How hard is it to get into black powder?

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Comrade Mike

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I've just begun looking at an 1861 Colt a Navy, admittedly because I've seen too many westerns. So I figured I'd try and learn a little bit about black powder shooting, I figured I learned center fire reloading, might as well add another feather in the cap.

My reason for interest is mostly historical, but during this last run on supplies I also noticed black powder and percussion caps were always on the shelves. Practice is practice right?

I was wondering how accurate the cap and ball revolvers can be? Do people patch the balls like with muzzle loaders? Also how do you know how much BP to use? Also I hear you can get flash over igniting other cylinders, is this common?
 
some black powder revolvers are very accurate,my ruger old army can out shoot my friends cartridge pistols.You don't use a patch with a ball but a wad over the powder then the ball.Some people use a type of grease over the ball instead of a wad.This helps prevent chain fires which a very uncommon anyway.Most people seem to use 15-25 grains of black powder but in my ruger old army I use 35 grains.
 
Greetings, Comrade Mike..!

Black Powder is as hard to get into as you want it to be. As simple, or as complex as you wish to take it... but ALWAYS fun!

The "Black Powder Essentials" sticky at the top of the thread list has a vast wealth of knowledge to draw from. You came to the right place.

BP revolvers are amazingly accurate. My standard target range is 30 yards, shooting at a "bad" nine inch paper plate with an orange bullseye sticker on it. Might hit the bull a couple times, but the rest of that plate ends up pretty darned holy.

Black powder amounts in the chamber is very forgiving, as long as it is real black powder or a BP substitute... not smokeless, of course. BP must be compressed, with NO airspace between powder and ball. Follow the basic safety rules pertaining to BP, and it's no too hard.

Be safe and have fun! Hope you have room for all those BP pistols you're going to end up getting.
 
The sights on some 'authentic' models are rudimentary - they weren't meant to be target pistols. Of course some duellers and the Ruger OA can be very accurate.
 
It was easy for me, my dad had everything. I just had to figure out what loads to use and how to measure them properly.

I didnt have to buy anything to get started that makes it WAY easy.

After about 3 outings shooting each one about 3 times i decided to get a few things but i could of continued to shoot for quite a while on just what he had.

I still dont have a good quick system down yet but im getting better.
 
I'd love to go the authentic route. Ill fully admit that I'm out there to stare down that evil cattle rustling paper plate and pretend to be yesterday's lawman. Something about bringing old technology to life is just so interesting to me. I don't plan on getting too into it, but I also didn't plan on getting too into milsurp rifles, a dozen later :D
 
" was wondering how accurate the cap and ball revolvers can be? Do people patch the balls like with muzzle loaders? Also how do you know how much BP to use? Also I hear you can get flash over igniting other cylinders, is this common?


Accurate, (patching balls), no, not in revolvers, ( powder varies) 15 to 25 grains, (chain fires,) go buy a lottery ticket, your odds are better hitting the mega-millions.
 
I found since I hunt that there is no better feeling then taking game with a primitive weapon.

Black powder weapons are easy to get into but very difficult to get out of.:)

Good luck.
 
The thing about accuracy is that while some of them have better sights than others, the full sized guns all have a really long sight radius. So once you get used to the sights you can often shoot them surprisingly well. There's also a process of fiddling with the load and seeing what that particular gun shoots well - it's like running custom handloads in every gun. You also usually have a pretty decent trigger - it's going to be single action, for one thing.

A lot of people also just generally like the ergonomics of the Colt models in particular, they're just very pointable and well balanced in a way that's hard to replicate with a more modern design.

So bottom line the accuracy is generally surprisingly good with cap and ball revolvers, although with some of the shorter barreled pocket models you might be less impressed.

As noted above find some videos of people loading them and you'll get the idea of what's involved. It's not difficult but you don't want to rush it either. Frankly the slowness of loading tends to encourage aiming which helps the accuracy, too!

Oh, and re: not planning on getting too into it. I thought that too when I picked up an 1858 as kind of a novelty. I now have half a dozen cap and ball revolvers, three single shot or two barreled pistols, and four muskets. And it's not like I'm TRYING to collect them, it's just Cabelas will have this great sale or a friend of a friend passed away and the widow was selling off the fairly unique collection, or...
 
