BP-Indoor shooting?

[CaptainKirk]

Recently on another forum, a user posted a link to a You Tube video showing hims shooting a BP revolver on an indoor range!
He mentioned that the range had very good exhaust ventilation (and from the vid, he was telling the truth!) and it was commonplace.
What happened to the old tales about unburned Black collecting in nooks & crannies and then the ranges burning down in flash fires?
This was a pretty commonplace tale back in the Eighties.
Has this been dis-proven, or were they just feeding us a line of :bull: to keep us BP shooters out?
How many of you guys are able to snap a cap or two during the winter months on an indoor range?

 

[R.M.]

I shoot BP at an indoor range all the time. The concrete floor is dust-mopped after every use, so unburned powder doesn't build up. I have seen the powder left in the stress-cuts burn, but it was like a fuse running along the floor, not a flash. We don't have a lot of BP shooters at our club, so it's not a major concern for us.

 

[Dave Rosenthal]

I shoot CF at an indoor range. BP IS NOT ALLOWED! We could probably do it since we spent $10,000.00 on a HEPA filtered huge industrial vacuum cleaner that we push around the range floor. The suction of that thing is incredible!

There are stories still to this day of someone setting-off a sparkler show inside, which is why the BAN was put into place.

So the BP League meets twice a month, year-round at the outdoor facility instead.

Dave

 

[zimmerstutzen]

I didn't see the video, but he may have been using a nearly smokeless substitute like 777. Also, my old Ideal catalogue has information for 45-70 gallery loads with black powder.

I worked at an indoor range and we swept up the unburnt powder from rim fires and centerfires several times a day. (Which we college kids would "experiment" with. We'd build little rocket cars by filling pen barrels and taping them to matchbox cars. Got hit by plastic shrapnel mnore than once.)

We've had debates here that went on for many pages about whether unburnt black powder could be expelled from a muzzleloader or wheel gun. I know what my experiments have shown. The guys who say it can't happen, somehow never accept the challenge to see if they are wrong. There are those who claim that all the powder is burned before the ball leaves the muzzle, those that claim, any unburned powder would be consumed in the muzzle flash, etc. Frankly, I know from experience that a small amount of powder can fall to the ground unburned, along with the ash of burned powder and expelled fouling. It is mostly a matter of load, caliber and barrel length as to what muzzle flash and expelled solids there may be. Many revolvers can't be overloaded to that point like a true muzzleloader can.

 

[DanChamberlain]

I occasionally shoot my .36 navy in the basement using 10gr of black powder and wax balls I cast. I shoot'em into a trap and even if I miss, the wax just nearly disappears when it hits the concrete.

After about 12 shots, it's pretty hazy, but that's about all my wife will allow anyway.

Dan

 

[Norinco]

I do the same in the garage of my parent's house when they're not around. I use lead balls with ten grains of powder and sometimes I get squibs. There's also a drastic change in point of impact depending on how dirty the barrel is.

 

[Dave Rosenthal]

Just remember not to do it with a car in the garage, or that gun may become a suppository :shocked2: . Good thing the 'rents aren't on this forum! :wink:

 

[Geraldo]

In the winter, I tough it out and shoot outdoors. I've even shot when it was below 70 degrees outside :rotf:

I have never shot BP indoors, but I have managed to ignite spilled BP on an outdoor shooting bench. A piece of cap went flying when I fired, and next thing I knew I had a tiny fire going by my elbow. The biggest hazard I've seen is curious onlookers who smoke and have no comprehension that their cigarettes could light us up.

 

[CaptainKirk]

In the winter, I tough it out and shoot outdoors. I've even shot when it was below 70 degrees outside :rotf:

I could probably learn to hate you... :cursing:

But I probably won't since you offered me your carport as a 'vacation home'.

I'll be thinking of you in the middle of July, though.... :wink: