Range time with my 1860 Army

[Crawdad1]

I replaced my hammer with a new one that I just cut a new 'V' notch in and went to the range over the last couple days. I wanted to experiment with my Colt to see where her range is in the loads she likes and dislikes. All targets are shot at 25 yards with the barrel resting on sandbags, two hand hold.

The first target my load was 20 grains of GOEx 3Fg, 1 Oxy Wonder Wad and a 454 round ball. I fired one shot out of each chamber and marked them on the target.

The second target (the Shoot N C) I went up to 30 grains of GOEx 3Fg and varied between using 1 or 2 Oxy Wonder Wads and a 454 round ball. They went all over the place, very disappointing. These are the shots that are covered.

The uncovered shots on the Shoot NC target are with my loading of 25 grains GOEX 3Fg, 1 Oxy Wonder Wad and a 454 round ball.





In my experience with Colts their range in the loads they like and dislike is very narrow compared to the Remington.

 

[PainlessWolf]

Crawdad,
Good afternoon. That is some good shooting, sir! I am curious tho'? Why use two Oxy wads in some of the loads? Was that due to perceived space in the cylinder? Thank you in advance for satisfying my curiosity.
regards!

 

[D. Buck Stopshere]

Crawdad1,

Guess I am a little confused. You said,

I went up to 30 grains of GOEx 3Fg and varied between using 1 or 2 Oxy Wonder Wads and a 454 round ball. They went all over the place, very disappointing. These are the shots that are covered.

The uncovered shots on the Shoot NC target are with my loading of 25 grains GOEX 3Fg, 1 Oxy Wonder Wad and a 454 round ball.

Did you mean to say, "...these are the shots that are uncovered. The covered shots on the Shoot NC target,,,,,"

Seems to me that the covered holes are all nearly touchin' the quarter, and the uncovered holes are "all over the place". The covered group seems tight & not "all over the place", unless I'm seeing the target differently than what my brain is thinking. Apologies if I am seeing and thinking different.:banghead:

Regardless of what was stated, maximum velocity does not always mean maximum accuracy.

Accuracy is aided by consistency. Switching from one wad to two wads on the same target doesn't help accuracy.

If you want to see tighter groups, I recommend leaving out the wads, and substitute them with cream of wheat or cornmeal filler between powder and ball. Serious target shooters want the ball seated just below the mouth of the cylinder.

It requires some kind of grease over the ball to soften the fouling, which might be a little messy compared to the Ox Yoke wads, but I haven't met a serious pistol target shooter in a match yet, that uses the Ox-Yoke wads.

Over the decades, I have found shooting the .44 caliber in match competition at 25 & 50 yards unsupported, accurate loads range between 15 grains to 20 grains. Of course, if one want to win the match, the choice is either the NMA Remington or the Ruger OA. But now, that's "Target Line" shooting at a paper target, not "SASS type shooting at a metal target ten steps away.


"Accuracy is 99% (Mental) Concentration"....Bill Blankenship, National Pistol Champion, Camp Perry

 

[Crawdad1]

Thank You Sir!!! But I'm just the dummy pulling the trigger she's doing all the work.

I used the 2 wads because I wanted to see if setting the ball at the top of the chamber would increase her accuracy. And after sending ball after ball downrange and seeing the results I went back to using 1 wad. Either way she just doesn't like 30 grains of powder.

 

[Crawdad1]

My fault Buck. The shots touching the quarter are the 25 grains of GOEx 3 Fg, one Oxy Wonder Wad and a 454 round ball.

Interesting that top competitors use a filler and over ball grease and not a wad. But you got me thinking, back in 1977 I bought a 2nd Generation '51 Navy and used cornmeal filler and over the ball grease instead of a wad and I remember that revolver had amazing accuracy.

 

[D. Buck Stopshere]

Meaning no disrespect, serious pistol competitors are tight-wads. An Ox-Yoke wad costs about $9 per hundred or 9 cents per shot. Between practicing regularly and attending territorial, state, & national line matches a year, a avid competitor runs through about a 1,000 - 1,500 rounds. That would mean $90 - $135 per year, verses a box of Cream of Wheat that cost less than ten bucks.

Actually, testing different combinations of components has led to the "filler" to place the ball just under the mouth of the cylinder. I guess its the natural evolution of accurate pistol shooting, just like the "Zip Guns" (muzzle loading race guns), we line shooters use. Think Bianchi Cup Tournament and see how the 1911-A1 has evolved.

Neither of these pistols below are "beauties", but if you want to win NMLRA line matches, they are a neccessity.

Yazel inline s/s pistol, .36 caliber, with Herrett adjustable grips, barrel weight, extended front grip, & a Ruger Old Army .44 caliber, the "Dragoon Model" with Bo-Mar sights, & Herrett full-checkered grips.

The license plate: The goal of every serious pistol/revolver competitor.

 

[Jim K]

You may get better accuracy if you rest the wrists on the sandbag and don't let any part of the gun touch the rest or the bench.

Jim

 

[dickydalton]

Meaning no disrespect, serious pistol competitors are tight-wads. An Ox-Yoke wad costs about $9 per hundred or 9 cents per shot. Between practicing regularly and attending territorial, state, & national line matches a year, a avid competitor runs through about a 1,000 - 1,500 rounds. That would mean $90 - $135 per year, verses a box of Cream of Wheat that cost less than ten bucks.

