Price of BP shooting?

[BHPshooter]

I've wanted a Black Powder firearm for over a year now, since I shot my cousin's cap and ball rifle. I was hooked -- it's just too darn fun!

My Dad has a Philadelphia Derringer in about .50 caliber that he would probably let me use...

But about how much does it cost to shoot Black Powder? Would it be more expensive than shooting my 9mm Hi Powers?

Secondly, is it worth the price to get a BP Revolver, or should I stick with a single shot? I'm just going for fun, not for defense or anything.

Thanks,
Wes

 

[Hedger]

Depends....

Aha... price depends on how much you want to shoot

I have found that BP is relatively inexpensive compared to SP because:

1. BP shooting is SLOWER primarily due to reload time. You can burn 100 rounds through a 9mm relatively quickly. My clubs BP shoots usually take about 3 hours and we may only fire 50 shots.

2. BP is cheap, a pound of FFG will run you about 10 to 12 bucks if you only buy one can... pyrodex a bit more. Caps and wads, etc., are relatively cheap also. How long a pound of BP lasts you depends on your loads. Lasts me quite a while.

Single shot v. Revolvers: Depends on what you want it for. My club is primarily into traditional mountain man shooting... very few revolvers. I find the single shot trapper style pistols more versatile (mines a .50 cal) for event shooting. Guys using revolvers usually also carry an extra loaded cylinder along. If we shoot more than 12 pistols targets, they are skeeerude. Revolvers can be a hoot if you are just plinking.

 

[P95Carry]

Wes .. some ball park info.

A cap & ball revo, say a repro Rem 44 ... set you back around $135 or so ... similar money will get you a Traditions percussion rifle in .45 or .50 cal. For not too much more you should be able to find an in line in .45 or .50 .... there are quite a lot of very reasonable weapons out there.

Consumables .... well, BP or Pyrodex ..... hmmm .. memory .. ages since I bought last lot ..... say, about same as nitro powders. Triple 7 and Cleanshot will cost maybe around the $25 mark IIRC. These are 1 lb packs.

Round balls probably $10 a box of 100 .. percussion caps or 209's .. well, let's say £2 per 100 .. then some lube (Bore Butter is good) ... perhaps $3 to $4 a tube.

Then you'd be good to go. Not a huge outlay really for a lot of (messy!) fun. Check up if you go ahead .. on things like cleaning etc . and with cap & ball .. make sure you load up correctly.

 

[Old Fuff]

Ah, poor child ..... you've been hooked, or soon will be.

Go to www.dixiegunworks.com and order a copy of their hardcopy catalog. It has over 700 pages, costs $5.00 (unless you want to send more) and everything you will ever need is inside it. Most if not all of your questions will be answered too.

But I warn you, once you get a copy there's no going back. As you said, "it's too much fun."

 

[Hedger]

Homemade

The other great aspect of BP shooting is not what you can buy, but what can make on your own to use. I am always impressed with the ingenuity of my fellow BP shooters and their handicraft and making all of the "possibles" used in BP shooting.

Horns, powder measures, clothing, belts, holsters, leather cappers, patches, ball bags... lots of this stuff you can make on your own. I have only been BP shooting for about five years, and I generally only now purchase BP (Goex), caps and balls (even quite a few guys make their own balls). I also purchase a few other cleaning items as needed.

You aren't really hooked (and far gone ) until you buy a "flincher".

 

[4v50 Gary]

BP can be very cheap. Why? Blast a box of 50 9mm bullets @ $7.00 through three 15 round magazines (or one 50 round Calico mag) and you're done it less than 10 minutes. Try shooting 50 rounds of round ball through your smokepole. You may be able to get 10 rounds off or if you're practiced, about 15 to 20 if you use a loading block and discard the use of the patch (sacrifice accuracy for speed. Then again, with a progressively fouled barrel, you'll find loading slower and slower). So, by comparison to modern guns, with your lower rate of fire and the amount of time on the range, BP can be very cheap.

On the other hand, if you buy your rifle from Colonial Williamsburg and we're talking big bucks just for start up. Me, I started cheap and am still cheap.

 

[Third_Rail]

Ahh, BP shooting can be very very cheap indeed. If you understand how to make BP, grain it, etc, then it's really cheap.... of course, then you have to overpower the charge by about 10%; homemade BP, even when done properly, isn't as strong as commericial BP (they mill it for WEEKS, I mill mine for 4 hours, tops.) A lb of BP ends up costing me ~$2.50, which is just nice.

EDIT: Here's the way I learned how to do it... expensive to start up, but again, ~$2.50 a lb... also, you may want to have commercial BP to compare grain sizes to.

 

[RobW]

In comparison to reloading stuff for a .45 semi, the BP-stuff is is quiet expensive:

prices found here in town:

230gr Lead Round Nose 500 = $ 24.50
1 lb Winchester 231 powder = $ 18.00
CCI primers, 1000 = $ 27.50
Brass = nothing, I collected about 3000 shells from our club-range.

.375 lead balls 500 = $ 32.50
1 lb Goex FFFg = 19.50
CCI caps # 11 1000 = $ 35.00
500 OxYoke wads = $ 32.50

But when you consider the slow reloading process and the price for a new replica (1851 Navy in .36), you can shoot, and shoot , and shhhoooot..., and it's a LOT of fun!

 

[BHPshooter]

Thanks for the many informative replies.

Yes, I know, I'm already doomed to walk the blackpowder path. I can't stop thinking about it!

What are your opinions on the Cabela's gun-and-starter-kit packages? I'm still not sure whether I want a rifle or a pistol... cap-and-ball or flintlock?

I just dunno.

Wes

 

[Hutt]

Fumegator, cost is irrelavent. The price of fun and entertainment is priceless!

 

[RobW]

Thefumegator: most comments I read don't advise to get the Cabela's starter kits but to get what you need separately. Some of the stuff on the kit is absolutely not necessary.

Yeah, the choices are so many! I started with a 1851 Navy and a 1858 Remington. The bug bit, and I'm now looking to get a Lyman Great Plains Rifle (you can get it for southpaws!).

The accessories you need are dependent of what you are shooting. A good idea is to get a book about BP shooting (not hunting, that's a totally different story). I'll have the title tomorrow, the Author goes in everything you might need and gives good advice.

 

[P95Carry]

Rob, your mention of books just reminded me .... one of my many old books is .....

''The Black Powder Handgun'' ... by Sam Fadala, published by DBI Books. I have what seems to be first edition ... which is © 1981 and sold for $8.95 then. I haven't gone looking to see if it is still around but if so .. it is an excellent book for anyone starting out. My first BP was a cap and ball repro Colt 1861 in .44 cal. Wore the damn thing out!

Oh BTW in case it helps a search ... this book has the following ISBN # ....

ISBN 0-910676-22-4

I do recommend seeing if it's around. If not I could always consider passing this on if it helps someone.