Black Powder & Bullseye ??

Bullseye_Stan wrote:I've got a Ruger Old Army circa 1978.  It's not a replica of any revolver and is built on a Blackhawk frame.  Black powder has more static electricity safety concerns than pyrodex or any of the smokeless powders for DOT transportation regulations.  Some people are terrified of historical black powder made of KN03, sulfur, and carbon;  I think those same folks (IMO) are also terrified of acetylene. 

That said, years ago I shot some FFFg black powder though mine (still have the metal can), but most of the powder was Hogden Pyrodex.  The Old Army is a very accurate revolver and fun to shoot.  Need an outdoor range though.

jmdavis wrote:Jason, 

Is your percussion single shot from Hamilton?

Jon Math wrote:Long way from Dan Boone’s pistols.  Those are works of art.  What caliber are they?

Tim:H11 wrote:

Jon Math wrote:Long way from Dan Boone’s pistols.  Those are works of art.  What caliber are they?

Cap is .36, Flint is .32, and revolver is a 45.

Tim:H11 wrote:Mikemyers, I’m Jason Gregoire. I’ve shot muzzleloading pistols competitively very aggressively for four years. Not a lot of time in any sport. But in that time I went from an absolute newbie to winning the NRA Nationals in 2015, and NMLRA Nationals in 2015, 2016, and 2017. ............You should look up the National Muzzle Loading Riffle Association. The pistol event is like bullseye. ........

Tim:H11 wrote:First thing you need to know and understand before you start pouring and packing stuff down inside the barrel or chambers of a gun, is that black powder is an explosive not a propellant. It is utilized as a propellant in firearms but it is an explosive. You need to know the laws pertaining to such an item in your home town and or state as well as take the proper safety percussion’s necessary so you can avoid the loss of life or limb.........

Tim:H11 wrote:First thing you need to know and understand before you start pouring and packing stuff down inside the barrel or chambers of a gun, is that black powder is an explosive not a propellant. It is utilized as a propellant in firearms but it is an explosive. You need to know the laws pertaining to such an item in your home town and or state as well as take the proper safety percussion’s necessary so you can avoid the loss of life or limb. Having said that black powder is loads and loads of fun when handled correctly. 

The second thing you should know is that there are a lot of myths and truths to black powder, pyrodex, and muzzleloading firearms. Many times these myths are passed on as truths and can cause someone to avoid a perfectly safe and very useful technique in the way of caution or quite the opposite and leave a newbie in a dangerous or potentially dangerous situation. It’s important to search information from more than one source and take account as to who the source is and what this persons experience level is. 

Now, I’ve already thrown out a word that raises lights and sirens where I’m from. Prydoex. I would advise you to just leave that stuff on the shelf at the store where it belongs. Myth/fact about Purodex Number one: it’s cleaner than black powder.... answer: well, yes... maybe. But it’s not worth the risk. Risk you ask? Yes risk. Which explains myth/truth number too: Pyrodex is less corrosive than black powder.  .... No! It’s not! From what I’ve seen it’s worse! Horrible wretched stuff it is! Unless you deep clean and I mean REALLY clean your gun, it will corrode and rust your prized fire spitzen, smoken beltchen, louden boomer! Don’t do it! Please! There is a barrel on display sometimes at Friendship Indiana during the shoots. It was shot with pyrodex, left overnight, then cut open the next day to show the effects. Rusted to hell and back and pitted like a gravel road that needed an overhaul five years ago. Total loss. Black powder? Some rust. It was removable. Pitting? Minor if any. 

The thing about muzzleloaders and cleaning is when your done with that gun for an extended period of time or the day then clean the gun and grease it up for storage. Stay on top of it. Black powder is corrosive. Pyrodex is the devil. 

Your revolver is a Ruger Old Army. It’s loosely based off the Remington 1858 New Model Army revolver in army caliber or 44 caliber. It is accurate. And quite collectible to the right kind of people. It however can be difficult to shoot well for some. It is built like a tank. It is heavy, and poorly balanced. But mechanically they shoot good. I’ve seen many in competive use at Friendship. Some reworked, some stock. 

The big thing about revolvers is avoiding a chain fire. A chain fire, if you don’t already know, is when the chamber you’re firing ultimately causes one or two other chambers on either side of the intended chamber to also touch off. Not a fun experience. I was beside one when it happened once. I was not injured nor was the shooter but we both had had enough of that for one lifetime. 

What causes a chain fire? There are many ideas as to why and some are hard to prove. Bottom line is simple. Have the right size ball for your gun so that the ball seals the chamber when it’s loaded. It should cut a ring of lead perfectly and be unbroken. You also want to use a “bullet lubricant”. Many put a grease over the top of the chambers. Some claim “it’s to avoid a chain fire”. It’s not. It’s a bullet lubricant that helps with leading and keeps fouling soft. This isn’t a patched ball, it’s lead on bore. We use bullet lube on our lead bullets in conventional metallic cartridges so why not here right? It’s not to prevent a chain fire though it could help some. It’s intended purpose has to do with the bore. And lastly crimp or squeeze your percussion caps slightly so they wedge on to the nipples and stay on in recoil. If one were to come off, the spark from one nipple could ignite the next chamber if the nipple wasn’t covered. Touch hole size, cylinder dimensions, and nipple length play a role as to wether it’s possible for this to happen or no but regardless, the idea is seal the front of the chamber, and seal the back. How else could the powder be ignited? It can’t. 

My load was 18 grains of Goex 3F black powder, cornmeal filled to top flush on top of the powder, and a .454 ball loaded on top. I used white lithium grease as a bullet lube. I loaded the cylinder on a press separate from the gun. It had a control for seat depth so every shot was loaded the same. My load, with the amount of cornmeal I used was a compressed charge. Safe, but snappy. Revolvers shoot best when the ball is flush with face of the cylinder. My press allowed me to do so. You’ll have to do just play around with what you have. It’ll shoot accurate enough. Perhaps not at 50 yards but 25 yards or closer and you’ll be ok. 

I used a filler (cornmeal) because the ball was at the top, and the powder was on the bottom creating a void between the two. In black powder, you don’t want a void between charge and projectile. Black powder has a burn rate far byond that of smokeless powder and so the gases created in that void can cause pressures to spike prior to the projectile clearing the muzzle leaving you with a bulge in your barrel or worse. This pertains to single shots both rifle and pistol. Revolver.... truthfully I don’t know and don’t want to find out the hard way. Use a filler if the ball is elevated and the charge is small. And even if you’re loading on the gun, and don’t have crontrol over seat depth, use a filler. It’s another added blocker to the powder from the front at least making a chain fire from the front pretty much impossible to occur. 

About burn rate... ever see in the movie the stupid guy making a trail of black powder from a wood barrel powder keg tying to use it as a fuse? It burns slow on TV right? That’s false. In real life the trail burns so fast it’s nearly impossible to follow it with the eye. In fact I tried it once. The line was too long and the powder as it burns - explodes, remember it’s an explosive, - it can push some of the “next-in-line” powder forward thus breaking the line and stopping the burn. This occurred for me. 

There’s so much more to say... for now think on these things and take it one step at a time. As you play with this new aspect of shooting and questions pop up feel free to send me a PM. And if your a smoker, don’t smoke while dealing with this stuff, or smoke around someone who’s dealing with this stuff. You don’t want to be the guy that has to explain to the range Officer why half of a can went off next to what used to be your Loading kit.