bp sixgun power

[bigted]

...well it had to be done and i did it. i allowed a uberti colt to follow me home as i was itchin to try bp in a handgun and didnt want to do so with my ruger and smith double action revolvers.

this colt look-alike is a dandy and fits like the origanal i allowed to leave my posession about a hundred years ago. then i had an old cattleman after that and a few ruger blackhawks. but this uberti is probably the closest to what i remember of the genuine article. a little rougher in the action but fit-n function is pretty good.

first i loaded 9 gr of unique behind a 250gr cast boolit. after i smoked it up with these barn burners i was resolved to NOT ever load this kind of load for this revolver again. what a boomer. this didnt flatten the primers but i was amazed that it didnt.



next i loaded 40gr of 2f goex cartridge and compressed it enough to seat the same 250 cast boolit. sparked with a cci large pistol primer and loaded inside a ww case. crimped just a little and looking just like the origanal shells ive seen....next i waited for the weather to break but it wouldnt so i just dressed up warm and went out into the yard and let fly with it.

i marked up a paperplate and set it around 25yds to see what was going to be possible with this soot burner. first round went off like a canon. smoke flew and sparks flaired and my hand went numb as my middle finger was crushed into the nice round trigger guard. as the beast settled down again i eagerly thumbed back the hammer and settled the sights on the trusty paperplate. holding a 6-oclock hold i let fly again only to get thumped again in the finger. thumbing back again i carfully sighted again and just as i started to do my squeeze the dang thing went off again tearing my sore finger and shooting my great group to sunder.

after shooting the remainder of the 5 i had loaded into the cylender i realized that i had 25 shells left to shoot and that the power in these just impressed me to no end. i shoot a 44mag on a regular basis and i swear that these would run it a second as for recoil. the simple plow handle with its roll up action is the only thing that saved my basis. what a cool gun and load. i would gladly hunt tigers or elephants with it and feel sorry for the over power of the old cartridge.

really this was as fun as i thought it would be. the gun functioned good till the 4rth cylender full of these powerhouse loads. i perservered tho and kept loading and shooting till there were no more to shoot. the revolver was gummed up but continued to shoot till i had all of these knuckle busters gone....now on to the clean-up.

took it inside and drew a sink full of hot soapy water with dawn dish soap mixed in. i removed the cylender and just let it soak in the warm bath along with the cylender pin. i started to scrub the bore with a cloth patch and try to keep the majority of water out of the action...hard to do as the soapy gun continued to try to take a bath in the sink as it tryed to slip outta my determined fingers. finally after the 6th patch scrubbing i could see the shiney coming back into the bore. next i scrubbed with a toothbrush in every crevise and cranny i could get to. i kept wanting to just dunk it into the water but i restrained myself....mostly.

after getting the majority of muck off the sixgun i dredged out the cylender to start the scrubbing on it. i brushed it repeatedly and finally she came clean. the 5 min cleanup ive read about came and went as i continued to get black off the gun in several places. spraying it shamelessly with oil from a can i let it soak for awhile and after taking a break i returned to it only to find more black coming off in some of the most secret places. i confess i got tired of cleaning this and was glad to finally get it clean and oiled.

all in all i find the burning of bp in a revolver to be something i probably will leave to someone else for awhile. the shooting was fun but the cleanup was horendouse and i will completly tear it down tonite to be sure i got all the residue out of it. not my idea of fun but such is life...had to try it and am not sorry i did it.

oh and the load...let me say that bp is a powerfull powder. this 40gr of cartridge flattened those primers against the frame of the revolver. this power is unexpected for me for some reasson and im impressed to say the least. and group wise it came thru with those origanal sights and these old tired eyes...group wise it came in with 5 shots around 2 inches with better probably possible for sure.

so i have to say that the shooting was a very big hoot but i found cleanup to be taxing to say the least so unless i have done something wrong with my cleanup process ill prolly let this settle down with smokeless loads. any suggestions would be gladly accepted as for cleanup procedures.

[Don McDowell]

Ted if you take a spray bottle of Simple Green when you shoot and everyother cylinder full or so squirt the face of the cylinder and wipe it off will help keep the binding down.
I clean my revolvers like I would with smokeless, only I use simple green and water mixed as the solvent.
3f will burn a bit cleaner in the 45 than 2.

[powderburnerr]

I got to agree with Don, 3F is way cleaner ,,, you didnt mention the lube you had on the bullets but a good BP lube in the grooves just wipes off as easy as can be ,, I use 40 gns of 3F and good lube and just run water over the six shooter and the fouling runs off ,,, no scrubbing involved

[9.3X62AL]

The only time I've run BP in my Ruger Bishawk x 45 Colt I made a point of detail-stripping it afterward and making SURE all the BP gunk was gone.