Comrade Mike said:
I'd love to go the authentic route. Ill fully admit that I'm out there to stare down that evil cattle rustling paper plate and pretend to be yesterday's lawman. Something about bringing old technology to life is just so interesting to me. I don't plan on getting too into it, but I also didn't plan on getting too into milsurp rifles, a dozen later :D
Click to expand...
If fantasizing about being an old western lawman appeals to you, you need to check out Cowboy Action Shooting. You have a lot of company...

http://www.sassnet.com/

We blackpowder shooters have our own categories for friendly competition; cap and ball shooters can compete in virtually all other categories if they want to, but Frontiersman is reserved for us capgun shooters. This gentleman is using Remington 1858s:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CU-GYWLdmaA

Find a SASS club near you and pay them a visit, click on your state and neighboring states and get acquainted:

http://www.sassnet.com/clubs/index.php
 
Cap and ball revolvers can be just as accurate as cartridge guns. This is from my unmodified Uberti Walker at 50m off a bag (almost 55 yards). Each ring is 1 inch.

2011-09-10151626.jpg

I dont use wads at all, i use over ball grease which is just some vege fat and bees wax melted together. I use a filler to take up space on my light loads, just polenta aka corn meal.
Back in the day they didnt bother with any of that crap, just powder, seat the ball and cap. But the grease really helps with keeping the fouling soft for longer shooting sessions before needing a clean and the filler saves powder since some guns get to the point where more powder doesnt get more accuracy or power.
 
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Its as easy as going to pick up the gun and the accoutrements.

I was hooked after the first cylinder, and the accuracy of BP and roundballs was much, much, much, much more than I anticipated.
 
To EASY to get into and almost impossible to get unhooked from..It's the same as being hooked on "crack"..The "crack" of opening the package the UPS man delivers, the crack of hearing the hammer locking back, the crack of the round being fired and the crack of it hitting the target..Plus it has even more side effects, like the BIG smile you crack cause you see a nephew's jaw drop after hitting a milk jug of water in a field at 127 yards with your Walker ..LOL..SO stay away from it and leave more for me...(JK)..Kinda like Lay's potatoe chips ya just can't have one...
 
How hard is it to get into black powder?
Click to expand...

I just unscrew the lid. Ba-zing!
Sorry, couldn't help myself. Been holding out for two days now.

More to the point, I have found the biggest challenge where I live is just getting the necessary accoutrements. Of course searching for them has led me to learn of a new place or two, and I suppose that is part of the fun. Gibson's (5 blocks away) usually has Pyrodex for when I run out of Goex (going to be a while I think), but only sells .58 caliber (think I'm remembering that correctly) balls. I have got to get set up to cast. Two Wright Arms out in Springtown (about 20 miles away, but much closer than Cabela's) seemed to have a good selection, though I was just tire-kickin' the day I was out there. I was at Cabela's the other day and grabbed a powder measure, some .454 balls, Bore Butter and a nipple wrench (wrong size as it turns out, really don't want to drive 40 miles to exchange an $8 part). In retrospect, prolly would have been cheaper just to order the stuff, i just hate spending $10 to ship a couple $12 pieces. Now I just need to get/make a spout for the powder can, and I'm set.

Except. Ranges around here (two closest are indoor) don't allow black powder. One day I am going to join the Parker County Sporstman's Club, but that too has to be a future endeavor. In the meantime, I have to make some time to head out to Mineral Wells (when it is not so hot out) and visit my in-laws' property. They are kind enough to let me shoot out there when they are not using it as a refuge from their hectic lives. I have recently reconnected with an old friend that shoots BP, and he mentioned a place in Arlington where he shoots with his brother. That would be good, as I have never done his before. Not that it seems that complicated, he just might have some tips.

Sorry for the ramble. In summation, equipment, location and time have been my biggest hurdles. Time being the most stubborn, haven't shot any of my newfangled cartridge guns either.
 
unscrew the lid...

Good one, 9mmfan! Wish i had came up with that one.

