gtrgy888
Member
Hi y’all,
First post here from the hills of the US western desert. I decided carrying an Uberti 1851 London in .36 would be more thematically and historically appropriate to my setting concealed under a duster than the polymer 9 mm I usually carry. Since Covid already mandated face coverings, it gave a great public excuse for a bandana while the ammo shortage meant that percussion shooting would be a smart economic move so I can save my ammo stash for interesting times. So I guess the cowboy aesthetic chose me. In future posts, I’ll be discussing my methods of loading, carrying, and shooting the 1851 as well as cataloguing the results of shooting it into various odd objects with a variety of powder loads under a .380 round ball.
For the first 6 months, this was a project gun to keep me busy on weekends out of the office. I smoothed some parts with sandpaper (hand, bolt, frame, springs), filed off the right side recoil shield lip to keep it from catching caps, filed a slight uniform gap between the cylinder and forcing cone (paper width) to reduce binding as a result of powder fouling, and crowned the chamber openings, forcing cone, and muzzle VERY gently with a 3/5 dremel by hand to smooth the transition of ball to barrel and smooth its exit from the muzzle.
With this preliminary work done, I was itching to fill up the chambers and shoot! So I bought some triple 777, loaded up 21 grains per chamber under lubed wads as demonstrated by just about every damn YouTuber and internet “expert” and rode out to federal land to cap up and shoot some paper!
The first visit was a catastrophe. The #10 CCI’s wouldn’t seat fully under finger pressure, so they had 50% reliability. And the 21 grain loading seemed a bit anemic for anything more serious than rabbit hunting.
Before the 2nd trip I wanted to test long term stability of the wadded load, so I kept the cleaned gun loaded and capped with 21 grains of 777 and Cabela’s lubed wads to see how well the loads held up after a month loaded. After finally getting it to the range again, the first shot was pathetic! Instead of a bang, I heard a pathetic FZZZ and watch a cloud of powder spit downrange while onlookers in other lanes snickered. The 2nd shot actually seemed to pull the gun in my hand. I could feel the ball slowly grinding through the barrel, almost squibbing, and baaarely leaving it was moving so slow. Three out of six caps didn’t pop at all, even after full seating with a wooden dowel. Even after popping fresh caps, I couldn’t ignite the powder. I was able to avoid the indignity of needing to pull the three remaining balls at home by unscrewing the cones, dribbling a small amount of 777, reinstalling the cones, and using fresh caps to empty the 3 chambers (FZZZ... pDOP... PIFF) and watch more ruined powder spit out the end. Cleaning was a chore for that trip. I learned that those lubed wads so many insist on using will ABSOLUTELY ruin 777 powder. The rest of the cylinders loaded brand new with 21 grains and wads shot fine, although they hardly recoiled more than a .22 lr (POP, POP, etc.).
Before the next trip, I was determined to finally make this embarrassing curio perform like a GUN. I swabbed the chambers and cones with rubbing alcohol to remove every trace of oil, air dried, loaded a full 30 grains of 777 compressed VERY TIGHT under an oversized .380 ball for each chamber, lubed the ball edges with Bore Butter on a Q-tip, then seated the caps by pressing HARD on the hammer while pointing downrange. Then I put the 1851 in the safe, slammed the door, and refused to look at it for a month, disgusted by how this anemic, obsolete waste of money was performing and wondering whether even the most ardent Democrat would bother banning this POS. After a month of sitting in the safe, I took it out again and SUCCESS! All 6 chambers went BANG and kicked in the hand like a gun ought to. I even saw some dirt kicked up from the impacts downrange.
Some takeaways: Check the fit and finish of the gun and make any modifications before ever visiting the range.
If you load with 777, make sure no lube or moisture at all can touch it! After a month, it will become mud in the chambers and will have barely enough foot pounds of energy to leave the barrel. After cleaning and lubing the cylinder, remove any trace of lube with rubbing alcohol from the chambers and cones. Allow the cone threads to keep bore butter so you can easily unscrew them after shooting, but the rest should be as sterile, dry, and oil-free as a surgical tool before loading.
