First time shooting BP, range report

[swright101]

I have a really nice Uberti Cimarron 1860 Army .44 that I finally got to the range to shoot. I loaded it up with 24g of Triple Seven fffg and used wonder wads and bore butter over the ball. I used CCI #11 magnum caps (all the store had) and set my target at 25 yards. I aimed about 18" low and hit the target about 3" left of the bullseye pretty consistently. The recoil was very soft, more of push than a snap. I put 48 rounds down the range. Lots of smoke and fire, at least more than I have been used to shooting Glocks and Sigs. The only drawback was the mess. The bore butter seems to get into everything. I came home and did a basic cleaning in hot water and dish detergent, didn't do a complete breakdown to the last screw, just the main parts, nipples, barrel, cylinder. Sprayed some RemOil on and packed it away for next time. All in all I had a damn good time. I also have an 1851 Navy that I haven't shot yet, still waiting on supplies for it. I might get a Walker and an 1849 Pocket just to make the collection complete.

 

[BHP FAN]

Congrats,and welcome aboard!

 

[Oyeboten]

Sounds very nice!


Where's the Pictures????



I have not tried "777" in my Dragoon...but, with Black Powder it has been a joy.


Nice thing about Full 'BP' Loads...the Ball is just under the Cylinder's End, so, lots less Bore Butter is needed to seal-off...less mess...

 

[Blowingsky]

I shoot a 3rd version Uberti Colt Dragoon with 30 gr. fffg. I lay in a wonderwad and with the tight ball fit, I don't seal off further. From what I understand, the wad under the ball eliminates the possibility of chain fire...at least as much as the wonder lube will.

 

[Blowingsky]

Also, the more oil and lube I have on a BP pistol when shooting it at the range, the quicker it will gum up tight. I try and shoot it dry.

 

[SHIPCHIEF]

I always used Crisco on the top when I started shooting about 35 years ago. I still have that 2nd model Dragoon, although I'm partial to my 1851 Stainless 44 Sheriff now. I've been using Bore Butter too.
Now I have been reading about these home made grease cakes that you set on the powder before you press in the bullet. Makes sense to me..the heat and pressure from the charge melts the cake and squirts it around the bullet as the pressure pushes the bullet down the barrel. Now the bullet is also holding the lube tight to the bore, acting like flux to keep the powder gasses and crud from adhereing to the steel.

 

[Oyeboten]

Yes...


I went to making these right off...


Melting Bees Wax, Olive Oil and else, melding all, in a small wide Can...dipping strips of Cotton Terrycloth, and cutting out discs once cool with a Gasket Punch...Hole-Punch.

They seem to help keep the Dragoon pretty clean, also...far as fouling, and make for an easy wash-up later.

 

[Smokin_Gun]

swright101 Congrads on the BP Rev man... nothin' else like it :O)
Try some lube pills or wool wads between the ball and powder in lue of the bore butter or crisco... I found out a quarter Century ago that the over the ball grease ain't it at 110-115F in the Desert :O)
Welcome to the Best Sport in History...

 

[bigbadgun]

SG stole my thunder.
I was gonna suggest wool wads or bees wax and bore butter. I have been working on useing chamies as wad inpregnated with bes wax and bore butter actually does a nice job in keeping the fouling soft.get more shots down range before it starts to bind up.
Then it seems to be the cylinder pin that causes the problem. might try using pam cooking spray every other cylinder and see how that holds up.

 

[Das Jaeger]

Glad you got to the range

Swright , cool , glad you enjoyed it too .
I have been telling people to try to use Moly Based Bearing Greases for months now and nobody is listening , it doesn't melt with heat , doesn't solidify in cold ...It is the stuff to use to lube over balls . :banghead:
Grease cookies , Wonder Wads , do NOTHING to keep the fouling soft or down on your guns .
Mess is not a bad thing , its part of this sport . Also if you use a small grease gun to lube over your balls , you never touch the grease
I have an old tube of Bore Butter stuff I made a small 1" flexible nipple on that I squeeze the grease out of over the balls , works good too

I do like your comment on getting more guns though , the Walker and the little 49er to complete your Collection ........I can safely say that will be the beginning of you life long addiction .......You'll never be able to just buy those two guns and end your collecting with them , won't happen that way , trust me ..................

Das Jaeger

 

[missuramoss]

definatlly get the mighty Walker Swright...but be forwarned...if ya do..youll probablly be at the range more than ya will be home...thats what happened to me...The 49 pocket is a good choice too, although I dont own one...was gonna get a Uberti model...but decided to save up and get a true Colt..And like these guys said.....you cant stop gettin them once ya start!!!

 

[swright101]

Thanks for all the replies and info! Hopefully I can get back to the range this weekend and maybe get some pics.

 

[BCRider]

We know what the gun looks like so we want pics of you shooting it. No pics and we'll run your rear end out of town with a good tanning to speed you on your way....

Based on what I saw here and on a Youtube segment of a guy shooting BP I opted for a couple of drops of canola oil on the top of the balls. This was based on need more than a distaste for Crisco. On my Remmies with "only" 29 to 30 grains the ball sits so deep that I'd need a spoonful of Crisco to butter up each of the chambers. So I went with the oil since it was easy and quick to apply and I knew it would provide enough of a seal to avoid any chance of chainfires.

The veggie canola oil worked out great. The residue from shooting never got more sticky than a thin black grease during a day of CAS shooting. That's five times five per gun for the club match days. And no sign of stiffening up at all. Even for the last stage I could easily rotate the cylinder for loading with only a hair more stiffness than at the beginning of the day. I'm sure I could easily go another couple of cylinders and likely more.

