Shooting Blackpowder and Smokeless Ammo out of same pistol, same day.

[VMass]

I have an Uberti 1860 Army revolver, and a Howell 45 Colt conversion cylinder. I'd like to take the pistol to the range and shoot both BP and smokeless ammo on the same trip. Any issue I should be aware of, or order in which to shoot the different types? I'm thinking smokeless first, finishing with BP. Thoughts or suggestions, please?

 

[Choctaw]

My only suggestion would be to have fun.

 

[VMass]

My only suggestion would be to have fun.

Lol. It's my primary goal in retirement, thanks!

 

[lv2tinker]

I have an Uberti 1860 Army revolver, and a Howell 45 Colt conversion cylinder. I'd like to take the pistol to the range and shoot both BP and smokeless ammo on the same trip. Any issue I should be aware of, or order in which to shoot the different types? I'm thinking smokeless first, finishing with BP. Thoughts or suggestions, please?

I'd shoot the smokeless ammo first, then the Black Powder as it's really dirty.
Have fun!

 

[VMass]

I'd shoot the smokeless ammo first, then the Black Powder as it's really dirty.
Have fun!

Thanks. That was my thinking too.

 

[woodnbow]

Or, you can shoot the bp first and then run a patch down the barrel before shooting the smokeless. By the time you’re finished the bore should be free of bp fouling entirely… maybe.

 

[armoredman]

Or, you can shoot the bp first and then run a patch down the barrel before shooting the smokeless. By the time you’re finished the bore should be free of bp fouling entirely… maybe.

If you use powder coated cast bullets, it might be scrubbed clean. I've noticed that with PC bullets...

 

[Dave Markowitz]

A couple times a year a friend and I shoot some informal trap at his place in the mountains. Understandably, he doesn't want the field over which we shoot littered with plastic wads, so we load 12 and 20 gauge shotshells with old fashioned paper wads. He uses Pyrodex in some of his loads while I used black powder in mine.

At the end of the session the bores will be rather crusty. A round or two of smokeless through them blasts out most of the BP fouling and makes cleaning easier.

 

[Pete453]

Or, you can shoot the bp first and then run a patch down the barrel before shooting the smokeless. By the time you’re finished the bore should be free of bp fouling entirely… maybe.

I would do this. My gun cleans up with 1 patch loaded with spit and 1 patch to dry. Or use a spray of glass cleaner like windex(with ammonia). Melts fouling NOW! Most times I would rather clean up after black powder.

 

[Jackrabbit1957]

What model are we talking about? Is it strictly a cartridge gun or is it a conversion?

 

[VMass]

A couple times a year a friend and I shoot some informal trap at his place in the mountains. Understandably, he doesn't want the field over which we shoot littered with plastic wads, so we load 12 and 20 gauge shotshells with old fashioned paper wads. He uses Pyrodex in some of his loads while I used black powder in mine.

At the end of the session the bores will be rather crusty. A round or two of smokeless through them blasts out most of the BP fouling and makes cleaning easier.

I'm starting to like this idea of shooting BP first, then ending with smokeless 45 Colt rounds to clean out the bore before heading home. Thanks.

 

[VMass]

What model are we talking about? Is it strictly a cartridge gun or is it a conversion?

Per my original post above, "I have an Uberti 1860 Army revolver, and a Howell 45 Colt conversion cylinder." I always preload my BP cylinders (less primers, of course) with 44 ball and powder. This time I would like to take along some of my reloaded 45 Colt (with a middle-of-the-road charge) to shoot both ammo the same day. Never done this before and just wondering if there's any chance of harming my 1860 Army Colt pistol.

 

[Jackrabbit1957]

Nope, as long as the arbor problem has been fixed.

 

[Black cloud]

I do this sometimes, I shoot BP first, patch barrel, swap cylinder for 45 long. Never had any problems.

 

[VMass]

I do this sometimes, I shoot BP first, patch barrel, swap cylinder for 45 long. Never had any problems.

Great. Thanks, I'm heading to the range!

 

[Carl N. Brown]

My first thought is that it would be easier to clean the BP residue if the the BP loads were shot last,
because shooting BP rounds first then smokeless last is likely to compact the BP residue.
That is assuming cleaning only at the end of the shooting session,

 

[armoredman]

Nope, as long as the arbor problem has been fixed.

Have Jackrabbit fix it - he knows what he is doing, personal experience here.

 

[hawg]

I would try it both ways and see which works best.

 

[VMass]

I would try it both ways and see which works best.

Good suggestion. My first concern was whether I could do any damage to my pistol by shooting both types of powders on the same day. Clearly, it's not a serious issue. My second concern was whether there was a preferred order to shoot, but it's clear there are pros and cons for either way, so I'm just going to wing it and enjoy my day at the range.

 

[Sacramento Johnson]

Will be interested to know if there is any tar-like residue in the barrel and cylinders.

 

[Gator Weiss]

Black powder first. Clean up reasonably, then go to smokeless. High grit residue needs to be removed before going to higher pressures. Ammonia based windex good idea.

 

[kje54]

Interesting, I learned many moons ago to NEVER use smokeless (modern, high pressure) powder in any BP reproduction gun. That's why they are stamped with Black Powder only.

 

[woodnbow]

Black powder first. Clean up reasonably, then go to smokeless. High grit residue needs to be removed before going to higher pressures. Ammonia based windex good idea.

Not sure if carbon fouling is gritty at all but we know what happens to carbon, if subjected to extreme heat and pressure. He may be spitting out diamonds…

 

[Jackrabbit1957]

Interesting, I learned many moons ago to NEVER use smokeless (modern, high pressure) powder in any BP reproduction gun. That's why they are stamped with Black Powder only.

That's on account of some beetle brain loading smokeless in the same amounts as blackpowder, plus the cylinder is a softer alloy. Conversion cylinders are made for shooting smokeless loads. 45 Dragoon has been experimenting with 45 Acp loads in his pistols with good results. When the pistol is properly set up it can handle it. That means fixing the short arbor on Uberti's for sure. Even their cartridge guns have short arbors, I've fixed several lately.

 

[kje54]

That's on account of some beetle brain loading smokeless in the same amounts as blackpowder, plus the cylinder is a softer alloy. Conversion cylinders are made for shooting smokeless loads. 45 Dragoon has been experimenting with 45 Acp loads in his pistols with good results. When the pistol is properly set up it can handle it. That means fixing the short arbor on Uberti's for sure. Even their cartridge guns have short arbors, I've fixed several lately.

Quite a while back I mentioned using smokeless on a traditional muzzleloader forum and got jumped big time........
Of course at the time I'd never used BP substitutes and thought (wrongly) they were smokeless powders. Besides most people who have never used BP firearms are pretty much beetle brains.........
I'll stick with BP and subs.