Firearms Friday: A little pinch of black powder
Reader Cricket asks: A question about the revolvers, are they antiques or of modern make, and are they fairly accurate?
My revolvers are both modern (black powder) repros of classic designs & yes they are accurate enough at 10 – 15 yards, & yes it is still pistol shooting but boy is it a fag to load them & worse still, cleaning them afterwards ... & I like cleaning guns. This is possibly why they don’t get shot a great deal
Comments
Mr FM, I have a similar brace of BP revolvers but find myself shooting my single-shot target pistols a lot more often. Yes, they're even more of a fag to load but they really are a heck of a site quicker to clean! A lot more accurate too.
Posted by: Bruce | October 30, 2009 10:19 AM
Cleaning them was my problem thats why now i only
have one,had three but i hate it i sold the Ruger Old Army and if Anyone is looking for a BP .44 5 1/2inch Cattleman Real Cheap please let me know!
Posted by: ajdshootist | October 30, 2009 11:23 AM
I bet it is fun in your house when 'The Good, The Bad and The Ugly' is on TV......
Posted by: Rusty Ray | October 30, 2009 11:48 AM
Got me a 1854 .44 Remington replica a while back - loads of fun even if it is a b****r to clean. Loading is a pain but if you can get them, spare cylinders help. Best thing about it - no licence or registration required just a permit to buy, store* and use blackpowder.
I'm now looking for a Colt Army to go with it.
*Warning - smoking in the guest bedroom at kwaRemittance is highly inadvisable.
Posted by: The Remittance Man | October 30, 2009 12:12 PM
What are you, a racist scumbag? What about white or yellow powder?
Col Beausaber (who's going to take his pills and lie down for a while)
Posted by: Beausaber | October 30, 2009 2:50 PM
Fantastic! Thank you for the pics. 10-15 yards? Close enough, as we say, for government work(ers).
Posted by: Cricket | October 30, 2009 3:10 PM
My Uberti Remington 1858 is just as accurate as my Browning Hipower or my 1911A1. Once you shoot one you will view western movies in a whole new light. As a C&W singer once said, more or less, "Shoots mighty fast but it loads real slow."
Posted by: BDFT | October 30, 2009 3:16 PM
Cleaning is not to bad ,,cylinder and barrel of my Navy Colt repo go in the dishwasher no dry cycle . Then a shot or two of compressed air and a once over with Break Free .Frame cleaned by hand
Posted by: jeeprat | October 30, 2009 3:26 PM
Col. Beausaber: In fact, you can indeed make "white", "yellow", and even "red" powder, but none of them have the potential energy of black powder. (Probably the various artificial substitutes for black powder, Pyrodex and the like, can be made in whatever color pleases you.)
Posted by: D.W. Drang | October 30, 2009 8:23 PM
I sped up the procedure on my .44, by loading powder right to the top of used .38 brass, and keeping a tube of Crisco to squeeze a bit in to top off the charged cylinder.
Rip off the tape, pour in the powder, seat the round, and Crisco to the top of the cylinder. The Crisco makes it easier to clean too.
I'd always thought it would be neat to have one of those Ruger Stainless BP pistols - just throw it in the dishwasher.
Posted by: trainer | November 2, 2009 2:28 AM
Those stainless steel black powder Rugers are popular for that very reason. Not historically the right metal but cleaning is a lot easier. Tea kettles, pots of boiling water, and dishwashers have all been used.
Posted by: toad | November 2, 2009 12:43 PM
They need a pair .44 Schofield conversion kits.
Posted by: Kristopher | November 6, 2009 1:46 AM
Aye Kristopher, but then our friendly neighbourhood policeman would take them away and melt them down...
Posted by: Bruce | November 6, 2009 5:08 PM
Apparently lots of other folks have firearms without having this problem.
Do you have to get one of those ASBO thingies before the police will leave you and your guns alone?
Posted by: Kristopher | November 8, 2009 10:06 PM