Why do you shoot Black Powder

[scrat]

Often from time to time i get asked that question as i am sure we all do. Living about 16 miles from down town Los Angeles you dont find that many people who shoot black powder. At the range i even had a fella ask me once if i had a felony because i was shooting black powder. Black powder shooting for me is an art an art that not that many people have.

Back when i was a kid i remember my father and his 1952 Chevy. That Chevy had to be started a certain way as most cars did. You had to tap the gas pedal a certain amount. Then pull the choke cable a certain amount feeling the resistance of the cable. Then you would turn the key. once it warmed up you would have to slowly push in the choke cable. I remember my father keeping a few sets of points and condensors in the glove box. They had to be adjusted just right. I believe it was 16-19 thousands of an inch. Today most mechanic shops the kids dont even know how to install a set of points. I remember about 5 years ago i used to take my kids to a train museum. Called travel towne. I recall looking in those old steam locomotives at all the knobs, valves and levers. Thinking to myself there probably is only a handfull of people that even know how to operate this in the united states. There were so many of them all different with different valves and levers. most rust shut or painted shut. Mostly just for looks. But again no skilled operators to even be able to get them going. How many more machines and items are there in the united states that we used to pioneer that know one knows how to operate. Probably a lot more than we all care to imagine.

Shooting black powder is an art. Seems as though each gun you have is different and likes a different method. There are not a lot of us who shoot black powder. I shoot black powder and so do my boys. We learned and have mastered the art of shooting black powder. Black powder will not be forgotten with this family. I am very happy to have learned how to shoot black powder and share shooting black powder with others. It is truely an art form of shooting. Some people still like to go to the range with 1000 rounds of ammo to blow off. I used to do that. However i find my self now taking it slow making every shot count. mastering the gun and doing the fine tuning and machining myself. Like is used to be. I feel its important to keep this tradition alive and learned. Hopefully we wont ever be looking in a glass case at a museum trying to explain to someone how black powder worked. Like those trains in the museum or the old chevy. they had a purpose in life. They did their job but too many people today take it for granet and do not respect the fact that. If it were not for those old machines of yesterday they would not have what they have today. So these are my reasons for shooting Black Powder.

 

[Elbert P . Suggins]

The reason I like bp is because of my bounding interest in the Civil War and the weapons that were used. We are lucky that these weapons are reproduced and not to take advantage of that in our lifetime is a waste. To not feel the recoil, hear that boom instead of the crack, and not to experience the smoke is missing something that later on seems very important. To go out and hit targets with Cap and Ball as accurately as you can with modern weapons is quite satisfying. And also taking in the astonished look of wonder that comes across some faces at a range of people that haven't been around it is fun and also answering their questions to the best of my ability. When you can buy a new six-shooter for $300, shoot all day for pennies, and still have money to buy your wife a nice gift it makes it all worthwhile!

 

[sundance44s]

I started shooting black powder because it presented more of a challenge to my hunting , even during the regular rifle season ..I would be carrying a 54 cal side lock rifle ..
Before my discovery into black powder My first year of deer hunting trips involved me aiming a modern rifle with a modern scope at an animal that had no idea I was fixing to shut his life support systems down with the flick of a switch at 100 yards away ....I felt , more a sniper than a hunter ...I felt the need to get back to my roots with my hunting for me to enjoy it more , Now days I don`t hunt as much as I did when I was younger but when I do hunt I use Black Powder cartridges ( those new fangled brass cartridges )...My hunting friends always ask when I`m going to join them in the 21th century ...I suppose I`m just one of those folks who were born in the wrong century ...and of course with the black powder guns one leads to another and on and on , these replicas of rifles and pistols designed in the years of the industrial revolution have always fascinated me ....maybe in a hundred years folks will have the same fascination with our modern black plastic stocked scoped assualt rifles ...Black powder seems to fit the man who enjoys doing things at a slower pace ...and appreciates a purdy piece of wood .

 

[Shultzhaus]

I like Black Powder shooting, because it gets me closer to the basics. Same reason I had a sail boat on the Chesapeake bay for years. The need to learn the effects of wind and tides on the boat. Why drive 30 miles to the water, then get behind a wheel and throttle again. Same with flying small planes. I get to feel the back pressure on the controls. BP shooters have many fine choices of products today, compared to 1958, when I started doing BP. A Boy Scout at our church once asked me which gun would I want, if I was to be in the wilderness for a long spell. I said, my flintlock, of course. If all else is gone, a flintlock can be used to start a camp fire.

