And don't forget if you shoot black powder it is extremely corrosive. The gun must be thoroughly cleaned immediately after shooting it.
Black powder pistols
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On a hot day, I dread the thought of Crisco or whatever getting all over the place. As said, they are also not as reliable. Even if you carry a spare cylinder, most are done after 10-12 shots due to fouling.
I do shoot BP metallic cartridges sometimes-primarily 45 Colt, and almost always out of a Colt Single Action clone. Old "balloon head" 45 Colt brass would hold 40gr of FFF under a 250gr round nose, but with a modern solid head case you're lucky to get 36gr of FFF under one. I've been told that Swiss is a bit finer(and also cleaner) and you MIGHT cram in more like 37gr, but I've not bothered because I don't do it that much and Goex is all I can get locally(there are two gun shops in my state that even sell it, and shipping is prohibitively expensive unless you do a group buy-remember that BP is a legitimate explosive and not a deflagrant like smokeless).
In any case, metallic cartridges are also a pain. The exact weight of powder doesn't matter as much as the volume-you must work with a slightly compressed load. Petroleum based bullet lubes are off limits with BP unless you want an absolute disaster with fouling. I use cast pure lead bullets that I lube with my own mixture of Crisco and Beeswax. I also use an over-powder card dipped in this mixture-using animal or vegetable based lubricants keeps the fouling soft, and a card or wad has a sort of "sweeping" effect that at least keeps the barrel fouling in check. BTW, I use Crisco because it's cheap and gets the job done, but if you really want to do it period correct lard works every bit as well.
BTW, 45 Colt with black powder is a stout load. I've never chronoed it(I don't know how well it would chrono given the amount of junk that gets ejected) but the recoil is substantially more than a standard pressure load with a powder like Unique or(my favorite for 45 Colt) PB.
And, yes, cleaning is a must. BP residue can do a number on your brass, so I keep a coke bottle filled with water handy at the range and toss my cases in it when I pop them out of the gun. When I'm home, they pretty quickly get a couple of hot water washes before sonicating. As for the gun itself-I pull the cylinder at the range and spray everything down with "moose milk"-a 1:9 mixture of Ballistol and water. I clean it immediately when I get home-first with scalding hot water, then dry with a hair dryer and use a BP-specific cleaner. Once I've done that, I commence with my normal cleaning regimen.
I do shoot BP metallic cartridges sometimes-primarily 45 Colt, and almost always out of a Colt Single Action clone. Old "balloon head" 45 Colt brass would hold 40gr of FFF under a 250gr round nose, but with a modern solid head case you're lucky to get 36gr of FFF under one. I've been told that Swiss is a bit finer(and also cleaner) and you MIGHT cram in more like 37gr, but I've not bothered because I don't do it that much and Goex is all I can get locally(there are two gun shops in my state that even sell it, and shipping is prohibitively expensive unless you do a group buy-remember that BP is a legitimate explosive and not a deflagrant like smokeless).
In any case, metallic cartridges are also a pain. The exact weight of powder doesn't matter as much as the volume-you must work with a slightly compressed load. Petroleum based bullet lubes are off limits with BP unless you want an absolute disaster with fouling. I use cast pure lead bullets that I lube with my own mixture of Crisco and Beeswax. I also use an over-powder card dipped in this mixture-using animal or vegetable based lubricants keeps the fouling soft, and a card or wad has a sort of "sweeping" effect that at least keeps the barrel fouling in check. BTW, I use Crisco because it's cheap and gets the job done, but if you really want to do it period correct lard works every bit as well.
BTW, 45 Colt with black powder is a stout load. I've never chronoed it(I don't know how well it would chrono given the amount of junk that gets ejected) but the recoil is substantially more than a standard pressure load with a powder like Unique or(my favorite for 45 Colt) PB.
And, yes, cleaning is a must. BP residue can do a number on your brass, so I keep a coke bottle filled with water handy at the range and toss my cases in it when I pop them out of the gun. When I'm home, they pretty quickly get a couple of hot water washes before sonicating. As for the gun itself-I pull the cylinder at the range and spray everything down with "moose milk"-a 1:9 mixture of Ballistol and water. I clean it immediately when I get home-first with scalding hot water, then dry with a hair dryer and use a BP-specific cleaner. Once I've done that, I commence with my normal cleaning regimen.
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Originally Posted By: bunnspecial
On a hot day, I dread the thought of Crisco or whatever getting all over the place. As said, they are also not as reliable. Even if you carry a spare cylinder, most are done after 10-12 shots due to fouling.
