Cost of blackpowder shooting?

[jeffsenpai]

I have been thinking of buying a black powder revolver for quite some time now, and wanted to ask some experts on the "cost" of shooting black powder.

Compared to 9mm or other pistol ammo, does it cost more or less to buy balls,powder,primers, etc than it does to buy modern ammunition?

Say 400 rounds of 9mm vs. 400 rounds out of a .44 1851 colt.

if they are close in price, I may just buy another .22lr plinker!

 

[poordevil]

I can't comment on cost because I don't shoot a whole lot of modern ammo and the blackpowder, caps, ball, and wads I have are stuff I bought a while ago in quantity and still use today.

However I will say that if you are looking for a fun shooter there is no comparing a blackpowder .44 to a .22. They are just two completely different experiences.

If you are at all serious about shooting a blackpowder .44 there is no way you would be able to substitute a .22. There is nothing wrong with a .22, I have a nice S&W for target practice, but I wouldn't fire it instead of my blackpowder .44's.

 

[Ginormous]

My experience has been that the consumables (powder, balls, caps) run slightly less than bulk cartridge ammo, but then I am not buying black powder, balls, or caps in bulk either.

Poordevil has it right on the nose, it's the experience that's so gratifying in my case.

The biggest expense has been the guns. You buy one, and you want more.

And more. Rinse, repeat.

Turn back while you can!

 

[D.Delozier]

Buying at the retail level it cost me about 100.00 to shoot 500 shots
230 shots to a pound of powder (30 gr. charge) @ 14.00 per lb
44 cal balls 10.00 per 100
caps 5.00 per 100
thats what it costs me to shoot my 44's

 

[D.Delozier]

double posted

 

[jeffsenpai]

Another question: While currently centerfire ammo can be hard to find and purchase, has this shortage or lack of availability hit BP shooting? are power and balls etc still readily available from online sources?

 

[Ginormous]

Nope, no shortage here.

http://www.grafs.com/
http://www.powderinc.com/
http://www.trackofthewolf.com/

Plenty more out there than the list above.

 

[MCgunner]

Well, if you're handloading 2.7 grains of bullseye behind a 148 WC in .38 brass and casting your own WCs, you can handload a cartridge gun pretty danged cheap! I scrounge my lead at the range, so bullets are free with a little labor.

I cast my own bullets for my ROA and my .31. The powder is cheaper, though a single shot uses a lot more powder. I can even make my own percussion caps or buy them at no more, actually a little less cost than primers. There are ways, though, to cut shooting costs.

Biggest thing right now with cartridge guns is finding brass if you're shooting a caliber that's hard to find scrounge brass at the range for, like .45 Colt or any revolver, really. And, like ammo, right now, primers are hard to find anywhere. Got to get on a waiting list here. I haven't tried to find caps, but I doubt they're in short supply. If so, I can whip out my cap making tool and save a few coke cans and go buy some roll caps and I'm in business. Brass? I don't need no stinkin' BRASS! I'm even going to set up to make my own black powder!

Right now, I know Pyrodex is cheap and available. I haven't bought caps in a while, have a bunch I made. And, I cast my own bullets, so I can't say on round ball availability. I'm running my stash of primers down pretty low, so I've started shooting the ROA and the Rem .31 more, and, of course, the .22s.

 

[Shultzhaus]

From reading past threads, cost seems to be related to what part of this country you live in. Put together a list of what you use, and calculate the price per shot from that. Then get a Cabela "shooting" catalog, and check out their bulk ammo prices. This is not a scientific study, but it might give you a quick check.

 

[Curator]

Cap & ball pistols are particularly inexpensive to shoot when you cast your own balls. You can buy a double cavity round ball mould and electric melter for under $50.00. That's less than the cost of 4 boxes of 100 balls from Bass Pro. Plumber's or Roofers lead can usually be had at the metal recyclers for 25 cents a pound. You can cast 50 .45, or 35 .50 caliber balls from a pound of lead. I buy 25 pounds of black powder at a time and share with 5 or 6 friends to keep the "Haz-Mat" fee to a small percentage. That brings powder cost to less than $11 per pound. Group-buy on caps brings them down to about $4.00 per tin of 100. My standard target load in either my 1860 Army Colt or 1858 Remington Army is 22 grains of FFFg topped with 15 grains of Farina (generic Cream of Wheat cereal .99 per pound)

So to add up the cost: cap 4 cents, powder & filler, 3 cents, ball (amatorizing the cost of mould & melter), 2 cents, lube (bees wax/lard home mix) maybe 2 cents. Total cost less than 10 cents a shot with the most expensive part being the percussion cap. This is about the same cost of cheap 9mm FMJ pistol ammo before the current shortage.

 

[Ginormous]

I scrounge my lead at the range . . .

MCgunner, if I could dig in the berms around the outdoor pistol range I frequent, I'd be rolling in lead.

How did you ever get the range owner to agree to let you scrounge the range for lead? Some secrets are meant to be shared.

 

[scrat]

its a totally different animal. having shot smokeless and black powder you need to WARNED,

its not like shooting your 9mm. if anything if your one of the guys that loads up 4 clips at the range. then fires all 4 of them in 2 minutes or less and goes through 100 or more rounds in less than a half an hour then stay away from black powder.

