45 colt BP

[shotman]

i am wanting to try some Black in 45colt what is the best load some of you have come up with shotman/rick

[Don McDowell]

37grs of goex 3f, .030 fiber wad, and the bullet can either be a rcbs 45kt lubed with Sagebrush alox, or remington bulk 250 gr lead with the base smeared full of the same lube, stuffed into winchester cases, and sparked with cci large pistol primers.

[Dale53]

I have shot a LOT of BP .45 Colts (won some matches with the loads, also).

Mike Venturino's book, "Shooting Sixguns of the Old West" got me started.

Basically:
1 - Use standard primers
2 - You want a case full of black powder (fill the case until you compress the
Powde 1/16" when the bullet is seated. Then measure the powder by volume. The
Lyman Black Powder measure works well.
3 - Bullet lube is VERY important. SPG lube is the standard. I use Emmert's Home
mix (50% Pure Natural Beeswax, 40% Crisco (plain white vegetable
shortening) and 10% Canola Oil.
4 - I use a bullet alloy of 30/1 lead/tin
5 - Size the bullet to fit the cylinder throat
6 - Bullet design is also important. I prefer a large square bottom lube groove
that will hold adequate lube - the Lyman Cowboy bullet is my bullet of
choice - 452664. Use a moderate roll crimp in the crimp groove.

In my Ruger Bisley Vaquero, my gun will shoot in 1.5" at 25 yards. I get about 70 shots out of my revolver before the cylinder starts tying up with fouling. Every revolver is a law unto itself in this regard. It helps to heavily lube the cylinder pin with Rig before shooting.

Clean up is easy - takes 5-10 minutes at the range. I use a good black powder powder solvent (home made Friendship Speed Juice works well that is one part rubbing alcohol, one part Hydrogen Peroxide, one part Murphy's Oil Soap). After the revolver is clean and dry (wipe with patches until dry - maybe three) then use a good preservative (a good commercial product is "Break Free" - I use a home made product, "Ed's Red". At any rate, run a patch wet with preservative through the bore, cylinder, and wipe off the exterior.

Piece of cake.

You can vary the powder by using different powders (Elephant 2F will give you about 750 fps in a long barrel, through Elephant 3f, then Goex 2f, 3f, and the fastest of all will be Swiss 3f - this will give nearly 1000 fps. Goex black is the cheapest normally available and works just fine.

I have only used one substitute, Pyrodex Pistol. It is loaded the same way and clean up is handled the same way. Pyrodex has less fouling than black but still can only get about 70 shots before cleaning.

I might mention that I got into BP revolver shooting because of side matches at a BPCR Silhouette match. I gained a ton of respect for the old BP .45 Colt after shooting a good bit. This is a powerful combination (reports during the Indian Wars stated that it would shoot through a horse at 100 yards - that's seriously good performance).

Dale53

[SharpsShooter]

Thanks Dale. I've been kicking the idea around myself to try Black Powder in the Ruger Old Model BH I have.


SS

[barefooter175]

Go BP, you'll never go back to the new stuff. Lotsa fun shooting the smokey stuff.

[cajun shooter]

The "DARK SIDE" will grab you and never turn loose. Mobil 1 synthetic grease on cylinder base pins keeps them turning for an entire match. Since your post in July, How you doin' in your BP shooting?