I used 3F Goex, and the loads were accurate and powerful. 38 grains was as much as I cared to compress in the R-P cases, and I used CCI 350 primers and SPG in the lube grooves. As you said, these are powerful loadings, and shot quite well.

9.0 grains of Unique is a pretty close approximation of the original 1873 ballistics of the 45 Colt, which ran close to 1000 FPS with the 255 grain boolits in a 7.5" barrel. This is my most-used load in the Bishawk, with either #454190 or #454424 seated. Plenty of OOMPH--I'd hunt deer with it.

[NickSS]

I shoot C&B revolvers a lot as well as BP in 1873 type colt revolvers and lube is the answer to your problems with cleanup. You need a good BP lube and then most of the gunk comes off with just running hot water over it. gunk does get down in the action but I have found over the years that WD 40 is the answer to that. When cleaning the frame I only detail strip the pistol about once a year. In between I give it a good squirt of WD 40 dpwn into the guts and let it go at that. When I do strip the revolver for detail inside cleaning most of the gunk just wipes off the parts with a paper towel and I flush the inside of the frame with hot water and use a toothbrush to get the grit out. I have never found any rust or pitting on anything using this procedure and I have fired up to a couple thousand rounds a year using this method.

[Baron von Trollwhack]

If you have slightly greasy hands, enough to leave a smudge on the cylinder, barrel, and anyplace that will get sooty before you start shooting , and you have learned them now, cleanup will be much easier. A little of SPG or similar softened a little by adding a little lard, to be like chapstick consistency works great, especially on the cylinder pin and parts facing the cylinder/barrel gap. You don't need to grease cylinder holes. This is great to do for C & B. If you carried much in SAA or C & B days, you would have had it oiled (greased) too, just like your SBH probably isn't bone dry on a camping trip either. BvT

[bigted]

i did take it to parade rest this morning and to my shock...it was just oily and clean...not a bit of gunk in the guts of the revolver. maybe i just got paronoid with all the spatter n black all over the place. ill try again and this time ill lube my boolits with bp lube and give the simple green a try. thanks for the suggestions...this bp is an art unto itself huh?

by the by...i have some ballistol on the way to give a try. crazy about the shipping of stuff now-a-days. midway wouldnt ship it to me here in alaska.

[9.3X62AL]

Ted--

The internals on the Ruger weren't badly fouled at all. I was able to run all 50 rounds without significant cylinder drag or tie-up.

Fact is--the 45 Colt in 1873 trim was one powerful, capable wheelgun caliber. I envied fellow LEOs that were able to carry 45 Colt as a sideiron caliber. The S&W Model 25-5 took on near cult-status in the early 1980s locally.

For differing reasons, we in CA aren't able to get a lot of the fun toys that the USA gets to play with. Life in the Land Of Fun-Sucking Progressive Azzhats.

[Don McDowell]

Hang in there Ted you're doing fine.

[Grapeshot]

If you have two piece grips on your SAA, take them off before you start clean up and remove the cylinder and run HOT-HOT water over and through the action and barrel. You will get rid of most if not all of the fuling, especially if you are using a good BP compatable lubricant on your bullets. The heat of the HOT water will help air dry your revolver and upon inspection, you should have a clean gun. Then you can oil it up with Balistol and put it away.

Fourty grains of 3Fg is a real thumper. Enjoy yourself.

[bigted]

well i just checked my e-mail and low n behold the co. i ordered the ballastol from wont ship to alaska either. what a crock...guess ill have to develope a dealer for the ballastol just like i did for the real bp. gotta wonder why stuff has to be so diffucult...ya know??? at least i can buy simplegreen from the wally world.

[stubshaft]

I spray my ROA's down with Windex with VINEGAR before the soapy water treatment.

[Don McDowell]

Ted just plain ol 3 in 1 oil will work to oil your guns down after clean up.

[August]

It just breaks my heart to hear stories like this. When used with PROPERLY LUBRICATED BOOOLITS, a black powder gun is EASIER to clean than any smokeless firearm.

Black powder is so satisfying, and so much fun to shoot -- when proper bullets and lubricant are employed. Otherwise, it can be a real mess.

When I tell you a little bit of water and two patches make the gun clean, I'm not kidding. But, the gun was prepared with synthetic, or natural, lubricants before firing and the boolits used carried a generous amount of natural lubricant -- i.e. no petroleum distillates anywhere near the process.

