Sled. It gives you a steady rifle rest and comes in handy for long-range shooting.

 

[fncceo]

While I personally don't use black powder because of all the extra cleaning it requires, I would be proud to take a bullet from a black powder shooter.

The ker-bang just sounds so much better.

 

[WinterBorn]

Sounds like a great day of shooting!! I had a .36 caliber BP revolver years ago. I thought it shot very well.

Looks like you have quite a setup.

 

[JGalt]

While I personally don't use black powder because of all the extra cleaning it requires, I would be proud to take a bullet from a black powder shooter.

The ker-bang just sounds so much better.

I get pretty gunky towards the end of the day because of the powder fouling, bullet lube, and cornmeal. Black powder smells different than smokeless powder too. My wife just said I smell like a fart.



Back before the cowboy days they used to load up a couple revolver cylinders and keep them in a pouch. So instead of reloading each cylinder, they'd just swap them. They also dripped candle wax on the percussion caps to keep the moisture out of it when it rained. Percussion rifles and pistols became obsolete pretty fast in the 1870's when they came up with cartridges.

 

[Shawnee_b]

Why use that bracket/mount thing when shooting the rifles?

That's a Caldwell Lead Sled. It gives you a steady rifle rest and comes in handy for long-range shooting.

I got a sled too, dam fine invent.

Cool smokepoles. I've shot them over 50 years now (i'm 65) Built a flinter 36 pistol from scratch before I drove a car. Presently over 10 smokers (maybe 11), 5 revolvers. Yup a Zoave, Dixie Penn, poor boy whatever can't get no more. Pic is of a flinter, I have both locks for it.

My Zouave is the Italy one. Interesting in 72 I had a "Buffalo Hunter" which was a cut off Zouave

One fave? An old Eibar (Spain) 28GA shottie (identical to pic with 2). Weighs maybe 2# max, don't even know your carrying it!

https://decg5lu73tfmh.cloudfront.net/gunvaluesboard.com/images/fbfiles/images/IMG_0897_v_1401705691.JPG

 

[miketx]

While I personally don't use black powder because of all the extra cleaning it requires, I would be proud to take a bullet from a black powder shooter.

The ker-bang just sounds so much better.

You don't need to sacrifice yourself like that!

 

[fncceo]

While I personally don't use black powder because of all the extra cleaning it requires, I would be proud to take a bullet from a black powder shooter.

The ker-bang just sounds so much better.

You don't need to sacrifice yourself like that!

We all have to die of something ... the best we can hope for is to go out with some dignity.

 

[JGalt]

Why use that bracket/mount thing when shooting the rifles?

That's a Caldwell Lead Sled. It gives you a steady rifle rest and comes in handy for long-range shooting.

I got a sled too, dam fine invent.

Cool smokepoles. I've shot them over 50 years now (i'm 65) Built a flinter 36 pistol from scratch before I drove a car. Presently over 10 smokers (maybe 11), 5 revolvers. Yup a Zoave, Dixie Penn, poor boy whatever can't get no more. Pic is of a flinter, I have both locks for it.

My Zouave is the Italy one. Interesting in 72 I had a "Buffalo Hunter" which was a cut off Zouave

One fave? An old Eibar (Spain) 28GA shottie (identical to pic with 2). Weighs maybe 2# max, don't even know your carrying it!

https://decg5lu73tfmh.cloudfront.net/gunvaluesboard.com/images/fbfiles/images/IMG_0897_v_1401705691.JPG

Nice! That looks like the same two-band 1863 Remington I have. I've had that for 5 years and this was the first time I shot it. Kinda wish I'd had some hollow-base conicals for that because that's what that Rifle was made for. That Kentucky long rifle is sweet. I've had several authentic antique smokepoles over the last few years, but sold them off and kept the repros. Even the original antique ones from the 1800 were pretty decent shooters. once I worked up a load for them.

 

[Marion Morrison]

You forgot the Crisco!
15 grains is pretty light, no?
I love the smell of regular American bullets, but not Pyrodex..blech!
I say American bullets because I got this round of Eastern bloc bullets that stink!
Should sell them off cheap.

 

[Street Juice]

While I personally don't use black powder because of all the extra cleaning it requires, I would be proud to take a bullet from a black powder shooter.

The ker-bang just sounds so much better.

You don't need to sacrifice yourself like that!

We all have to die of something ... the best we can hope for is to go out with some dignity.

I'll be happy to help you out. You choose the method of your demise. I'll light candles and have Ebarme Dich playing on the stereo.

 

[JGalt]

You forgot the Crisco!
15 grains is pretty light, no?
I love the smell of regular American bullets, but not Pyrodex..blech!
I say American bullets because I got this round of Eastern bloc bullets that stink!
Should sell them off cheap.

15 grains is a light load for the .36. You can go up to 20 grains for that and 20-28 grains for the .44. I've used Crisco before but that tends to go rancid after awhile. Bore Butter is pretty good but it gets a little messy when it's warm.

You're right about Pyrodex being smelly. I'd probably use real black powder but nobody around here sells it.

 

[Jitss617]

Beautiful!

 

[Marion Morrison]

You forgot the Crisco!
15 grains is pretty light, no?
I love the smell of regular American bullets, but not Pyrodex..blech!
I say American bullets because I got this round of Eastern bloc bullets that stink!
Should sell them off cheap.

15 grains is a light load for the .36. You can go up to 20 grains for that and 20-28 grains for the .44. I've used Crisco before but that tends to go rancid after awhile. Bore Butter is pretty good but it gets a little messy when it's warm.

You're right about Pyrodex being smelly. I'd probably use real black powder but nobody around here sells it.

Uh-oh! What do you mean rancid?
I've seen 30-year old tubs of Crisco that didn't go bad. Ofc that was real lard.
There's no real black powder around here either, wonder why that is?
I do want to know about this rancid thing..I'm a BP noob.