I do shoot BP metallic cartridges sometimes-primarily 45 Colt, and almost always out of a Colt Single Action clone. Old "balloon head" 45 Colt brass would hold 40gr of FFF under a 250gr round nose, but with a modern solid head case you're lucky to get 36gr of FFF under one. I've been told that Swiss is a bit finer(and also cleaner) and you MIGHT cram in more like 37gr, but I've not bothered because I don't do it that much and Goex is all I can get locally(there are two gun shops in my state that even sell it, and shipping is prohibitively expensive unless you do a group buy-remember that BP is a legitimate explosive and not a deflagrant like smokeless).
In any case, metallic cartridges are also a pain. The exact weight of powder doesn't matter as much as the volume-you must work with a slightly compressed load. Petroleum based bullet lubes are off limits with BP unless you want an absolute disaster with fouling. I use cast pure lead bullets that I lube with my own mixture of Crisco and Beeswax. I also use an over-powder card dipped in this mixture-using animal or vegetable based lubricants keeps the fouling soft, and a card or wad has a sort of "sweeping" effect that at least keeps the barrel fouling in check. BTW, I use Crisco because it's cheap and gets the job done, but if you really want to do it period correct lard works every bit as well.
BTW, 45 Colt with black powder is a stout load. I've never chronoed it(I don't know how well it would chrono given the amount of junk that gets ejected) but the recoil is substantially more than a standard pressure load with a powder like Unique or(my favorite for 45 Colt) PB.
And, yes, cleaning is a must. BP residue can do a number on your brass, so I keep a coke bottle filled with water handy at the range and toss my cases in it when I pop them out of the gun. When I'm home, they pretty quickly get a couple of hot water washes before sonicating. As for the gun itself-I pull the cylinder at the range and spray everything down with "moose milk"-a 1:9 mixture of Ballistol and water. I clean it immediately when I get home-first with scalding hot water, then dry with a hair dryer and use a BP-specific cleaner. Once I've done that, I commence with my normal cleaning regimen.
Did you learn this cleaning procedure during the War?
On a hot day, I dread the thought of Crisco or whatever getting all over the place. As said, they are also not as reliable. Even if you carry a spare cylinder, most are done after 10-12 shots due to fouling.
I do shoot BP metallic cartridges sometimes-primarily 45 Colt, and almost always out of a Colt Single Action clone. Old "balloon head" 45 Colt brass would hold 40gr of FFF under a 250gr round nose, but with a modern solid head case you're lucky to get 36gr of FFF under one. I've been told that Swiss is a bit finer(and also cleaner) and you MIGHT cram in more like 37gr, but I've not bothered because I don't do it that much and Goex is all I can get locally(there are two gun shops in my state that even sell it, and shipping is prohibitively expensive unless you do a group buy-remember that BP is a legitimate explosive and not a deflagrant like smokeless).
In any case, metallic cartridges are also a pain. The exact weight of powder doesn't matter as much as the volume-you must work with a slightly compressed load. Petroleum based bullet lubes are off limits with BP unless you want an absolute disaster with fouling. I use cast pure lead bullets that I lube with my own mixture of Crisco and Beeswax. I also use an over-powder card dipped in this mixture-using animal or vegetable based lubricants keeps the fouling soft, and a card or wad has a sort of "sweeping" effect that at least keeps the barrel fouling in check. BTW, I use Crisco because it's cheap and gets the job done, but if you really want to do it period correct lard works every bit as well.
BTW, 45 Colt with black powder is a stout load. I've never chronoed it(I don't know how well it would chrono given the amount of junk that gets ejected) but the recoil is substantially more than a standard pressure load with a powder like Unique or(my favorite for 45 Colt) PB.
And, yes, cleaning is a must. BP residue can do a number on your brass, so I keep a coke bottle filled with water handy at the range and toss my cases in it when I pop them out of the gun. When I'm home, they pretty quickly get a couple of hot water washes before sonicating. As for the gun itself-I pull the cylinder at the range and spray everything down with "moose milk"-a 1:9 mixture of Ballistol and water. I clean it immediately when I get home-first with scalding hot water, then dry with a hair dryer and use a BP-specific cleaner. Once I've done that, I commence with my normal cleaning regimen.
Did you learn this cleaning procedure during the War?
If you were prohibited from owning a "firearm" for any reason, you can keep a loaded BP replica revolver on you as long as it's not a violation of state or local law. You can also keep it in your vehicle. With black powder substitutes available with less/ little smoke and high reliability, they're GTG and effective. It's not a "firearm" in the eyes of the feds. Just some reasons.
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