Let’s talk revolver accuracy

[Russell13]

After taking my Remington .44 out 5 times I’m starting to get it dialed in. I’ve tried different loads and found that 25 grains works well for me. I started with clay pigeons at 10 Ft and can hit them without a problem. Then went to 20 FT and could do it about have the time.
What type of accuracy can be expected from a black powder revolver?
What distances are competitions normally shot at?
Can you get good accuracy with a ball or do you need to go to a conical bullet?

 

[troy fairweather]

My 58 rem uberti will hold about a quarter size group at 25 yards from a sand bag.
This was the first 6 shots out of the gun, at about 25 yards standing. The one on the right was my fault.
About 25 grains clear shot, hornady 454 ball and shortening over the cylinder.

 

[rodwha]

My Pietta NMA seems to like 30 grns (weighed 33 grns of 3F Olde Eynsford) and my groups are all basically identical at 15 yds shooting offhand. When I was going monthly this was roughly 3.5-4” using a .457” ball or my 170 or 195 grn bullets, and the accurate powder charge didn’t change either. I’m literally debating another custom mold looking at using lead as filler and modifying my bullet design. My Ruger and a 35 grn charge typically gave me 3-3.5” groups. It also has a longer barrel and better (adj) sights so the windage is on.

 

[Armored farmer]

At one time, I pronounced my uberti '58 the most accurate handgun that I own.
Most nmlra competition is at 25yds. I shot one 50yd nmlra relay.

 

[.38 Special]

I find that percussion revolvers are about as accurate as centerfire revolvers. Which is to say that some are real dogs and some are screamingly accurate and most are somewhere in between.

My personal belief is that the truly awful sights on the typical cap gun are responsible for most of their poor reputation for accuracy. If Ruger was putting on a little brass bead and a notch in the hammer we'd all be yelling bloody murder.

I have some percussion revolvers with proper dimensions and useful sights. They outshoot me, just like the centerfire guns. I also have some cap guns with lousy dimensions and idiotic sights. I can't hit much of anything with them. Just like the centerfire guns.

<edit> In my opinion, a nearly universal truth is that round balls are more accurate than conicals. There are exceptions, but IMO they prove the rule. Of course, I shoot a dozen conicals for every RB. Sometimes good enough is good enough.

 

[Ed Ames]

I’ve only ever used round ball so I can’t speak to that, but if you do your part you should be able to keep every shot on a paper plate at 75-100 yards, assuming the revolver is decent.... and I’m pretty sure the experts would dismiss that as lousy shooting.

25 yards is the usual range for competitive shooting.

 

[Russell13]

I’m ok with the sights on the Remington. I have big hands so if I could change anything I would want a little bit bigger grips. I haven’t got to shoot my colt 1851 yet, but I can already tell the sights are going to be difficult to use. But there is something about the feel of the colt I really like. Not sure if it’s the weight or the smooth action but it has this really nice feel to it.

 

[Jackrabbit1957]

My ROA shoots minute of Jackrabbit at 70 ish yards with 35 grains of Pyrodex and a 200 grain knurled bullet. I have also consistently rang a 18 inch gong at 80 yards with a Walker.

 

[DocRock]

One of my Rogers & Spencers is my most accurate pistol with both ball and cartridge conversion. I'm sure a better marksman than I could produce smaller groups, but I can frequently do 5" groups at 25 yards with that pistol - .457" ball over a paper cartridge of 26 grs 3F Olde Eynsford, a dollop of COW filler, and a lube cookie. The best I can manage with any other pistol is maybe 6" groups on a good day. I'm sure someone else could do better with it.

I have another R&S (also Euroarms) that I can't match those groups with, so there must be something special about the first one (which is not a gain twist target model).

 

[Catman42]

round balls shoot more accurate than bullets for me. they are super accurate in my ubeti colts. the only thing that beats them a little is a well tuned semi auto. not by much though.

 

[1KPerDay]

I haven't really wrung mine out but the "standard" recommended max BP loads, lubed felt wads, and round balls work fine in my guns. I don't shoot bullseye or BP competition so take these for what they're worth.

 

[Mike OTDP]

After taking my Remington .44 out 5 times I’m starting to get it dialed in. I’ve tried different loads and found that 25 grains works well for me. I started with clay pigeons at 10 Ft and can hit them without a problem. Then went to 20 FT and could do it about have the time.
What type of accuracy can be expected from a black powder revolver?
What distances are competitions normally shot at?
Can you get good accuracy with a ball or do you need to go to a conical bullet?

In order...

Accuracy depends on the quality of the gun. My Hege Remington and my original Remington will both shoot <1.5 inches at 25 meters.

Competitions in the United States are normally shot at 25 and 50 yards.

Stick with round ball for match work. We did a bullet check at the last World Championships, 99% of the competitors were using round balls.

p.s. - Try 15 grains, with filler on top.
p.p.s - Shoot each chamber separately for group. There's usually one that shoots best, a couple that shoot poorly. Mark them, shoot the good chambers.

 

[dave951]

Accuracy- lots of factors at play- stock gun or not? I've seen a Hege Remington shoot almost 1in groups at 25yd. A lot also depends on the guy pulling the trigger.

As MikeOTDP said, if you're looking for the ultimate accuracy from your gun, use only one chamber for testing. Find which chamber is the most accurate. Stick with it for target work.

The real myth that needs to be dispelled is that black powder guns aren't accurate. They can be and are in the right hands, especially the guns that are match tuned. Most repops do NOT fall into the tuned category in stock configuration at normal prices. Get a gun that was tuned at the factory and you'll see how expensive accuracy can be. Like we said back in the day, speed costs money, how fast do you want to go? Accuracy works the same way.

 

[TheOutlawKid]

I shoot .36 cals and i got pretty excellent accuracy with conicals that beat roundball...the same experiment/test was done by Mike Belleview and we got the same exact results. Kaido 140 grain conicals outshot round ball and pointed paper cartridge conical. You can see the results in his video about his Pietta 1861 navy. Here are screen shots from the video. All are 5 shot groups.
Roundball:


Pointed conical with paper cartridge:


Kaido 140 grain conical:


As you can see it all depends on the conical. All my custom conical builds beat roundball hands down, but not all conicals out there are better and all guns are there own individual. To get the most out of my guns i ream my chambers .001-.003 over groove diameter. Piettas .36 cals have a bore groove diameter of .372 and a chamber diameter of .367 average. I open up my chambers to .375 and ive never looked back as i have seen my accuracy has definately improved. I also chamfer my chambers so that the bullet/ball swages in instead of cutting lead. Ruger old army also has their chambers over groove diameter and so do competition "shooters models" (usually chambers measure at bore diameter or a bit over). This cuts on gas cutting..which does hurt accuracy. On a stock chamber thats under bore diameter you can help your accuracy my minimizing gas cutting by just using a card over powder and a lube disk. So powder, card, lube disk, another card or wax paper disk is optional, then bullet/ball. The card along with lube seal the barrel and keep the gasses behind the ball/bullet. I have found this helps me as well and my speed is consistent and deviation is very low. So accuracy can be worked out of almost any gun so long as you do your part both in building up a load and practicing. Oh and even pressure on the powder and bullet/ball help too