prices?

[penguinchick10]

Newbie seeks advice and help from eperienced veteran black powder percussion revolver shooter's! Number one, I am a disabled handicapped person who is confined to a wheelchair, who loves to go out shooting guns of all kinds. Number Two, I only get a very small disability check every month, that after paying all my monthly bills, does NOT leave me much left over to persue my favorite hobbie, .....SO I REALLY NEED TO STRECH THAT DOLLAR!!!! Just because a person is not rich, does'nt mean you should be restricted from the fun things you love to do in life!..... It just means that you have to save longer to do them, and SHOP FOR THE ABSOLUTE BEST DEALS, before you buy anything! Well, I decided to get into Black Powder Shooting, and looked high and low on the NET to find the best deal on a Black Powder Gun that I could find! I found that great deal at Cabellas, and I bought myself an Italian Copy, of a Colt Confederate Navy Revolver, (with a Brass Frame) in .44 cal. for only $135.00 delivered! (WOW!!) :thumbsup: Now comes number three. Now that I have found my gun at the absolute lowest price, it is time for me to start saving to by the Accesories i need to make my Black Powder Revolver shoot! I need the right Black Powder (FFF?) and the right ball ammo? (.44 cal. round ball?) and whatever else I need to make this gun (SAFLEY) shoot?? Safty first, ECONOMY second! My motto is.... if it's for FREE ...it's for ME! :grin: ....and if it ain't for FREE, then it has to be as cheap as possible! :wink: That's where you come in! I need to take away from you and your experince where A handicapped person on a budget, such as my self, might start to look for the cheapest and least expensive Black Powder Shooting supplies? Can I buy Black Powder over the internet? What kind of Black Powder do I need for my gun, Revolver? What Type FFF, etc.? What about Black Powder Pellets? The Pellets that I have found are all to STRONG for my Revolver! People are saying perhaps, 20 to 25 Grains is the most I should use for my Brass Frame Revolver? What is your oppinion on these topics? I am a sponge ready to absorbe, and learn ALL that I can from YOUR expeience as a Black Powder Shooter! I need to start some where. And I need the cheapest least expensive Source to by my Black Powder Supplies! I figure if 2 or 3 or more people recomend the same source for my Black Powder Accesories, that will be a good place to start! So.... if you would be so kind as to point me in the right direction, by telling me what I need to shoot my Black Powder Revolver, and the Cheapest place to buy the stuff that I will be needing to shoot my Black Powder Revolver Safely, that information and your experience and your knowledge would most greatly appreciated! Thanking You in advance, for your Attention, your Time, your Efforts and your Concerns, to this, what is to me, an urgent matter. Sincerly K.D.

 

[Flintlock_bob]

.454 is the size ball I use in my .44 Italian revolvers. I find Remington #11 caps fit well, CCI #11 fill fall off if not pinched. Casting your own balls will be cheaper over the long run but you need to buy the equipment to do it.

I use wads. Again you can make your own cheaper but you need to find the correct size punch for a proper fit. Or you can skip the wads and just put lube over the mouth of the chambers.

If you get BP or BP substitute online you will need to pay a hazmat fee which ain't cheap, best to find a local supplier even if you have to go for a drive.

I use Goex 3F, 2F will work too. I too would suggest a max load of 25 gr., at least for most shooting, a higher charge won't break it but over time might cause problems. No real reason to use a hotter load though.

Where to find stuff cheap, lots of online searching.

 

[FishDFly]

Below are NMLRA Charter Clubs in Florida, call one close to you for your powder help.

If you order online you will pay shipping, HAMAT fee and cost of the powder.


Calusa Country Long Rifles

Contact Name: Donald A. Richards
Address: 337 Lamplighter Drive
City: Melbourne, FL 32934
Phone Number: 321-794-7267
Email: [email protected], www./pmrpc.com/content/blackpowder-news
State: FLORIDA
View
Escambia River Gun Club

Contact Name: Dave Halupowski
City: Cantonment, FL
Phone Number: 850-678-4052
Email: [email protected]
State: FLORIDA
View
Eustis Gun Club Inc

Contact Name: Terry L Mc Causlin
Address: 10100 MORNINGSIDE DR
City: LEESBURG, FL 34788
Phone Number: 352-323-8703
State: FLORIDA
View
Florida Frontiersmen M L C

Contact Name: Margret Henderson
Address: 7108 Lynwood Drive
City: Tampa, FL 33637
Phone Number: 813-989-9510
Email: [email protected], www.floridafrontiersmen.com
State: FLORIDA
View
Fort White Gun Club Inc