[bigted]

well two good things today and one kinda bummer...starting with a good...

track or the wolf will and did ship me a couple cans of ballistol.

next gooddy was i took my remington replica out loaded with bp and blazed three cylenders full of bp n rb's ....ok i guess there was three good things;

i brought it in the house and layed it in the sink with the wood handles removed and sprayed it down with pure ballistol...let it set while i went out and retrieved my cleaning jags n nylon brush as well as towels n oil to oil it with after finishing the cleaning.......much to my surprise upon returning the gunk was dripping off the gun. i drew a half sink full of hot water and removed the cylender and dunked the whole thing in the HOT water. taking my brush i brushed the bore and cylender chambers then i toothbrushed the whole gun in detail. putting it on the drain board i wiped it down and sprayed everything with rem oil and let the warm gun set while i washed my hands.

upon wiping down i noticed that the gunk was totally gone ...totally man...what a hoot. cant wait to reload some more 45's to give a try again...they are so much fun to shoot and now i have in my hot hands a magic elixer that melts the bp residue instantly...funny how the rite stuff makes such a difference in the entire experience.

thanks fellas for the hints and another great thing is that the smell in the house is reminisant of simple green which i have yet to try but fully intend to try.

now for the bummer...i purchased a slim holster meant for a colt with a 7.5 inch barrel and soaked it in hot water so i could reform it for my remington bp blaster. i had wrapped the gun in seran wrap several thicknesses before i stuck it inside the wet leather holster. after working it for a couple days i thought is was dry enough so i pulled the remington out and unwrapped it and wiped it down to make sure there was no moisture left on it anywhere. after setting the holster on my heater for half a day i absently slipped in my remington and left it there with the revolver in the holster. going out this morning to shoot it, i removed the pistol to find beaded water on the outside of the gun and the drops looked funny so i grabbed a rag and comenced to wipe it down. i never took in consideration that the tanning solution left in the low priced holster was still there in acid form just waiting for a bit of moisture to attack whatever it was suppose to protect. well those water bubbles on the cheap blueing drew the blue rite off the barrel. so now i have a tie died pistol barrel kinda a hippie thing i guess that is splotchy with acid bubbles here n there. lucky for me is that it is a cheap brass framed remington that my dear wife bought me 3 x-mas's ago instead of a priceless colt or ...shudder... an even more expensive remington of origanal origin. i think i can keep from getting skinned by the wife but ill have to dang sure eat crow for all the smarts im suppose to posses with firearms...what a mess.

[SharpsShooter]

Keep at it. I shoot 35 gr of Swiss 1.5fg and a 260gr Keith with Federal standard primer in my old model Blackhawk as its regular diet. Using a proper lube and good cleaning practices, it had digested many of these with no ill effect.

SS

[405]

Quote "i never took in consideration that the tanning solution left in the low priced holster was still there in acid form just waiting for a bit of moisture to attack whatever it was suppose to protect. well those water bubbles on the cheap blueing drew the blue rite off the barrel. so now i have a tie died pistol barrel kinda a hippie thing i guess that is splotchy with acid bubbles here n there. lucky for me is that it is a cheap brass framed remington that my dear wife bought me 3 x-mas's ago instead of a priceless colt or ...shudder... an even more expensive remington of origanal origin. i think i can keep from getting skinned by the wife but ill have to dang sure eat crow for all the smarts im suppose to posses with firearms...what a mess."

bigted,

Kind of like putting a dent in a brand new pick up... no worries after that. That's one reason I don't store any gun in a leather holster or scabbard. No matter the leather I think it all has residual acids.

Actually there is/was an outift putting together revolvers for CAS that was offering the service of "aging" guns on request by soaking them in diet Coke to give that "twenty years of Death Valley fire trails" look.

[Muddy Creek Sam]

bigted,

I shoot BP in everything but my 1911, a Steamshark is your friend, No problem cleaning a bp gun at all.

Best,

Sam

[bigted]

very cool ...man i like this site...the help and advise is outstanding and yes now the remington will not be so pristine but like an ol pair o boots...she can go to work now with no looking back...lol.

i just threw together 30 more 36.5gr loads of cartridge...[ dont have any 3f yet]...and cant wait for full daylite to go out and blow some more holes in the dirt bank in the yard...what a hoot!

will try the simple green this time but it will have to go some to beat that ballistol...that stuff is like magic. cant wait to go give my winchester 85 its accuracy tests with all the loads i have prepared for it. just wish i had a range that had a heated shed here close by...gonna have to build a trailer i guess or maybe get an ol junker camp trailer and convert it to a wood fired heated shooting shed that i can drag to the range...now i can see the raised eybrows now...yepper im born n raised redneck. like the man said tho...get er done!

[Abert Rim]

Bigted: First time I shot full-power BP loads in .45 Colt, I became a believer, too. I don't remember how much FFFg I used, but the bullets were the old bulk Remington 255-grain semi-pointed with the dish base. The load was very accurate out of a 7 1/2-inch barreled "Old Model" Vaquero. Seems like Elmer Keith commented on how that pointy old bullet would penetrate a bull's head like no other.