Why am I doing this?

Z

ZVP

New member
Ever ask yourself why you have this deep down intrest in weapons and lifestyles from a Century and a Half ago?
I for one have spent most of the past 55 years involved with Springer Airguns and the current developemant of Precharged Pneumatic rifles has just about driven me away! I still have and love my Air rifles but am not intrested in investing in a $1500 .30 plus caliber Precharged outfit. The airgun game just isn't the same these days.
I went back to Powder guns.
First Rimfires, then centerfires but the climbing costs of Centerfire ammo negated shooting a semi-auto.
One day while shooting my Single Six, I thought why not buy a Vaquero? A rugged, accurate shooter which slowly digests ammo!
I ordered one! The bad news was that it was Shot Show time and the particular model I wanted was on backorder... Jeesh!
Picking up a Cabela's catalog to at least order some ammo and look at some Holsters, I passed through the Black Powder section and fell in love! Here were available revolvers at LOW prices with an added twist for me, they were Black Powder! You basically hand loaded every round and this was what I wanted, a slow-fire, hands-on. handgun hobby! You controlled all factors for accuracy and power. I ordered one and some basic shooting supplies and searched out accesorys at shops. A totally new start for me!
As I soon discovered, the hobby was a bit more complex than just pouring Powder in andramming a ball! The selection of Powder, Caps and regulating charges affected everything! Small changes made huge differences and each revolver had it's own idiosincracys and tricks to make them preform best. Different calibers required different tricks to get maximum preformance from them.
I soon owned 3 Colt-style and 2 Remington-style revolvers, and a bunch of unneded accessories, andsome very good literature to learn from.Thanks to said literature and some friendly folks on the net, I soon got the hang of BP revolver shooting and soon became the go-to guy at my Shooting Club! Each smokey session I have someone come up to me and say "I have a Cap andBall revolver but don't shoot it". Boy what a come-on! I tell them to bring the gun out next time and we'll shoot some!
Nothing like a new Hobby! The surrounding reserch has taught me an appreciation for the way of life of the Old West andthe firearms related to the day.
The Vaquero finally arrived and has been put to good use alongside my Black Powder revolvers, andmaybe one day I will get all the stuff together to start CAS shooting? I have been following my heart with gun purchases and even have a Side Match gun, a .38 Derringer. Lots of stuff needed to enter into CAS!
Airguns? Yea I still shoot em, but I have to admit my old time Single Action revolvers take up most of my shooting time...
ZVP
 
pcp and other nonsense

ZVP, I totally agree about the airgun thing. All those ridiculuosly hideous stocks masquerading as art are a very expensive joke, possibly compensating for a smallish body part. Clean, timeless rifle design are a must for me, no nonsense shooting joy. I recently discovered black powder thru aqquisition of a colt 2nd gen 1860, which i have yet to shoot. I also have a long forgotten til recently 1858 .44 remington/pietta gifted by a friend probably 16 yrs ago, also unfired. Here in so cal, shooting is a chore, burdened by beuracratic restrictions. Love the hardware though, and am planning to add to the BP collection while still allowed, but that is another topic, later, tk.

btw loved your posts on the diana channel, had to stop visiting due to ads that redirected my compooter. reallyreally don't like that.
 
i'm tired of going to the range and blowing off 3 or 4 hundred rounds as fast as i can pull the trigger...

also,there's always been something about the historical nature of guns in general that has always fascinated me, but never got around to owning one
of the old relics till i saw how accurate and worthy these guns from another time still are.

i had the false impression tthat flintlocks and percussion guns were all smoothbore and scatter guns accurate to just a few yards or so.

boy, was i wrong. from all the reading i've done here and on other sites these old guns are just as accurate using round ball as modern day open sighted rifles are using modern day ammo.

i havn't even got my first blackpowder pistol yet, but if i take to it like i think
i am, i can see adding a lyman great plains flintlock to my meagre collection.
 
krazykat - I think you've got some good ideas there! I just got in to "modern cartridge handguns" a couple of years ago - up till then, for 50 some years it was all black powder. Don't get me wrong - I like the cartridge guns well enough - but even then, I've gravitated to SAs and more "vintage" swing out cylinders - I have a nice 1910 Colt Army Special and a approx. 1928 S & W M & P Target model - but even then - they can eat up the cartridges fast enough - I won't even talk about my 9mm!

I bought a used Ruger Super Bearcat - there again - gravitating towards the SA and then had to have a Ruger Vaquero - I love 'em all, BUT . . . . maybe it is the "slower" mode of shooting BP . . . the historical end of it and the time it takes to load . . . just gives a feller more time to think and contemplate on life? Maybe it's because with life being so hectic . . . it's the one thing that we can look forward to and take our time with? Or maybe, we just love the smell of burnt BP?

