Took The Plunge

[Mike 56]

I too use filler over powder and i smear grease over the filler before loading the balls. Bore butter works good but is hard to use if it is to hot or cold. Crisco with just a little bees wax works good. With the lube behind the ball i don't get any hard fouling anywhere even the center pin on my NMA. My NMA target load is 20gr FFF KIK black powder with a 38sp case full of corn meal a little Crisco and bees wax over the filler and a .454 ball. Loading like this i have shot as many as 75 shots and my gun had not fouled out at all. You can push two dry patches though the barrel and it is clean.

If you like heaver loads you can load as usual with powder lubed wad and put a little lube on top the wad before loading the ball.

 

[Dave Marsh]

So guys - what kind of accuracy can I expect from the sixgun?

I am going nuts - I had to order an in-line capper, wads, a flask and some other stuff from the turkeys at Track Of The Wolf and now I have to sit for two weeks waiting for all that to get here before I can fire it!

To help kill time I am making a holster for it and hopefully it will turn out right...nothing to do now but hurry up and wait! :shake:

I have had nothing but great luck and service from Track of the Wolf. Calling them turkeys to me is offensive.

 

[Glenfilthie]

Stand down 58, no offense meant! :surrender: In my neck of the woods it is a term of companionship.

They have always treated me like a king and the reason it takes me so long to get my stuff is the &*^% red tape at the border!

Unfortunately up here traditional black powder is not as popular as it is in the States and we just don't have shops like TOTW locally.

 

[Dave Marsh]

Well then say that it is the government at the border that causes the 2 week delay. I read it a bit differently. I am now standing down.... :nono:

 

[Flash Pan Dan]

Glenfilthie ”“ With the load I described I am getting 1 ½ to 2 inch groups at twenty five yards from a rest. This is far better accuracy than I need but I’m not complaining.

 

[aeatwood]

It seems to take 50-100 shots to get a Colt clone to settle in - part of that may be for some of the fairly rough barrels to smooth up. If it doesn't have the classic Uberti "too short arbor" problem, it should do under 2" at 25yards.

Part of the "break in" will also be you working out ramming pressure, measuring consistency, and finding out what lube/wadding/powder/fillers the gun likes.

All of my .44's but one like 2F more than 3F. If you are doing a LOT of shooting, 2F seems to make the barrel wedges last longer than 3F, but it seems to want a bit more ramming pressure. 3F, you want to stop when you feel the "crunch" of the ball making good contact with the powder. 2F wants a bit more than that. Pyro wants even more than that, about 80 lbs of pressure according to their literature - note, that is not 80 lbs on the rammer, but 80 lbs on the ball. You have leverage to take into account using the rammer.

You will also probably need an aiming point, and then a target for the balls to land on - some of the 1860's shoot rather high. That is easy enough to sort out when you find a load the gun likes.

 

[Glenfilthie]

Well thanks guys. I am really stoked now, so until I get the proper accouterments I am contenting myself by building my first holster.

I am not happy with my effort so far, but I am learning so the next one shoult be respectable...I hope...

 

[ChrisPer]

I had just written off my 1860 because at 15 it shoots about a yard high. Using 490 balls, 20gr WANO PPP powder and Remington caps.

No filler, no grease.

The caps all fell off the nipples too, and after shooting three cylinders the centre pin was so fouled that I had to turn the cylinder by manual force.

 

[aeatwood]

You certainly need to resolve that cap problem first, or I see a chain-fire in your future. I don't know what Wano PPP is, but I would definitely try real BP, and make sure you lube the ball some way. I much prefer greased felt wads under the ball, but even a gob of Crisco smeared across the front of the chamber will help with the hard fouling. It is just messy to shoot in hot weather. I carried an old shop rag or towel of some sort when I'm shooting to wipe the gun and my hands with - especially when using grease in front of the ball.

With handguns, generally higher velocity will make the ball print lower on target. You shouldn't give up w/o trying a full charge of 2F or 3F equivalent. Also, you can take a piece of brass from a cartridge case, file & bend it to shape to fit over the existing front sight, and superglue or jbweld it to the sight to lower POI.

 

[ChrisPer]

Thanks for the warning, I have read the threads on chainfire causes and when I saw the caps falling off knew it could be trouble.

I will start a separate thread on this revolver - it has enough probs that I had wondered if Colts were best employed as decorators.