berkmberk1
New member
I took Friday off for my birthday and went to the indoor range and shot
nothing but BP. I wanted to get a handle on BP reliability issues because I'm going to use two of the three pistols for CAS. My primary arm, so far, is my EAA Bounty Hunter 7.5 in .45 Colt. Backing it up are my Piettas, an 1851 Navy in the non-traditional .44 and an 1858 Remington in .44.
The powder used in all three was Shockey's Gold 3FG. The SAA use ~32 gr
behind a 250 gr LRNFP and ahead of a WW Large pistol primer. The Cap and Balls used ~30 gr ahead of a CCI #11 cap and behind the ubiquitous
Hornady ball.
Accuracy testing wasn't greatly precise or scientific. I shot groups two handed resting on the sill of firing partition. All three guns easily grouped smaller than my hand at 20-25 feet. The SAA shot about two inches high. The Navy about five inches high and just a tad right of center. The Remington shot about two or so inches low and to the left.
Reliability - all three guns started clean with base pins coated in olive oil, one time. My flask ran out of powder before the two C&Bs actually froze up, but the Navy was starting to stiffen up and the Remington the same, but just barely noticeably. Both of them fired four full cylinders, then the Navy jammed with scrap caps down in the hammer and the last of six caps, a whole one, jammed between the nipple and the recoil plate. The SAA put out 31 rounds before it was useless. It at first jammed for no apparent reason, fired five more shots and did this again and again until I quit trying. Also, the cylinder would at times not rotate and then it would freewheel. At first I thought it was fouled out, but when I partially disassembled it for cleaning, I
found the hand was not staying out where it should to engage the teeth
on the back of the cylinder. Either the spring is weak, broken, or I somehow reassemlbed it incorrectly the last time.
Observations - The SAA is a real CANNON! It Belows. The Navy gives out a Foomp and the Remington sounds off with a resounding POW! The Navy is easier for me to cap manually. I guess because of the good sized cutout
in the recoil plate. The Remington nipples and their cutouts are visually very small to me with my not so good eyes, so trying to manipulate a cap onto the nipple takes some time. I did use an inline capper for a few loads. A capper makes all the ifference......especially when you're paying for the range time!
This was the first time I fired any amount of BP at one time. Its gritty and sticks to everything. My SAA chamber mouths were COATED with fouling! The fronts of the cylinders on it and the Navy were building a good coat too. The Remington seems to hold its own as it doesn't seem to build up as much or as quickly.
I can see now how BP fouling buildup contributed to Custer's "Last Stand"! Shoot alot of BP, real fast, and not be able to do any maintenance, and you're bound to bind up and eventually jam. If you're also outnumbered "a whole lot to one" you're going to find yourself in very deep doo doo!
Also, if you're a Yank or Reb engaged in night combat, armed only with a C&B pistol, and its cold out and your eyesight sucks, you're in deep doo doo because capping will take forever!!
But, HEY!!! Its still fun!
nothing but BP. I wanted to get a handle on BP reliability issues because I'm going to use two of the three pistols for CAS. My primary arm, so far, is my EAA Bounty Hunter 7.5 in .45 Colt. Backing it up are my Piettas, an 1851 Navy in the non-traditional .44 and an 1858 Remington in .44.
The powder used in all three was Shockey's Gold 3FG. The SAA use ~32 gr
behind a 250 gr LRNFP and ahead of a WW Large pistol primer. The Cap and Balls used ~30 gr ahead of a CCI #11 cap and behind the ubiquitous
Hornady ball.
Accuracy testing wasn't greatly precise or scientific. I shot groups two handed resting on the sill of firing partition. All three guns easily grouped smaller than my hand at 20-25 feet. The SAA shot about two inches high. The Navy about five inches high and just a tad right of center. The Remington shot about two or so inches low and to the left.
Reliability - all three guns started clean with base pins coated in olive oil, one time. My flask ran out of powder before the two C&Bs actually froze up, but the Navy was starting to stiffen up and the Remington the same, but just barely noticeably. Both of them fired four full cylinders, then the Navy jammed with scrap caps down in the hammer and the last of six caps, a whole one, jammed between the nipple and the recoil plate. The SAA put out 31 rounds before it was useless. It at first jammed for no apparent reason, fired five more shots and did this again and again until I quit trying. Also, the cylinder would at times not rotate and then it would freewheel. At first I thought it was fouled out, but when I partially disassembled it for cleaning, I
found the hand was not staying out where it should to engage the teeth
on the back of the cylinder. Either the spring is weak, broken, or I somehow reassemlbed it incorrectly the last time.
Observations - The SAA is a real CANNON! It Belows. The Navy gives out a Foomp and the Remington sounds off with a resounding POW! The Navy is easier for me to cap manually. I guess because of the good sized cutout
in the recoil plate. The Remington nipples and their cutouts are visually very small to me with my not so good eyes, so trying to manipulate a cap onto the nipple takes some time. I did use an inline capper for a few loads. A capper makes all the ifference......especially when you're paying for the range time!
This was the first time I fired any amount of BP at one time. Its gritty and sticks to everything. My SAA chamber mouths were COATED with fouling! The fronts of the cylinders on it and the Navy were building a good coat too. The Remington seems to hold its own as it doesn't seem to build up as much or as quickly.
I can see now how BP fouling buildup contributed to Custer's "Last Stand"! Shoot alot of BP, real fast, and not be able to do any maintenance, and you're bound to bind up and eventually jam. If you're also outnumbered "a whole lot to one" you're going to find yourself in very deep doo doo!
Also, if you're a Yank or Reb engaged in night combat, armed only with a C&B pistol, and its cold out and your eyesight sucks, you're in deep doo doo because capping will take forever!!
But, HEY!!! Its still fun!