More updates to follow!
First post here from the hills of the US western desert. I decided carrying an Uberti 1851 London in .36 would be more thematically and historically appropriate to my setting concealed under a duster than the polymer 9 mm I usually carry. Since Covid already mandated face coverings, it gave a great public excuse for a bandana while the ammo shortage meant that percussion shooting would be a smart economic move so I can save my ammo stash for interesting times. So I guess the cowboy aesthetic chose me. In future posts, I’ll be discussing my methods of loading, carrying, and shooting the 1851 as well as cataloguing the results of shooting it into various odd objects with a variety of powder loads under a .380 round ball.
For the first 6 months, this was a project gun to keep me busy on weekends out of the office. I smoothed some parts with sandpaper (hand, bolt, frame, springs), filed off the right side recoil shield lip to keep it from catching caps, filed a slight uniform gap between the cylinder and forcing cone (paper width) to reduce binding as a result of powder fouling, and crowned the chamber openings, forcing cone, and muzzle VERY gently with a 3/5 dremel by hand to smooth the transition of ball to barrel and smooth its exit from the muzzle.
With this preliminary work done, I was itching to fill up the chambers and shoot! So I bought some triple 777, loaded up 21 grains per chamber under lubed wads as demonstrated by just about every damn YouTuber and internet “expert” and rode out to federal land to cap up and shoot some paper!
The first visit was a catastrophe. The #10 CCI’s wouldn’t seat fully under finger pressure, so they had 50% reliability. And the 21 grain loading seemed a bit anemic for anything more serious than rabbit hunting.
Before the 2nd trip I wanted to test long term stability of the wadded load, so I kept the cleaned gun loaded and capped with 21 grains of 777 and Cabela’s lubed wads to see how well the loads held up after a month loaded. After finally getting it to the range again, the first shot was pathetic! Instead of a bang, I heard a pathetic FZZZ and watch a cloud of powder spit downrange while onlookers in other lanes snickered. The 2nd shot actually seemed to pull the gun in my hand. I could feel the ball slowly grinding through the barrel, almost squibbing, and baaarely leaving it was moving so slow. Three out of six caps didn’t pop at all, even after full seating with a wooden dowel. Even after popping fresh caps, I couldn’t ignite the powder. I was able to avoid the indignity of needing to pull the three remaining balls at home by unscrewing the cones, dribbling a small amount of 777, reinstalling the cones, and using fresh caps to empty the 3 chambers (FZZZ... pDOP... PIFF) and watch more ruined powder spit out the end. Cleaning was a chore for that trip. I learned that those lubed wads so many insist on using will ABSOLUTELY ruin 777 powder. The rest of the cylinders loaded brand new with 21 grains and wads shot fine, although they hardly recoiled more than a .22 lr (POP, POP, etc.).
Before the next trip, I was determined to finally make this embarrassing curio perform like a GUN. I swabbed the chambers and cones with rubbing alcohol to remove every trace of oil, air dried, loaded a full 30 grains of 777 compressed VERY TIGHT under an oversized .380 ball for each chamber, lubed the ball edges with Bore Butter on a Q-tip, then seated the caps by pressing HARD on the hammer while pointing downrange. Then I put the 1851 in the safe, slammed the door, and refused to look at it for a month, disgusted by how this anemic, obsolete waste of money was performing and wondering whether even the most ardent Democrat would bother banning this POS. After a month of sitting in the safe, I took it out again and SUCCESS! All 6 chambers went BANG and kicked in the hand like a gun ought to. I even saw some dirt kicked up from the impacts downrange.
Some takeaways: Check the fit and finish of the gun and make any modifications before ever visiting the range.
If you load with 777, make sure no lube or moisture at all can touch it! After a month, it will become mud in the chambers and will have barely enough foot pounds of energy to leave the barrel. After cleaning and lubing the cylinder, remove any trace of lube with rubbing alcohol from the chambers and cones. Allow the cone threads to keep bore butter so you can easily unscrew them after shooting, but the rest should be as sterile, dry, and oil-free as a surgical tool before loading.
More updates to follow!
