Video: Rapid Fire with Cimarron 1873 and Black Powder

[Dave Markowitz]

Quick video taken by a friend of my shooting my Cimarron Firearms 1873 Sporting Rifle with BP handloads. The loads were Starline .44-40 brass, 35 grains of Goex 3Fg, 215 grain bullet cast in an Accurate Molds #43-215C mold, and Federal LPP.

http://youtu.be/KmLT3lahWcw

(The junk in the foreground was related to my other hobby -- ham radio.)

 

[Panzerschwein]

Excellent. Where do you shoot CAS at?

 

[BullRunBear]

Thanks for the video. If I had a pistol caliber lever action, it would be fun to try that.

BTW, is the gear in the foreground to power a QRP rig? If so, it would keep you going for weeks.

Jeff

 

[Dave Markowitz]

Cooldill, I haven't shot in any CAS matches although my club does a couple lever action matches. I hope to get to the next one.

Jeff, the power packs were for my friend's Icom 718 and Elecraft KX3. I used a Hobbyking 5,000 mAh lithium polymer battery for my Yaesu FT-817ND.

 

[BullRunBear]

Those are some nice rigs! Haven't been active for a while and I'm trying to resuscitate my CW skills. My main rig is an old TenTec Corsair, which isn't exactly battery friendly. I've heard good things about the Yaesu 817nd and will look at one when the time comes. Probably next year.

I like the idea of an ammo can that will hold the rig, battery, antenna and paddles for portable operation. Keeping (sort of) with THR topics, I consider such a set up the way I would put together a portable reloading kit or equip a BP shooting bag. Doesn't have to be an emergency, just for fun when away from home and electric power. People would be surprised by what can be done with 5 watts or less.

Jeff

 

[4v50 Gary]

How does your friend clean that lever action after shooting holy black cartridges? Scrub the barrel, bolt and action? Is the bolt removed?

 

[Dave Markowitz]

Gary, that's me in the video and I clean it.

With .44-40 and full charges virtually no fouling gets back in the action. The .44-40 case is thin and obturates very well, sealing the chamber. This is a major reason why I bought it in .44-40 rather than .45 Colt, which has thicker brass and does not seal the chamber as well.

To clean the bore I use a water-based cleaner such as Windex, windshield wiper fluid, or Hoppe's MPro-7. The bullets I use carry a lot of lube, so that even after 50 shots the fouling stays soft. If the cartridges are loaded with Swiss 3Fg it takes only three wet patches (using both sides) to clean the bore. Goex doesn't burn as cleanly, so it took 5 or 6 patches.

To lube the bullets I'm using a mix of beeswax and mutton tallow. It does a great job of keeping the fouling soft.

After the wet patches come out clean, I run a couple dry patches through the barrel and follow up with a patch wet with Ballistol.

I'm not exaggerating when I say that it takes less effort to clean the gun after shooting ammo loaded with Swiss BP than it does to clean it after running ammo loaded with Unique and commercially cast bullets through it.

If I rest the rifle on something so that it's horizontal and upside down, the goop from cleaning drops right out the ejection port instead of getting into the action. If the rifle is vertical when cleaning the bore the fouling gets back into the action, so it's a good idea to remove the sideplates to wipe out the residue.

 

[Crunchy Frog]

My friend "Hollifer A. Dollar" (his cowboy alias) shoots a '73 in .44-40; he favors Goex which makes lots of thick smoke. He's loaded for and shot several different calibers and swears by .44-40 for the reasons you stated. I am dipping my toe into the waters of BP handloading, using APP in .38 Special. I can use my usual bullets with the harder lube but I think "real" black powder is the better choice.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[44 Dave]

Nothing better than .44 WCFfor black powder!
I put an empty brass (from the same gun) in it for the wet patch part of my cleaning. Almost air tight, keeps the mess out of the action.

 

[Panzerschwein]

Gary, that's me in the video and I clean it.

With .44-40 and full charges virtually no fouling gets back in the action. The .44-40 case is thin and obturates very well, sealing the chamber. This is a major reason why I bought it in .44-40 rather than .45 Colt, which has thicker brass and does not seal the chamber as well.

To clean the bore I use a water-based cleaner such as Windex, windshield wiper fluid, or Hoppe's MPro-7. The bullets I use carry a lot of lube, so that even after 50 shots the fouling stays soft. If the cartridges are loaded with Swiss 3Fg it takes only three wet patches (using both sides) to clean the bore. Goex doesn't burn as cleanly, so it took 5 or 6 patches.

To lube the bullets I'm using a mix of beeswax and mutton tallow. It does a great job of keeping the fouling soft.

After the wet patches come out clean, I run a couple dry patches through the barrel and follow up with a patch wet with Ballistol.

I'm not exaggerating when I say that it takes less effort to clean the gun after shooting ammo loaded with Swiss BP than it does to clean it after running ammo loaded with Unique and commercially cast bullets through it.

If I rest the rifle on something so that it's horizontal and upside down, the goop from cleaning drops right out the ejection port instead of getting into the action. If the rifle is vertical when cleaning the bore the fouling gets back into the action, so it's a good idea to remove the sideplates to wipe out the residue.

Smart to get a .44-40. Some of the guys with .45 Colt lever action complain of a lot of back blast fouling getting into the action. Someday, before I buy the farm, I want to get a replica 1860 Henry rifle.

It will be a .44-40.

 

[J-Bar]

I have shot black powder .45 Colt in CAS competition. Blowback is significant but limited to the carrier; it never got back to the toggles. The carrier and front end of the bolt clean up easily with Ballistol and wiping. I like to run my black powder '73s wet, spritzing them with Ballistol every few stages. But there is no doubt that the .44-40 runs cleaner than either the .45 Colt or .38 Special.