Black Power pistols

I have been a Black Power shooter for a long time. I love this sport. I need some idea's on how to solve a problem some others must be having. I have 2 nice single shot black powder pistols. One is a nice Kentucky the other a patriot. I have all kinds of hand books on firing black power arms. They tell you what loads to use. With these you are not to go over 45 grains of FFF. Now the problem. At 25 yards they hit 10" high, and they have no site adjustment. I don't want to shoot them with 20 grains all the time. They are remakable accurate. What would be the best way to go to add ajustable sites or raise the front site? I have heard of silver sodering a penny on and fileing it as needed but that doe's not leave room for adjustment. The site slots are not 3/8" so standard buckhorn sites or front site is a problem. I have been told to file the slots to 3/8", but I don't know if I trust my self.

I have several cap and ball revolvers and only one of them shoots to the point of aim. The sights on these are a groove cut in the hammer and a conventional front site. Rather than mess up the original sights I adjust the point of aim according to which gun I am using.
If your guns are accurate see what they will do at 50 yards.. might not hit as high.
If you are not comfortable working on the sights yourself consider sending it out to a gunsmith,maybe an adjustable rear sight would be the answer.

First of all, welcome to THR and welcome to the Blackpowder section.

Second, please don't think I am making fun of you for a little typo, but I got a good chuckle thinking about the "Black Power" commemorative blackpowder pistols. Musta been a Panther thing, or some such.

If you don't want to modify your pistols yourself, your best bet is to learn "Kentucky Windage". Failing that, I would agree that either modifying or installing new sights, or having a gunsmith do so, is a great option.

If you are going to mount new fixed sights, you might consider finding out which load you want to use (by that I mean by preference, or by which gives you the greatest accuracy) and set your new sights to hit PoI with that load.

Adjustable rear sights of some sort would give you a lot more flexibility, if that is the path you choose to take.

Best of luck!

Welcome to the forum.

You mentioned that one of your pistols is a Patriot. If it is a T/C Patriot, I humbly suggest you do not exceed 30 grains of 3fg due to the weak stocks many of them seem to have. I have seen quite a number that developed cracks through the lock mortise area, and using heavy loads can exacerbate the situation. My own Patriot did the same thing. With the exception of perhaps a dozen or so shots of 30 grains, I have not exceeded 24 grains of 3fg. The pistol has never been loaded in a stand, and the stock still cracked.

Patriots are beautiful pistols, and shoot very well. Just be mindful of the possible stock weakness, take care, and have fun.

Easiest way is to widen and deepen the rear sight so you can see more of the front sight in it. Next easiest would be to replace the sights with ones from Track of the Wolf, Dixie, Log cabin Sport shop or Jedediah Starr

If your front sight is dovetailed, making a new front sight is a simple matter. BTW, most of the cracked TC stocks I've seen have been from loading not shooting. I use a sandbag under the grip to protect the weapon during loading.

http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/ad281/rdstrain49/IMG_0343.jpg

I wish more people could send beautiful pictures of their guns. Yours is amazing. Any information. I want one, is it a custom?

If you have a TC Patriot, then you already have an adjustable rear sight.

I was informed not to shoot more than 20grains 3F powder through it anyway. Can't imagine why the h**l you'd want to feel the kick from 45grains. :what: Have you considered that the high powder charges are making your hand jump up from recoil and that could be whats causing you to shoot so high? :scrutiny:

Drop it down to 20 grains and try it again at 25yrds.

Now move out to 50yrds and leave it at 20 grains.

:cool:

Now this is just a silly thought.... But just what volume/weight of charges are suggested in the MANUAL that came with the TC Patriot?

Here you go.

I'll agree with the comments to cut that load down. There are very few rifled pistols that shoot well with a charge over 25 grains. My most accurate pistols use 12gr charges.

I have to agree with cutting the loads down. There are some muzzy pistols made for heavy charges, but for accuracy most shoot best with less powder. I have a goofy pistol cobbled together with patriot pistol parts and a cut off rifle barrel and home made stock. It is very accurate with about 15 grains of 2f. More than that opens up the group amazingly. Some folks want to load em up, but end up with loads that can't all be burned before the ball exits the muzzle. Unless you plan to scare something with the muzzle flash, it just wastes powder.