Wullie wrote:Been burning charcoal ( black powder ) since the 60's. Black powder six guns are fun. Black powder cartridge guns are fun too.
I sold both my old Sharp's cartridge rifles several years back. I had a 45X3 1/4 Straightside ( 45-120-500) and a 50X3 1/4 Straightside (50-140). The earth seemed to move when you torched off the 50. The 50 weighed 12 1/2 lbs and kicked like a mule. Standing joke about that gun was that all it needed was a set of wheels to be a real cannon. It was fun lobbing shots with both of those guns at 500 plus yards. The trajectories were like rainbows.
I used to load up some full house black powder loads for a 45 Long Colt and slip one or two into my friend's ammo pile. The look on his face was priceless when he set one of those off. In addition to the smoke and fire they kick like HELL compared to "factory" smokeless powder loads.
I can recall shooting a 44 cal 1860 Army ( Armi San Marco repro ) back in the '70's at 1 gallon paint cans at about 100 yards. I was using the conical bullets rather than the round balls and I was hitting the cans 3 or 4 times out of every six shots. Those guns pack plenty of wallop.
Always thought the 1851 Navy was one of the best looking pistols ever made. Shot a few Walker and Dragoon repro's over the years too. The Walkers suck after they get used some and loosen up. The loading lever drops and locks up the cylinder. That was the big downside to the original gun as well. A 4 1/2lb pistol is load to wag around too.
Wait until one "chain fires" with you, usually doesn't hurt anything, but it is exciting. It can hurt people standing off to the sides of you if it happens because lead is splattering everywhere.
Finally! I knew there had to one among you all.
You'll like this. I started to do Cowboy Action Shooting. There's a club 50 miles from me, and of course if I wanted to travel there's 50 clubs. Plus the bigger shhots a little further. If you don't know about it............They shoot two pistols, rifle, and shotgun. A stage is 5 rounds from each pistol, 10 rounds from rifle, and 6 or 8 rounds from the shotgun. That would be one stage. You then reload and move to the next stage. 6 stages in all. It's a timed event, so speed is important. You need to be accurate too as a miss adds 5 seconds to your time. You shoot metal targets so they can hear the clang. No clang is considered a miss. Some targets are knockdown. No knockdown and it's a miss. Even if you clang the target. Girly loads are in trouble. Usually one target for the shotgun is in the air. The period for guns is 1860- 1899. You also have to dress for the era and take an alias name. Then play that character. I'm still working on that part.
They have many classes that shoot different dress, style of shooting, and choice of guns. I picked the Frontiersman class. It requires two cap and ball pistols shot one handed, and black powder shot in all guns.
There's an unwritten club called the Warthogs that shoot full loads in all guns. Of course I joined. Most people step back when a warthog shoots. I love it.
I shoot 30 gr of 3f black powder in my Cimarron/Uberti 1860 pistols with a .457 round ball. Good boom and lots of smoke. Nice kick.
Rifle is a 40gr of 3f black powder in a Cimarrron/Uberti 1866 44/40 with a 225 gr bullet. More boom and more smoke.
Shotgun is a side by side external hammer Uberti. I use 75 gr on 2f black powder. Killer boom and more smoke than should be legal. Way too much fun fo this old man.
I was born 150 years too late.