Contact Name: Kenneth W. Long
Address: Po Box 123
City: High Springs, FL 32655
Phone Number: 386-454-4191
Email: [email protected]
State: FLORIDA
View

Next » FLORIDA
Jefferson Longrifles

Contact Name: Duane Ashe
Address: 1402 ATTAPULGUS-WHIGHAM RD
City: WHIGHAM, GA 39897
Phone Number: (850) 570-1464
Email: [email protected]
State: FLORIDA
View
Mosquito Lagoon Muzzleloaders 4-H Club

Contact Name: Gus Koerner
Address: 4325 Caper Court
City: Titusville, FL 32796
Phone Number: (321) 591-6831
Email: [email protected]
State: FLORIDA
View
Palmetto Muzzle Loaders Inc

Contact Name: Ralph West
Address: 19500 SW 214 ST
City: MIAMI, FL 33187
Phone Number: (305) 233-5512
Email: [email protected]
State: FLORIDA
View
Tallahassee Rifle and Pistol Club Inc

Contact Name: Philip J Quaglino
Address: 689 Millwood Dr
City: Havana, FL 32333
Phone Number: 850-539-0995
Email: [email protected]
State: FLORIDA
View
Treasure Coast Muzzleloaders

Contact Name: Leonard Stein
Address: 1807 S. 27th Street
City: Fort Pierce, FL 34947
Phone Number: 772-240-4292
State: FLORIDA
View
« Previous

Treaty Oak Long Rifles


Organization: Treaty Oak Long Rifles
Contact Name: John Brueggemann
Address: 5531 James C Johnson Rd
City: Jacksonville, FL 32218
Phone Number: (904) 924-7957
Email: [email protected]
State: FLORIDA

All the vendors get their supplies from the same places, you are not going to see a vast difference in supply cost for what you are seeking.

Hope this helps.

r

 

[penguinchick10]

thank you, Sir! your response was very helpful! I live in the Miami Florida, Kendal area! the other response said it is better to go to (drive to) a shop that sells black powder, rather than ordering it on-line, due to haz-med fees! Do you agree with that oppinion?

 

[Nativearizonan]

All the vendors get their supplies from the same places, you are not going to see a vast difference in supply cost for what you are seeking

This is only partially true. The biggest difference is usually the shipping cost. Aside from the mentioned cost of shipping powder, lead balls are heavy and don't ship for free. I will gladly pay an extra few dollars for local stuff than to fork over even more for shipping. I would advise spending some time on the phone trying to find you supplies locally, then just ordering them from an internet supplier.

That gun you bought was a real deal, and I believe it came with free shipping, so I doubt you could ever have gotten a deal like that locally, but you may find shipping will make the local supplier cheaper for much of what you need.

 

[penguinchick10]

WOW! That was great! do you know who sells 25GR. pellet form Black Powder? i have not seen it any where! no 20GR. pellets and No 25Gr. Pelets, Only 30 Gr. pellets! You gave me a lot of GREAT knowledge and advice! Thank You for sharing with me. K.D.

 

[FishDFly]

Yes, if driving distance is reasonable.

 

[Zonie]

As was mentioned, you can buy real black powder on line but the shipping charges will turn a inexpensive powder into a high cost powder.

In addition to the price of the powder, if it is going to be shipped to your home you not only have to pay the company that does the shipping but there is an additional "Hazardous Material Fee" which you will pay. It is the same for 1 pound of powder as it is for 50 pounds.

The last time I looked, the fee was $25 per order.

That makes buying in large amounts more attractive but many people can't afford the total cost.

Your pistol will work fine with any of the granulated black powder substitutes like Pyrodex or Triple Se7en or other brands. Just make sure it is granulated and it is made for muzzleloading firearms.

(Pyrodex comes in "RS" and "P" granulations. Although the "P" is made for pistols, the courser RS will work. It will produce slightly lower velocities but if it is all that is available, go ahead and buy it.)

Never, I repeat, NEVER use any kind of smokeless powder in your gun.
Although some smokeless powder is colored black, it cannot be used without blowing your gun up.

You will also need percussion caps.
The lowest priced ones are usually made by CCI, Remington or Winchester.
Dynamite-Nobil caps are some of the best but they are also the most expensive.

You do not need any patching material for your gun and it can be loaded with only powder, ball and caps.
Some shooters like to use fiber wads between the powder and ball but they are not really needed.

After loading you can apply some Crisco or other form of bullet lube over the top of the ball.
Although some say it will all be blown away by the firing of adjacent chambers, some of it will stick to the ball and act as a lubricant.

It is impossible to load "too much" powder into your pistol. The chamber size limits the maximum load.