 

[mykeal]

Just because.

 

[Chawbaccer]

I like the independence aspect of it, the ability to do things myself. I usually hand load for all my smokeless guns too.

 

[Tommygunn]

I like those old cap 'n' ball revolvers. They were neat guns.
While impractical in today's world, they represent a time when we had (generally) more freedoms and were establishing ourselves as a coast to coast nation.


Plus, I like the smell of blackpowder in the morning!

 

[Macmac]

To me it was the call of the woods and the lore that goes with it.

I didn't know anyone to teach me a thing and so long ago I worked it all out to get started. I made my share of errors, and a little at a time I learned most of what I wanted too always learning backwards in time.

A decade past before I ever knew anyone shooting black powder, but when I found other, I really found a lot of others and I had discovered a whole new, but old way to live. I found Buck Skinning, and there i even found a Bride, one I still have, and we go Buck Skinning to this day.

Accused of being a felon huh? LOL You otta gitchy a set of skins and go'round dressed like that and see what happens!

I found you can whisper boo! and shepeole will scream in public.

 

[4v50 Gary]

Black powder is so much more challenging to shoot. The fraternity is also closer knit than other shooting communities. Less egos, more fun.

 

[Mike OTDP]

True, especially in the N-SSA. I grew up in that organization - literally. My team IS my extended family.

But while I spend more time with the revolvers than anything else, my abiding love is the duelling pistol. A gentleman's weapon. Like a smallsword, an elegant weapon...for a more civilized time.

 

[Pulp]

Excellent question, and and some equally excellent responses. Although I was raised in a shooting family, I didn't know squat about it. One day my brother brought home a Hawes Single Action in .357 and a Lee Loader. That started two loves: 1. single actions and 2. reloading.

Then I saw "The Good, Bad and Ugly", and the gun that Eli Wallach stole from the gun store. Although I still don't know what it was, I liked it better than any gun I'd seen before. I'm thinkin' it was a Richard-Mason's Conversion, but not sure.

A few years later my brother brought home a '58 Remington replica. Don't ask me how or why, but I knew how to load it as soon as I picked it up. Didn't have to be shown. I just knew.

The guns of the early to late 1800's to me are the culmination of history. The genius of Sam Colt, whoever worked for Remington, Sharps, Henry, Spencer, and Browning are so evident in these guns. Everytime I pick one up I think back to them. How did they do what they did without welders, CNC machines and all our modern equipment is beyond me.

Speaking of locomotives, if you're ever in Lawton, OK go to the Museum of the Great Plains. My wife's uncle or great uncle drove that steam locomotive through downtown Lawton, up 6th street to it's present location. They laid track in the street, then pulled it up as he passed.

 

[BHP FAN]

First handgun I ever had,was when I was fourteen,and I bought a '51 confederate sheriff's model revolver.

 

[Smokin_Gun]

First off jus' cause I like it. More over I like the evolution of the handguns of the 19th Century and the history of how they were used throughout history.
I can hang out and servive in the Desert or the Mountains just as had been done 150 or more years ago, using the same or same as original shooters.
Lastly cause I like to show the World how a flash bang situation can be haulted with a single six-shooter of cap, ball, and black powder.
You would be surprized how after demonstrations and explainations how Practical a Cap&Ball Revolver in the hands of an experianced C&B Rev shooter/kitchen table gunsmith can be in this Impractical World.
You hold a 6 man SWAT Team at your door in one hand,Flash Bang and lead. Myself I keep two Remington .44's one for each hand.

I have more on Rifle, Buffalo, and BP Cartridge guns but it'll keep, as I have practically said enough for one post.

SG

 

[bobby n.]

my ancestors were pioneers, i can trace my heritage back to distant
relatives landing at princess anne port in virginia back in 1763. they braved the new frontier these three brothers, and made their way west, fighting indians, braving foul weather, floods and whatever nature threw at them, and all with black powder flintlocks . My favorite story was my greatgrandmother shooting and killing a cougar/ mountain lion that had come
looking for a meal at the homestead in colorado. heritage says it all, bravery, and the will to survive using what you know to be tried and true. from muskets and blunderbusses , flintlocks and walkers , you can truely say that some of us have roots we can be quite proud of, but the history teaches us a few important things about what kind of folks these pioneers were and the spirit and determination built this country and secured this country using the
ways and means of what was available. so ask me why i shoot black powder rifles and pistols and i will smile and give you a pat on the shoulder and say, "my ancestors were pioneers," knowing that probably somewhere back in time one of your ancestors was a pioneer at one time or another.