 

[madcratebuilder]

Swright , cool , glad you enjoyed it too .
I have been telling people to try to use Moly Based Bearing Greases for months now and nobody is listening , it doesn't melt with heat , doesn't solidify in cold ...It is the stuff to use to lube over balls . :banghead:
Grease cookies , Wonder Wads , do NOTHING to keep the fouling soft or down on your guns .
Mess is not a bad thing , its part of this sport . Also if you use a small grease gun to lube over your balls , you never touch the grease
I have an old tube of Bore Butter stuff I made a small 1" flexible nipple on that I squeeze the grease out of over the balls , works good too

I do like your comment on getting more guns though , the Walker and the little 49er to complete your Collection ........I can safely say that will be the beginning of you life long addiction .......You'll never be able to just buy those two guns and end your collecting with them , won't happen that way , trust me ..................

Das Jaeger

I got to disagree with you about the grease cookies not keeping the powder fouling soft. Not my experience at all. An 1/8 inch thick grease cookie between the powder and ball is all I ever load, what fouling I do get is very soft, wipes off with a towel. I even use a grease cookie to lube the arbor when needed. I well never go back to grease over the ball, it's very messy compared to using cookies. I guess if they don't work for you, they just don't work, carry on.

 

[Das Jaeger]

MCB

I guess not agreeing with eachother is a good thing then , whatever works for each individual is what works for each individual .
Maybe I should have said there is no possibly way greese cookies do nearly as good a job as grease over balls , which is correct no matter how you look at it

Jaeger

 

[Smokin_Gun]

Das Jaeger, I'm sorry you haven't tried my lube pill recipe ... or you never would have posted that statement.
Up untill about 5-6 years ago I was usin' Crisco, borebutter, grease and makin' a mess even with a butter knife.
A friend told me about his lube pills and I tried and perfected a recipe. A lube pill atop the powder then a boolit when fired not only applies a lubricant to keep the fouling soft and the barrel clear, but the melted lube pill on the face of the cylinder and forcing cone ... along with keeping the cylinder pin lubed and improved accuracy.
I have fired 200 rounds from a Remington with out removing the cylinder and still rotated easily. The pills also improve the Colts ability to fire more than 3 cylinders with out binding up. And cleanup is a plus usin' these lube pills.
Recipe upon request..jus' ask
:O)

 

[Das Jaeger]

I have

tried cookies , pills , wonderful wads, and nothing works as good as my Moly Grease , period
Thanks though .

Jaeger

 

[bigbadgun]

SG please post your reciepe or pm it to me lol
I am having a hell of a time with mine if yours is that good I want to try it

 

[arcticap]

Where can the average person buy that special aviation moly grease and how much does it cost?
And how big is the container that yours comes in?

 

[Smokin_Gun]

I have

Oh you have tried my recipe? Not if you've had poor resultds and think moly grease. lthiunm grease, or high temp wheel bearing moly grease is better... I don't think you tried my recipe... as I have ever other grease including what you mentioned and my lube pills won handsdown every tme.
Maybe it's the love and care I put into makin' um that makes the differance .. :O) I don't know. All I do know is they work better than moly grease and my grip don't slip in my hands when I squeeze it :O) grin...

 

[Smokin_Gun]

SG please post your reciepe or pm it to me lol
I am having a hell of a time with mine if yours is that good I want to try it

Here ya go BigBadGun... and you can adjust to the temperature, climate , and season as needed.

Dang I'm broke Lube Pills

What I did was start out with:
Parafin comes in a brick divided to to 4 like a stick a butter, I used a stick.
Then 1/4 of a Bolwax Toilet Seal Ring(Beeswax)substitute or beeswax or use with the parafin.
Then 8-10 Tablespoons of Olive Oil/soy oil
The Olive oil is the Lube the Waxes just carry it and keep the pill as
you want it.(consistacey/hard or soft...climate time of year)
And that made alot about 600 pills...about 1/8" thick for the most part.
Place the lube mixture in a small saucepan, place the small saucepan in a larger pan with water
boilin' the water and sorta poach the lube mix to a liquid.
level stiff heated pizza pan(or 7-9" heavy pie pan)is the best thing to pour your mix into...
so mix cools evenly(flat) .Place in fridge when it's set stiff(optional)
And worked good for me...you need to try your best guess and add/subract as you like them
for your use.


Punch out to the caliber of your choice, with a tube. Place lube pill over powder with ball
on top. You'll shoot all day without binding. Keeps cylinder lubed fouling soft and barrel
relatively clean.

It works.

SG

 

[BHP FAN]

I'm useing Beeswax,bore butter and Crisco,have made the cookies for years,use them in loading .45-70,and black powder guns as well.trimmed an old .45-70 case,and stuck a nail thru the primer hole as a cookie cutter.Works great!

 

[Das Jaeger]

Arcticap

On-line for AV products , automotive Synthetic petro moly greases work good too , cost anything from $5 to $10 , grease gun size tubes . Go to your local fly boys Hanger and ask them to order you some if you strike out , which you won't .

I like it because it works , and I aint sitting there making crap that I have to think about what time of year it is to use what , cold weather or hot weather pills , phoooeeey on that ? :banghead:
Plus anytime you shoot one round , half the others melt on top of your powder , more phooeeey :banghead:
Can't re-invent the better mousetrap , over lube has already won this battle. lazy is as lazy does is a pill , wonder wad , or cookies . I like Oreos though :

Plus , all your melting pills and cookeis on your powder make for the most inconsistant FPS your gonna get , ruining who knows how much of the first part of your powder . Wonder Wads aint too bad for that , but cookies and pills , NEVER !

To each there own though , whatever works for ya , or you think is not ruining your FPS . Cheerios .

Das Jaeger