That said, your brass frame gun will last much longer if you use a mild powder load under the ball.
For a .44 like you have (yes, it takes balls larger than .450) you should keep the powder charges to something like 18-23 grains)
To do this, you will need a powder measure. A adjustable type is best.

Have fun.

 

[gbeauvin]

I also have a black powder revolver from Cabelas (though mine is a steel framed Remington). There are all kinds of accessories available, but these are the ones I have found most useful :

Powder Flask https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000PW9EJ6/ref=od_aui_detailpages00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

It's just a brass cylindrical one, probably not 'historically correct' but it works. Although I have an adjustable powder measure, I typically just use the built-in measuring spout -- one less thing to buy! I believe that spout is 25 grains, but it might be 30.

Nipple Wrench - I forget which one of these I bought, but it's important if you want to be able to remove the nipples for cleaning! I have one that fits my revolver but won't fit my rifle, and another that fits my rifle but won't fit my revolver. Make sure you get the right one!


Other than "consumables" (powder, balls, and either lubricated wads or a lubricant of some sort), I could get by with just the flask and wrench. I have an inline capper which is convenient, but certainly not required. If you're not using a capper, though, I'd recommend something other than your thumb for seating the caps once you place them on the nipples (a small piece of dowel, stick, whatever).

I've shot with pre-lubricated wads, unlubricated wads that I soaked in a beeswax/olive oil mixture, and I've also gone without wads, but I generally squirt some lube on top of the ball in that case.

I also bought a cheap 'loading stand' but I don't recommend it. The handle bent and now it collects dust.

One thing I would recommend is trying a couple different sizes of caps to find the ones that fit your gun best. Once you figure it out write it down! I have at least 3 flavors of caps in my box and I can never remember which ones fit best.

Others have mentioned ball size (.451 or .454. Do NOT get '44 caliber' balls). I can buy powder locally but it's ridiculously priced at $30 a pound. The good news is a pound lasts me awhile since the loading process slows me down . I use 3F powder in my revolver.

Remember -- have fun! And clean up when you're done. You can buy fancy cleaners, but I generally either clean up with a bucket of soapy water and a squirt bottle of moose milk (a mixture of 1 part ballistol to about 10 parts water). I take the nippless off the cylinder and drop both the cylinder and all 6 nipples in the small bucket of soapy water. Then I squirt the moose milk into the barrel and swab with a brush then a clean patch. I repeat that a bunch of times, and then squirt some moose milk all up in the works while working the action. I then wipe up as much of that as I can. What's left should evaporate, leaving the ballistol behind. Then I take a toothbrush to clean up the nipples and use a bore brush to clean out the cylinders, dry them off as well as I can and set them aside to dry. I reassemble the cylinder once everythings dry.

Sometimes I'll take it apart all the way down to the piece-parts, and then they all get a bath in soapy water, dried off, and oiled as they get reassembled.

Sorry for the wall of text, enjoy your new revolver! I've certainly enjoyed mine.

-GB

P.S. There are many ways to do things, so just get out there and have some fun. Just don't shoot it and leave it dirty -- that'll ruin your fun when next time you have a pitted corroded revolver!

 

[Chowmif16]

K.D.
Although I have not tried pellets in my percussion revolvers, I would expect that they would give less than desireable results.
As stated before, try to get some real black powder. Contact the local clubs that were listed above and they will likely be able to get you powder. If you cannot, then try some of the substitutes.
I do not want to start a discussion about substitutes vs real black powder, but my personal experience is that real black is much better. Substitutes do work, however.

For a cap and ball revolver, you can do everything pretty cheap. As an example:

You don't necessarily need a fancy powder measure. Spent pistol brass will work, and you can file or cut the top down to adjust the amount of powder it will measure out.
You also don't need a fancy powder flask. You can buy a screw on top for black powder or pyrodex cans that has a spout on it. You can then pour straight from the can to the powder measure. You can make one by cutting off a spent necked-rifle brass cartridge and affixing it to the screw on cap for your powder.
Crisco works as a lube, and you can make over-powder wads if you like out of felt. You can also lube them with melted beeswax combined with any number of other oils, fats, etc. do a search here on the forum.
You will need to buy a nipple wrench, and I would suggest buying a cleaning jag of the appropriate caliber, although you can get away without it.
Old sheets, t-shirts etc etc, make great cleaning patches.

cheers,
Chowmi

 

[Robert an saa fan]

K.D. . . . .
For a cap and ball revolver, you can do everything pretty cheap. As an example:

You don't necessarily need a fancy powder measure. Spent pistol brass will work, and you can file or cut the top down to adjust the amount of powder it will measure out.
You also don't need a fancy powder flask. You can buy a screw on top for black powder or pyrodex cans that has a spout on it. You can then pour straight from the can to the powder measure. You can make one by cutting off a spent necked-rifle brass cartridge and affixing it to the screw on cap for your powder.
. . . .

cheers,
Chowmi

Lots of good information in posts above.