I encourage you to follow your quest and try a "flinter" out. Pistol shooting can be lots of fun . . . but so can a longrifle/smoothbore. Don't pay attention to what others say about flinters (the bad things) . . . judge them for yourself and I guarantee that if you work with one, you'll love it.

I think that another aspect of shooting BP is the willingness of fellow shooters to help each other out. I'm not bad mouthing modern cartridge shooters - I'm one myself. It sometimes seems thought that in that crowd, a select few are always having to have the "newest and the best" . . . sort of "whose barrel is longer" - if you can read between the lines. I've never fourn that in BP shooting - O.K. maybe there is a rare exception once in a while . . . . but I've always found the BP Fraternity to be very friendly and helpful - willing to share things as well as learn things regardless of if new to the sport or an "antique" to the sport. All a person has to do is to go to the Nationals at Friendship (which everyone should do at least once) and you'll be amazed at how many new friends you'll make.

Most of us become addicted to the sport and as a result, we end up buying more rifles and pistols than we really need. Just remember, it doesn't make any difference if you have just one weapon or you have a whole safe full . . . or even if you have to borrow one to use . . it's about having fun and enjoying the sport and the nice folks you meet along the way. I've known many who only have one rifle that they shoot and they're as happy as a fly in a molasses factory. Good luck on your BP journey and keep us posted on how it's going! :)
 
thanks, bedbug.
we need something to slow us down, the world turns to doggone fast
these days, for sure.

i'm always reminded of that classic twi-light zone episode, where the guy falls
asleep on a commuter train and wakes up in the 19th century, "willoughby, next stop willoughby." and just when he's about to step off the train,
he wakes up.

i think it's a deep innate yearning in each one of us for the simpler less
hectic times.

i know, myself, i'd of jumped off that train quicker than a fart through under-
wear.
 
I do the CAS/SASS thing and thoroughly enjoy showing folks the "it CAN be done". i.e. shooting an entire match reasonably fast with out any misses or at least no misfires. What you will find is the following statement is true: Italian reproductions make gunsmiths of us all. Most of them need some tweeking to make them reliable "match worthy" guns. I never take a gun to a match without having first given it one or two shakeout cruises to debug it so it goes off reliably and hits where it is aimed. It gives me great satisfaction to make lemonade form a lemon.
 
Tom, I don't know why but the pop-ups got better and are less of an issue lately. Just a matter of trying to deal with a "free" Forum... Hope to see you there again someday!
Yea the modern thumbhole stocks (even on BP rifles) just strike me wrong. I guess I just enjoy the traditional shapes. I still enjoy my air rifles a lot but it seems advancements are passing me by! I'll just stick to developing what I know because after all these years, I still have a lot to learn right there!
BP revolver shooting has given me a lot of pleasure, handling the revolvers so much and attempting to load to perfection, and theentire surroundings of Single Action shooting. It's a real challenge getting a BP revolver to run right! Just lately I have started to develop a goodcocking speed that carries the split and spent cap fragments around through the recoil shield trough. I even got them to pile in a neat little mound on the shooting bench! This gave me the idea to really "work" the action and not baby it. These are Fighting guns and designed to be operated with some enthusasiam. Like an outboard motor they don't run well at low speed. You ned to thumb the action like you are mad at something and suddenly the spent caps will clear the gun!
Of course the proper powder charge ( for blow-back and Backpressure thru the flashhole) helps the capsfollow the trough. Proper Caqp to nipple fit is also very important. A slight pinch and push the caps home on the Nipple with a dowel or something.
Generally speaking, you need to study each revolvers preformance and adjust your skills to make all chambers fire clean. Each one is a little different. It seems that the .44's are more forgiving as they handle the spent caps than the smaller calibers (and frame sizes do). There is also a mod you can do to open up the cap trough on the pocket gun frame and it really helps run the cap fragments out of the gun.
Naturally there are huge differences between Remington and Colt designs and both powder foul at different rates. A quick wipedown every couple of cylinder-fulls helps! Grease on the cylinder arbor is very important.
I really like all these little tricks and the way it slows me down with my ammo expendatures. I like handling the revolvers and not just to shoot them. There is a lot of ways to enjoy good gunhandling. It seems with a Semi-auto you just don't get to spend all that prime gun handling time.
I don't even mind the good natured razzing my 'smelly' Black Powder gets me! I guess my dedication to the guns and the style of shooting I have chosen gets for me.
Accuracy? WOW! These charchol burners will punch the center out of the paper right alongside many centerfires! Sometimes outshooting much more modern guns. Heck they were fighting guns and accurate by necissity.
Cap and Ball revolver shooting is definately a worthwhile hobby and rather than taking from other facets of shooting, I think it enhances your knowlege and skills!
ZVP
 
Thumbholes are sweet on a muzzle loader.
DSCN2264.jpg
 
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