When i go shooting at the range shooting black powder i will maybe shoot around 30-36 rounds thats it. You dont go shooting like there is ammo to last for days. for a beginner it will take you around 5 minutes or longer to load up the cylinder and cap the nipples. then shooting is done at a regular pace. then spend another 5 minutes or longer reloading. Its a long process that you have to love. For me and others i like and rather shoot black powder than smokeless i know it takes a while to load i am rather quick on it. However This is for me. if you want to change just due to the cost of shooting and you love to shoot a boat load of ammo. Then for all means go buy a couple of revolvers today and start shooting. Just so that you give us the first shot of purchasing those revolvers when you get tired of them a couple of weeks from now.

 

[NobleSniper]

If you sell a Walker though I get first dibs

 

[scrat]

First dibs if buys a dragoon

 

[K.A.T.]

44

Buy that Colt 1860 I have for sale and go at it. But you will be hooked and probally sell the 22. Buy the Army in 44, you won't regret it. Buy the navy in 36. cal.

 

[MCgunner]

MCgunner, if I could dig in the berms around the outdoor pistol range I frequent, I'd be rolling in lead.

How did you ever get the range owner to agree to let you scrounge the range for lead? Some secrets are meant to be shared.

Bay gun club. I've been in it for 25 years or so now. When I first joined, they'd lost their range. Was on a ranch and the guy sold the ranch. They worked out a deal with the city, dollar a year rent. We built the range and facilities and do the maintenance and the city uses it (small city) for officer training and qualifying and such. Local coastgaurd also uses it.

When I go out there, there's never anyone around. I'm about the only one that scrounges lead out of about 150 members, but there are some brass scroungers. Nobody cares, free for the taking. I was VP of the club for a while, but managed to wiggle out of that when I was working a lot of overtime. LOL Best part about it is the cost, 30 bucks a year. Pretty nice facilities for that money, though, and it's a good group of old fart (for the most part) shooters.

http://maddog1933.webs.com/

 

[Ginormous]

Nice range MCgunner! Some of the boys are sporting the well fed look this season, I see. My kind of guys. Oh, and nice in on the lead gettin', Mr. V.P.

BTW, any truth to the ugly rumor your compadres are thinking about nominating you again?

 

[Voodoochile]

I scrounge all the Adhesive Wehhl Weights that I can get from work, I've learned how to tell the Zinc from the good Lead ones & just keep the Lead ones.
Right now I have around 55 pounds in ingots & almost 30 pounds to be smealted into ingots, so for Lead for all my muzzle loading needs I'm good & free minus some elbow work when I make a batch of Conicals or Ball.

Percussion caps average $5.00 a tin of 100 in most places "good thing I have around 25 tins of #11's."

Real Black Powder is on average around $12.00 a pound & depending on the weapon being used it would be 90 - 300 shots to a pound & Pyrodex P is a good alternative & gives you a few more shots to a pound.

 

[MCgunner]

BTW, any truth to the ugly rumor your compadres are thinking about nominating you again?

I try not to think about it. I try not to go to meetings long about October and November when officers are nominated.

 

[Mike OTDP]

its a totally different animal. having shot smokeless and black powder you need to WARNED,

its not like shooting your 9mm. if anything if your one of the guys that loads up 4 clips at the range. then fires all 4 of them in 2 minutes or less and goes through 100 or more rounds in less than a half an hour then stay away from black powder.

Yup. For me, 40 rounds is a long day's shooting with my muzzle-loaders. With the cartridge guns, it's 60 rounds plus sighters.

 

[Ginormous]

For me, about twice that is a long day.

With the 6gun4fun Triple-P loader and Lee Perfect Powder Measure standing right next to it on the range table, I am in BP shooting nirvana. Even got time now to break for a smoke with the other shooters, or wander around the shop and still not feel rushed to get my money's worth shooting. This whole new ballgame has just gone into extra innings for me.

I really need to get some video of this combination in action and post it on Youtube.

 

[Guy de Loimbard]

I did the math for mine (1860 Army) and came out with $.207 per shot. This doesn't take into consideration the shipping and hazmat charges, all I can get locally is caps; I prefer real BP over the substitutes. The price of caps went up $2/100 as well. Certainly more expensive to shoot than cartridge pistols but probably less expensive over the long run, because you can't go through ammo nearly as fast. Certainly is more fun than any of my cartridge guns!

 

[madcratebuilder]

I figure my cost is $10 per 50 rounds. Can't think of any center fire that cheap.

 

[Nate1778]

Obviously it goes without saying that your not going to save any money buying firearms. If cost is a question then maybe its time to hold off on a firearm purchase.

I can get it down to about $7 per 50 rounds, problem is you have to buy casting equipment, ball mills, coffee grinders, ect. ect,

 

[Loyalist Dave]

Well I compared my 6 shot Sheriff's model in .36 to 9mm, assuming I'm buying all the components, not casting or milling any. I am approaching the idea of the average Joe, going into a gunshop and buying a BP revolver and the ammo, or picking up a 9mm handgun after the waiting period, and buying ammo to go with it.

A .375 Hornady ball, over 15 gr of 3Fg, and a CCI cap would cost me for a 6 round cylinder $.92 and 1/3 cents, OR $2.77 to shoot three cylinders. (I get a pound of BP for $15.00)

Shooting the cheapest 9mm ammo that I found at Midway, at a price of $12.99 for a box of 50, equalled $1.55 for six rounds, or $4.65 for 18 rounds (some Glock 9mm models are 17+1 right?)

So I'd save $2.00 shooting BP. IF you increase the cost of the powder to the most expensive where I live.... to $21.95 a can, you add a mere .27 to the BP revolver costs, which would then total $3.04. I would still save $1.61.

I'd have more fun too.

LD