As Chowfmif16 posted you can use an empty cartridge case as a powder measure.

Below is a link showing how much black powder various cartridge cases hold.

You can make little powder dippers by wrapping some copper wire or coat hanger wire around the cartridge case necks. I use an old round margarine tub to hold the black powder and dip out of that. When loading is done be sure to put the lid on the margarine tub and set the black powder safely aside.

If you do not have any empty cartridge cases you can scrounge some discards at a shooting range.
http://www.muzzleloadingforum.com/fusionbb/showtopic.php?tid/247958/

 

[BigAl52]

I have a bag of 44 & 45 caliber wads. It has never been opened. They are ox-yoke wonder wads with wonder lube. I use to use them in a Ruger old Army. If you want them you can have them. Send me your address and I will send them to you no charge. Its a bag of 100. Al

 

[azmntman]

I have a bag of 44 & 45 caliber wads. It has never been opened. They are ox-yoke wonder wads with wonder lube. I use to use them in a Ruger old Army. If you want them you can have them. Send me your address and I will send them to you no charge. Its a bag of 100. Al

Send me address too, I can surely gather some extra stuff I have and let it again be useful.

Sign up for sportsmans guide coupons, they are always having free shipping deals (lately after $49.00) but hey, that adds up fast. They offer everything u will need that one of us don't scrounge up for ya.

 

[Loyalist Dave]

Well I have three of the Pietta "Confederate Navy" .44 revolvers, in brass frames. While they will shoot .454 and .451 caliber ball, I like the .451 ball and no more than 20 grains of propellant, plus Remington caps. This keeps the wear and tear down on the frame, especially if you're just shooting paper. In fact I've used a 15 grain target load with a couple of .44 caliber, wool felt "wonder wads" between the ball and the powder to take up space.

LD

 

[hanshi]

Welcome, penguinchick10. I've only had two c&b revolvers and I had to let them go. I remember using a .451" ball in my old Navy Arms 1858 Remington and a .454" ball in my Roger & Spencer. Good luck on your BP journey.

 

[Grenadier1758]

I do not recommend the pellets. They do not come in the size you want and they are notoriously hard to fire. You have a brass framed replica, so take the advice to use mild powder charges. You can use Cream of Wheat as a filler to take up space in the cylinder to move the seated ball to the end of the cylinder.

Black powder is very difficult to find in retail stores. You will most likely be limited to the use of the synthetic powders. They do work, but can be hard to fire. You will need magnum caps. All that magnum means is that they a bit more of the primer to set off the charge.

Cleaning can be simple. You do need proper fitting screwdrivers to take the gun apart. The bolts can be soft and easy to burr up the heads. Cleaning solution is simply warm water and a few drops of dish detergent. Keeping the gun clean of fouling is important if the gun is to last a long time. Once cleaned and dried a good rust preventing lubricant such as Barricade applied to the metal parts is needed before putting the gun away. In Miami with its high humidity, you want to protect the parts from rust.

Welcome to the hobby.

 

[mooman76]

The pellets when you total up the grainage, you will find they cost allot more than bulk powder. Black MZ if you can find it is super cheap. $10 at Sportsmans Warehouse.

 

[Larry Pletcher]

I have found and purchased Goex blackpowder at the Gander Mountain store in Fort Wayne, Indiana. If there is a GM store in your area you might luck out and buy one can of Goex fffg. It was not on the shelf; I had to ask for it. Plus, the salesman had to ask the manager where it was. It would be my first choice over the various subs on the market.

Good luck, and have fun. The cap and ball revolvers are cool. I'd limit my load to 20 gr even though your chamber likely holds more. I made a simple measure by taking piece of copper tubing and pinching off one end in a vice. I poured in the load I wanted and cut the copper off at that level. Using an empty cartridge case is a good idea too.

Regards,
Pletch

 

[Mean Gene]

Hi, I have been reading all the recommendations made by everyone but I would recommend checking out youtube for information.

My favorite source other than this fine forum would be Duelist1954.
Another favorite of mine would be shamensport bushcraft.

You can learn about what you need to get started and how to use it, it will take time collecting all these things so don't be in a hurry.

You can also get a lot of items on ebay and some on amazon.

Good luck and welcome to the Black Powder Club.

 

[coloradoclyde]

My favorite source other than this fine forum would be Duelist1954.

Mike does a great job and is also a member here....But! keep in mind that there are a lot of bad examples on Youtube....