Actually, testing different combinations of components has led to the "filler" to place the ball just under the mouth of the cylinder. I guess its the natural evolution of accurate pistol shooting, just like the "Zip Guns" (muzzle loading race guns), we line shooters use. Think Bianchi Cup Tournament and see how the 1911-A1 has evolved.

Neither of these pistols below are "beauties", but if you want to win NMLRA line matches, they are a neccessity.

Yazel inline s/s pistol, .36 caliber, with Herrett adjustable grips, barrel weight, extended front grip, & a Ruger Old Army .44 caliber, the "Dragoon Model" with Bo-Mar sights, & Herrett full-checkered grips.

The license plate: The goal of every serious pistol/revolver competitor.

I'd rather not be a member of your club. It is hardly representative of serious black powder affectioneos. Meaning no disrespect whatsoever but, that is not the goal of every serious pistol/revolver competitor. Maybe people that fake black powder firearms and pretend that they are of the same class.

 

[Crawdad1]

Great comments gentlemen, I'll have to try that resting my wrist on the sandbags instead of the barrel next time out.

The trouble with filler is it just a PITA when out in the field. I could go to the Circle Fly wad soaked in Bore Butter as they are generally cheaper than the Ox Yoke. Interesting revolvers, pure competition pieces for sure.

I agree Buck a 100 10x is definitely THE GOAL.

 

[DPris]

30 grains blows my groups much wider, my 60 can't shoot that hot & still stay tight on target.
And the filler is just waaaaay more inconvenience than it's worth.
Denis

 

[Malamute]

I'd rather not be a member of your club. It is hardly representative of serious black powder affectioneos. Meaning no disrespect whatsoever but, that is not the goal of every serious pistol/revolver competitor. Maybe people that fake black powder firearms and pretend that they are of the same class.

If you didnt mean to sound disrespectful, you may have not achieved your goal.

 

[medic15al]

The Pietta 1860 I had up until just recently would shoot tighter groups as you increased the charge. I filled the cylinders level with 3FG and seat the ball (.454) and get baseball sized groups at 20 yds. About 3 in high.

I gifted it to a neighbor's son as he loved the pistol and would shoot it all day when we went shooting.

 

[Hellgate]

I found that when I used Cream of Wheat filler that it scrubbed out the bore quite nicely. I used over ball grease but the COW had an unexpected scouring effect. I found it easy to use a black plastic powder flask for dispensing the COW on top of the FFFg.

 

[DPris]

I'm not a target shooter, but I do like decent accuracy, combined with reasonable power.

My 60 decreased accuracy-wise as powder charges went up.
And I would not be happy at all with a baseball-sized group at 20 yards.
That's just me, if you are, fine.
Denis

 

[medic15al]

With my eyes affected by diabetes and age it is probably the best I can do with that Pietta. With my VP9 I can do a little better.

 

[Malamute]

I need to buy some Cream of Wheat and try it.

 

[DPris]

The sights ARE tiny.
Do you use a shooting prescription?
Denis

 

[medic15al]

No sir. I had cataract surgery and lens replacement so regular glasses or contact works. Closer in to my face around about a foot for reading I would need bifocal magnification around 2.5x.

 

[Malamute]

I'm going to sound like "The Merit saleman",...but, if any of you guys havent tried the Merit device, it can really help with pistol shooting, despite other vision problems.

Its a very small widget that sticks to your glasses with a small suction cup, with an adjustable aperture. Changing the aperture size can sharpen the image of the sights and target, allowing most to see all of them pretty clearly. They arent cheap, but have been around and in use for many decades (1930's?). Once used, most people find the money to be well spent. When I use mine, its like being 25 and having 40-20 vision again.

 

[DPris]

Gotcha on all three.
I still have to use a specific shooting prescription when going for accuracy testing, set to focus about on the sights of a handgun at arms' length.
It carries over well enough on rifle sights, even with them sitting a bit farther forward.

The shooting prescription is focused a bit farther out than my reading glasses.
Had my cataract replacements done for "far-out" rather than "close-in".

That let me drop the 24/7 glasses I'd worn since the 6th grade & run around with naked eyeballs, which is great, but the trade-off was that I now have to use some form of glasses for the closer stuff.
Denis

 

[medic15al]

I wish the doc would have offered me that option, He decide to set me at 20/50 with lens implant. I could not tolerate script bifocals or progressives so I have single view lens in the glasses and carry safety glasses with a bifocal setup.

I wear the safety glasses all the time with contacts in as I have lost the use of my left eye and almost lost the right eye for a bit until surgery cleared it up. Right paranoid about it now.

 

[dickydalton]

If you didnt mean to sound disrespectful, you may have not achieved your goal.

Ah, you caught me.

 

[45 Dragoon]

Denis,
What about conicals? The '60 you have has a fast twist.

Mike
www.goonsgunworks.com

 

[Crawdad1]

That's what I like about the Colts with their brass front sights on them especially the 1860 Army. Through the 'V' notch I cut in the back hammer sight you can readily pick it up. I have to get use to the new hammer sight I cut making sure I place the front blade down the middle of the back sight's 'V' notch.

 

[Crawdad1]

I'd rather not be a member of your club. It is hardly representative of serious black powder affectioneos.

I remember that fight at the NMLRA when they debated whether or not to allow inclusion of the in-lines and other 'modern' muzzleloading weapons. I don't think the Ruger Old Army (in my opinion it should have been) was involved all that much but the back then newer Knight rifles sure caused a lot of heated debate.