 

[DuncanSA]

I have loved the stuff for more years than I care to remember. One can of course be misunderstood, as I was when at about 12 years old I made a cannon out of plumbers solder and shot a hole through the front door with a ball bearing (using powder extracted from chinese fireworks).

I have been shooting Cowboy Action for some years with BP cap and ball revolvers but am now thinking of swapping my cowboy hat for a coonskin cap to match the .50 flintlock that I was given for Xmas.

 

[nekwah]

Its a link to the past and where i hunt i can step outside and shoot a deer in the meadow with you're high powered rifle and its all over. Its a lot more fun and you actually have to hunt not just squeeze off rounds.

 

[DoubleDeuce 1]

I enjoy shooting black powder because I am tired of shooting the modern stuff. I find it very relaxing. Each shot depends entirely on me from start to finish. You can shoot all day for a couple of pennies. Or you can shoot a few minutes with the modern stuff for a larger outlay of cash.

 

[mykeal]

Maybe it's in my blood, too.

Many of my ancestors were pioneers, some good, some not so good. We learned that one supposedly had the title of General in the Continental Army. Not a bad thing, until we learned he bought the title and never actually left the farm to take up arms; the likely reason was to keep from becoming an unwilling source for food supplies. He may well have been a British sympathizer. His 'title' only appears in local papers and family documents, not in any official Continental Army documents. Another was a farm laborer with 11 kids who never had a dime to his name. He disappeared from the census rolls for a couple of years but turned up very unexpectedly as a foot soldier with the revolutionaries and probably fought in at least 3 battles; he was a bit of an irregular, as his name showed up in different regiments at different times. Yet another was a minister who started a church in the Massachusetts colony and essentially lived off his parishioners; not sure if it was a noble calling or not.

 

[Elbert P . Suggins]

Been thinkin about this, so now you got me started. Back in 52 when the radio series were strong I listened to the Lone Ranger and Sargent Preston of the Yukon. Later in 55 when we got a tv I could actually watch what I heard. And then came The Last of the Mohicans and that was it! Oh, and don't forget Fess Parker and the Alamo! I saw them load those weapons and it just stuck with me. In 65 I found a Navy Arms Zoli 58 cal Zoauve and bought it. I never used minie balls but only ball and patch. I can't remember how I ever knew how much powder to put in but I got it right and shot several deer with it. I still have it and now it is an antique itself. I like old stuff. I bought a 1941 J3 Piper Cub in 77 for $3500 instead of a newer aircraft. Now I drive a 53 Chevy and 64 Olds F85 with a plug-in Siruis Satelite radio so I can listen to 70 year old music, The Shadow, and Dragnet. My wife and I go to antique shops and mostly look. I am searching for my childhood and around every corner I see a piece of it. I guess I want to live my history instead of make it. I'll be 61 next month and we have had 70 inches of snow and have seen the sun 4 times since Dec. 1st. To go on the deck and shoot Black Powder revolvers I think has saved my sanity. Sorry for the rambling but global warming hasn't showed up here!

 

[BADUNAME37]

Because I don't usually get a deer during deer season. It gives me one more week of hunting deer that I normally would not have otherwise.

Since I know it is already sighted in out to 100 yards, that is the only time I take out my muzzleloader, during muzzleloading season.

 

[grymster]

A combination of many of the reasons listed above, but mostly it's more challenging, it feels more appropriate to the primitive kinda guy I really am and I think the people are nicer. I also like sundance's answer. I don't hunt.... yet, but if I were to start, I have always felt I would like for my quarry to have half a chance.

 

[DoubleDeuce 1]

Smokin Gun, I re-read your posting listed above. I think I might have misunderstood your comments. I apologize for doing so.

 

[gotgcoalman]

I like blackpowder because of the feeling that i loaded
the weapon from scratch and if i use it to kill
an animal i really ment to do it(seems to taste better)

Also if i use it for clay shooting people are always asking if
they (have a shot)load and fire seems a thrill for them.

For me shooting Blackpowder is always a thrill.

 

[alemonkey]

So I can say things like "I'm pinching a cap over my nipple" and "My balls work better with this new lube" with a totally straight face.



In reality, I'm an analog kind of guy. I spend all day working with computers, and it's nice to get back to a simpler time.

 

[ArmedBear]

Why do I shoot black powder?

Well, the stuff doesn't taste very good. It's unsafe to use as a floor covering. Snorting it wasn't any good, either.