I need my head examined....

[Afy]

I bought a Colt 1860 yesterday... and drove a hundred miles to a gun shop in Auxerre to buy a Walker today...

And from there straight to the range... The 1860 feels like a pop gun in comparision to the Walker...

Using about 44 grains in the walker and 22 in the 1860...

 

[mukluk]

Congrats on the new pistols. I too have an 1860 and a Walker... I find myself leaving the 1860 at home most of the time and taking the hand cannon instead, it's just more fun to shoot in my opinion. At the range I visit most everybody on the line stops shooting when I unload a cylinder from the Walker; maybe in awe... or maybe 'cuz they can't see downrange through all the smoke

BTW, the load I have the best results with is 50gr FFFG, CCI #11 magnum caps, .454 balls and Crisco over the balls.

 

[dwave]

Putting 40 grs of 777 in a 1858 gives a huge boom too. Course Manufacturer doesn't recommend that, and I don't do it anymore, just had to do it once.

 

[Peter M. Eick]

44 grns in the walker? Why so little? I normally load about 55 to 60?

 

[Tequila jake]

Afy,

When buying guns, the only reason to have your head examined is for not buying more of them and not buying them sooner....

Tequila Jake

 

[Afy]

Yes that is very true...

I now have my wife... Mrs. No guns make noise and are not for me hooked... firing by firing a single shot out of the '58.

She cant wait to go shooting again... hopefully this will pave the way for me to build an arsenal...

 

[Plastic Cowboy]

Stuff a 60gr. charge in all six chambers of your walker and fire them in rapid succession. It will look and sound like the Battle of Gettysburg!!!!

 

[mykeal]

I did that once...

What Plastic Cowboy said: Dragoon with a full load in all 6 and fired as fast as I could cock and fire. There was a woman with a young boy two places down shooting a .22 auto - she broke and ran and the kid cheered. Shut down the entire range for 5 minutes because nobody could see downrange. The range officer laughed and then said, "Don't you EVER do that again!" The kid came over and said, "Wow, mister, what was that?" I showed him what black powder and c&b pistols were, and I'll bet he's still shooting them too. That was almost 30 years ago.

 

[McCall911]

I need my head examined....

Nah!
Actually, good things come in threes, don't they?

 

[Afy]

I have to try firing off the cylinders in rapid succession. Should be fun...

 

[Plastic Cowboy]

LOL....... Mykeal-- that's exactly what I'm talking about!!!
Hand cannons are soo much FUN!!!!

I get similar reactions when I light off some big elephant hammer loads in my 500 S&W mag (although I can't shoot this one fast, it takes awhile to recover from each shot). Not much smoke but the damn thing shoots flames 2 feet out the barrel and sounds like an artillary piece!!

 

[Afy]

I would love to see pictures of the 500... those are amazing weapons.

 

[gmatov]

And you could get 30 to 35 in the '60 and feel just as good, just as much "kick" as it weighs half as much.

Rem "New Army" will hold 45 grs. BP.

Ruger "Old Army" probably 50.

It is the "warnings" in the manual with your pistol that makes everybody think that they will only take 22 grs, or so of powder. Liability comes to mind.

Generally speaking, if you can fill the chambers full enough and compress a ball to below the face of the cylinder, you got a safe load. HOT, mebbe, not accurate, but you WILL get a hell of a BOOM. Actually, you just MIGHT be more accurate as far as elevation goes, the ball exits the barrel quicker, the pistol does not rise as much, you don't shoot as high.Same, light loads, the ball takes forever to get out, you shoot high.

22 gr "squib loads", no recoil to speak of, low velocity, HIGH front sight, everybody complains about their pistol shooting low.

Anybody see any correlation in velocity and point of aim-point of impact?

Cheers,

George

 

[sjohns]

You gotta get that wrist right when shooting those hotter 44 loads.
I went out in the desert a week or so ago with a bud and his nephews and sons and shot a lot of 44 stuff that day. The next day and for a few more my wrist was hurtin. I hadn't been out for awhile and wasn't paying attention.

Analysis: cracking my wrist.

This is a sin for an ex team shooter...

I remember that when I had control of the rifle/pistol range at 29 palms, there was this guy that shot his 44 mag snubby out there a lot. His wrist began to hurt really bad. Xrays revealed that the bone structure where the thumb meets the wrist separated.

This is a problem for all curve handled handguns (revolvers). I personally never had much of a problem with a 9mm or 45. There's just something inherent in the way one grips the revolvers that causes problems. So I need always remember to keep that firm handshake grip. That way, it ought to cause my forearm to rise rather than my hand at the wrist.