How To Load ML Pistol?

[Pete Gaimari]

Ok, with a rifle you have the ground holding it up. With a revolver I use a stand.

What do you do with a single shot that has to deal with horn, measure, ball, and patch?

All I can think of is to hold it between my legs.

What do you guys do in the field?

 

[Zonie]

I load sitting down with the butt of the grip resting on my leg.

The loading procedure is the same as if it were a rifle with one large difference. I use thin patches. Usually .010 thick.

Grasping the short starter with my thumb and index finger of my left hand and using the other three fingers and my palm to grasp the barrel my right hand is free to slap the starter.
Once the patch/ball is started I use all of my fingers on my left hand to grasp the barrel while the right hand pushes the load down to the powder charge using the ramrod.

By using the much thinner patch, starting the patched ball isn't a big issue and at pistol range the light patching thickness doesn't seem to have a bad effect on the accuracy.

 

[Dave Rosenthal]

For the Field, us guys in Joisey use the famous NEW YORK Reload: A second Pistol!

Seriously, we do it the way Zonie says, only the first shot (the one that REALLY counts) is loaded using a Stand (just like the revolvers) and a little bit thicker patch, sometimes a .015.

Dave

 

[Pete Gaimari]

I was thinking of making a longer ball starter. Then i'd have the big ball to help push in the load all the way. I can carry it on the bag strap.

Any good of an idea?

 

[rafterob]

I was thinking of making a longer ball starter

That is the ticket, make the shaft long enough to ram the ball all the way home. No sense in using two ramming steps on a pistol. I have a range rod for mine and am thinking of adding a starter nub to the handle to eliminate my short starter. And yes, a thinner patch that will allow you to thumb start your load in the field is a good idea.

 

[biliff]

Pretty much the same here. I do trail walks with a dueling pistol so the ramrod is separate. Use a thin (0.010") patch. Light tap with the butt end of the loading rod sticks the ball in the muzzle and then ram it home holding the pistol between the legs.

 

[2Barrel]

Here is a longer ball starter for ya. This is what I use. http://www.jedediah-starr.com/closeup.asp?cid=76&pid=803&offset=4

 

[Pete Gaimari]

Yeah, between the legs is all I could come up with. I mean both hands are busy, so the gun has to held somewhere.



2Barrel....I should have known someone made one. I'm going to ignore that and make my own.

 

[2Barrel]

Homemade is allways better in my book. post a pic when you get it done :thumbsup:

 

[Pete Gaimari]

Ok, but I think I better find a gun first. :hmm:

 

[Coot]

I coned my .50 and thereby eliminated the need for a short starter. Holding the gun by the barrel with my left hand, I place a patch over the muzzle (the patches are prelubed and just tacky enough to not slide off), then a ball onto the patch & start down the barrel with just thumb pressure. The coning is deep enough that I can get the ball maybe 1/8" below the muzzle by thumb. I then pull out my range rod which hangs from a loop & while still holding the gun in my left, seat the ball with one smooth push of the rod in my right. My range rod is a steel rod with a file handle threaded on one end, a guide slid onto the rod and a jag threaded onto the other end. Hope this helps.

 

[Pete Gaimari]

I've read in a few places that the old guns were coned a bit, and that's why they didn't need a ball started. I don't know if it's true.

How do you cone a barrel? What sort of machine work is it?

 

[Coot]

There is a long (& locked) thread about coning. Bottom line is that some love it & others would never do it. Loading is unquestionably easier - that is why it is done. The controversy is over accuracy - some say that coning hurts & others say that they see no difference. Read the thread & see what lots of posters had to say. I coned mine myself using the Joe Woods tool - no machine work required, all done by hand.

 

[GP1951]

I shoot a .50 cal. Kentucky style pistol. To shoot at the nearby range, I take a small piece of carpet with me that I put on the bench to protect the stock. I use a ball-patch combination that allows thumb starting. I use a brass rod, with bore protector to seat the ball.

I am building a wood reloading stand for the range that will protect the stock better. I

Hunting the field, I can reload same manner but use the stock wood ramrod and can either put between my legs or hold between my left arm and side.