Blackpowder cartidges through SAA

[WilliamFeldmann]

For those not aware of the sport, Cowboy Mounted Shooting involves riding a horse through a course of helium filled balloons and barrels in an attempt to pop all the balloons, not drop a gun during switchout, and have the fastest time.

For safety, there is no projectile or wad in the shells. They are simply a .45 Colt case that is loaded with blackpowder and then crimped shut. There isn't really alot of time during the show to give your gun a good cleaning and then there is the 2-3 hour drive time back home before a good cleaning can occur. I was wondering if any of you knew of anyone bore buttering their Ruger Vaqueros when shooting blackpowder loads for CAS or SASS or other such?

I just see the bore butter getting in the way of the balloon popping mechanism (the flying bits of blackpowder, they have a range of about 15-20 feet). Anyone have any ideas to make cleaning easier? The guns are stainless New Vaqueros.

 

[arcticap]

Spray with Ballistol until you reach home.

 

[scrat]

Or windex dillueted with water. I was at Bandera Texas a month ago and saw a really good show on this. Saw the rounds to. Cried when i thought i could have used those 45colts. But i can see where you do not want to use bore butter as you dont want lube flying out the barrel as well. i am sure bore butter on the arbor shaft is ok. But simple spraying of windex watered down will remove a lot of the fouling. I would try to keep the bottle warm. As it works best warm.

 

[StrawHat]

A simple solution for cleaning blackpowder crud is water mixed with vinegar.

An even simpler one is just water.

A spray bottle of either used to hose the revolver down good before you head for home will buy you sometime before you need to scrub it.

A couple of patches down the bore and through each chamber would be better. First spray it down, than the patches.

 

[Dienekes]

Hell, the wife and I did it with live ammo (.38 W/C out of Ruger Blackhawks) 20 years ago off Arabs. We moved away from that area; last I knew it was wall-to-wall houses. I don't suppose that would go over too well there now. Wusses took over.

 

[madcratebuilder]

+1 on the Ballistol

 

[RyanM]

If they're stainless I wouldn't worry about it until you get home. Then just take 'em apart and wash with hot, soapy water.

I'd be more worried about the cases than the gun. Black powder residue will turn them green really fast. But, you could use nickel plated cases and then not even have to worry about that.

 

[WilliamFeldmann]

I was thinking if the guns were stainless I shouldn't have to worry until we get home.

Actually the brass is nickle plated and from what I can tell they can't be reused because there is no way to recrimp the shells. They don't blow all the way open. If anyone knows a good way to reuse these I'm all ears, even reloading them as BP blanks.

 

[RyanM]

I'm fairly sure you could just buy regular, unprimed nickel plated cases, load those with BP, put a cardboard wad over top, and hold it in place with fingernail polish. There are a couple videos on this website. http://www.fastdraw.org/fd_equip.html Using a "booster" of 4F and bullseye under some 1F sounds like a good idea to me.