I now believe in cap rakes

Some of you may remember that I recently posted a video about using part of a penny to make a (crude, sloppy) cap rake in my 1851 Navies. Today I shot a 6 stage cowboy action match at the Bear Creek Volunteers range near Branson, Missouri. I entered in the Frontier Cartridge category rather than Frontiersman, which allowed me to shoot my 1851s two handed, trying for speed.

I'm delighted to report that I shot all 6 stages clean, no jams, no misses, in respectable times. Whether you use a pin-type rake or a penny or whatever, put a cap rake in your revolver and hit the accelerator. Dang that was fun!!

Crawdad1 said:

That's great J Bar!!! Competition is a lot of fun and I wish more younger guys would get into it.

School me on that competition J Bar, All 6 stages?

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A cowboy action match involves a group of shooters ( a posse!) shooting a set of targets ( a stage). Each stage has targets for rifle, handgun, and shotgun; commonly 10 rifle shots, 10 handgun shots (5 for each revolver), and 2 to 6 shotgun targets. So a single stage is 22+ shots from four different guns. All the posse members shoot the targets according to a prescribed "scenario"...something like, "double tap the 5 rifle targets right to left; double tap the 5 revolver targets right to left; knock down the 4 shotgun targets". But the order of fire varies from stage to stage, and frequently the shooter must move from one position to another for each gun. Each competitor chooses a specific "category" in which to shoot, based on age, shooting revolvers one handed or two handed, using black powder or smokeless; there are also costume based categories for those that want to copy their cowboy movie heroes.

So today I shot 6 stages with my cowboy friends. Six different sets of targets, six different instructions on how to engage the targets that were presented. 60 rifle shots, 30 shots from each of two revolvers (in my case the Uberti 1851s), and about 24 shotgun shells. My category, "Frontier Cartridge", specifies all ammo must be loaded with black powder, and the revolvers can be shot two-handed (Frontiersman requires percussion revolvers shot one-handed, and Frontier Cartridge Duelist allows cartridge revolvers shot one-handed.) We began at 9:00 AM and our posse was finished at 11:30; we shot quickly and efficiently. There was another posse shooting the same stages and scenarios; the match went more quickly by having two posses instead of one big one.

This was a monthly match. Annual matches and state championships usually take two days and 10 to 12 stages.

Getting two percussion revolvers through 30 shots each at competition speed with no jams is kinda cool!

drobs said:

A friend of mine on another forum was telling me about using cap & ball revolvers for cowboy action. He mentioned they let you reload powder and ball at the unloading table and then cap at the loading table? Is that the normal procedure?

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Yes. Actually the chambers can be charged with powder and ball anywhere as long as the muzzles don't sweep anyone during the process. Many shooters reload their percussion revolvers on a stand mounted on their gun carts. The guns are not considered loaded until the nipples are capped; capping is done only at the loading table. The shooter and his loaded guns stay at the loading table until the timer operator calls him to the stage to shoot. Moving away from the loading table with loaded guns, other than to shoot at the targets, earns the shooter a stage disqualification. I like charging my chambers while serving as unloading table officer, verifying that other shooter's guns are empty immediately after they shoot the stage. It allows me to do an important "posse chore" while getting ready for the next stage.

drobs said:

Is the use pre-loaded tubes for your powder required or can you load with loose powder?

Example.
https://www.dixiegunworks.com/product_info.php?products_id=7713&osCsid=ndhrckcqpfpbsq4hf46gr4tq26

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A shooter is allowed to use those tubes if they want to, but I don’t know anyone who does. I throw loose powder from a flask with a calibrated spout and seat the ball while the cylinder is in the gun. Some charge the chambers with the cylinder in a separate press. There is a long enough delay between firing and recharging that worries about a spark from the chamber igniting the flask are not well founded. I’ve never seen a chamber spark cause a flash or heard of it happening at any cowboy action match in the 19 years I’ve been playing the game. SASS is extremely safety conscious, and I am not aware of any effort, present or past, to outlaw the use of flasks. At this time it is shooter’s choice.

Range report;

Two of the 1851s in my 1/4 cent cap rake video are owned by a cowboy buddy of mine. He allowed me to use his guns to make the video. He had never been able to complete one stage without a jam. Today was his first time to shoot them with cap rakes. Five stages (25 shots from each gun at competition speed), no jams or misfires. He was excited, as was I!