Although, twisting that little metal lid can be a bit challenging on these hot summer days when one's hands are sweaty and covered in soot.

I guess a little bit of good humor should go into the possibles bag as well.
 
Comrade Mike, The best way, IMO is to just stay right here on the Black Powder section of THR and read up on,and ask all the questions you have about getting into BP shooting One question I can answer is that, yes, black powder shooting can be just as accurate as shooting regular rifle or pistol rounds and just as effective for hunting too. I do a lot of target shooting and am quite satisfied with results that I get. Another plus is that,when there's no cartridge ammo to be had, you can always have ammo to shoot from a BP firearm. The more I got into it, the happier I was with it, and you will be too :D Good luck !
 
Do lead balls get pushed with enough velocity to lead the barrel as you would see with cast bullets in center fire?

I've read about bore butter. I recall watching a BP video online where the gentleman would top off all his chambers with it, I gather it works the same as a lube ring on a cast bullet?

I don't cast for center fire hand guns because I really don't have the time to turn out the volume I need and fiddle with alloys. But in my head casting and BP shooting go together like Guinness and Whiskey. Are pure lead balls and Minnie balls (if I ever get a BP rifle) acceptable or will they lead the barrel?
 
Very easy to get into, like any cult. It's the getting out that's hard...

BP revolvers can be as accurate as center fire revolvers but it takes more tinkering to dial in your load. There is no middle ground on the Navy .36 cal or smaller .31 cal revolvers. Loved and deemed super accurate or despised and derided.

I am a proponent of the 1858 Remington in .44 (steel frame) for an authentic reproduction with good sights and the Ruger Old Army as an inauthentic but superior BP revolver. I don't like Colts because of the weird barrel wedge and tendency to ingest and jam up with fired caps. But others LOVE Colts, so it's to each his own really.

Then there's the weird, superstitious, unscientific, fanatical and passionate positions to be taken on things like cleaning, wadding and lubing. The depth of minutia that can be argued to Jesuitical ends will boggle the mind. And powder. Dare you shoot anything but genuine black powder? How can you not admit the superiority of BP substitutes you sub-human scum? Is Blackhorn 209 BP at all? Thus shall the madness spiral downward until you are lost in the deepest darkest obscurities. However, you WILL have a blast. Nothing beats the shooting of BP firearms.

So, go ahead, take a sip of the Kool-Aide. In a few months you'll be deep in it, looking for info on how to make your own caps....
 
My Pietta 5.5" 58 Remmy can shoot 2-2.5' clusters off the bench at 25 yards. My Ruger Old Army can halve that. It shoots as well as many of my cartridge revolvers and is NOT load picky about it. My Remington seems to prefer about 30 grains of pyrodex, corn meal filler, and round ball.

Every gun is different. Colts tend to shoot way high, that's pretty much a rule. I don't really care much for the open tops as shooters, but they're cool to own. :D

Figured I'd quantify my experience for you. :D
 
BTW, I've never had leading problems with BP even tumble lubing cast conicals. No lube on the ball.

I cast for all my cartridge guns, too. I can push a 165 SWC out of my Rossi 92 .357 magnum at 1900 fps with no leading. I use a gas checked bullet for magnums. BP rifles done lead in my experience. I mostly shoot minies or a Lee REAL 360 grainer in .50 caliber, no problems.
 
As I read through the posts I realized that muzzleloading does sound complicated. I've been muzzleloading since 1964 I was 16 years old . My Dad wasn't a shooter he was a golfer we lived out in the country and their was no one into muzzleloading. All that I knew was from Disney's TV show Davey Crockett and the Dixie Gun catalog.
Muzzleloading sounds complicated because it's a combination of bench loading and shooting as opposed to modern gun shooting which can be as easy as buying a gun and a box of shells and start shooting.
Actually you could, not so long ago, walk into a Walmart choose a plastic packaged muzzleloader with a starter kit, lay your money down, and be shooting before nightfall.
The magic of muzzleloading is that if your bitten by the bug there is a whole world of variables to explore and a forum like ours to help you along.
Go get bit.
 
I've noticed there are multiple kids of black powder on the shelves. What's the difference? Is any one more suitable for revolvers than another?
 
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