Black powder pistols

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Cope

Cope

Fusing with fire
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I ordered a Remington 1858 .44 cal 8" from EMF they are behind on things so it will be a few weeks until it's in my hands.

Anyone shoot these old girls?

1858 REMINGTON STEEL ARMY .44 8 "

I hear powder, caps and ball are not super easy to get but thats not a huge issue as I dont plan on shooting it that much.

I just love the look and when I saw how cheep they are I dedicated to get one.

Any advice? I have never owned a black powder fire arm but I do have extensive experience with reloading smokeless.

Hopefully that will help me not blow off my hands or face....

Thank you for the time and advice.
 
I had a 36 caliber Army black powder pistol. This was years ago it was a blast to shoot. I feel sorry for the people of the time, that were stuck with the black powder it was a real pain in the butt to load it compared to just drop in a cartridge.
I had black powder rifles also. Use them for deer hunting and stuff and just shooting for fun.
I love the Kaboom of the cap firing then the powder firing.
 
Fun to shoot, and cheap, but finding cap , ball, and powder is getting harder, and reloading gets tiresome.
After shooting, clean,clean, and clean!
Mine, two 44s and a .31 (the two 44s do not use the same ball)

20200419_100932.jpg
 
Also buy a can of crisco, and keep it away from your wife. After loading, fill the cylinder up the rest of the way with the crisco. It lubricates the barrel, makes cleaning easier, and it reduces the chance of chain-fire.
Oh, and clean it THE DAY you shoot.
 
33IMP said:
Also buy a can of crisco, and keep it away from your wife. After loading, fill the cylinder up the rest of the way with the crisco. It lubricates the barrel, makes cleaning easier, and it reduces the chance of chain-fire.
Oh, and clean it THE DAY you shoot.
Click to expand...
It also makes is smell real nice when you fire it
(Like running Castrol beanie in a 2 stroker)
 
I have 2, 44 cal army pistols. Not that hard to get caps, powder and balls out here. I agree with the crisco or bore butter to stop cross fire. Other than that black powder is very corrosive so clean it the same day you shoot it. And make sure you use black powder for pistols.
 
I use pyrodex p powder, supposed to be less corosive, less smoke and easier to clean. fffg equivalent.
Not having shot real black powder, i dont know if the claims are true.
 
I had an 1858 Remington - it was fun to shoot. If you let anyone else shoot it, tell them if it squibs, to let you deal with it. My buddy decided it hadn't really squibbed, but that the cap had failed, so he went to the next cylinder - chasing the ball that got part way down the barrel because somebody forgot to put the powder in the cylinder with one being driven by a a full load of powder leads to a bulged and split barrel - my $130 revolver turned into a paperweight (until the local A.M.E. church had a gun buy-back one day - I got 50 bucks for it which I took to the local gunshop and applied toward something else).

I thought it was humorous that when I had ordered some surplus .303 brit ammo for a vintage Enfield (while not rare, certainly not something just anybody would have handy to use the ammo with), UPS required someone to sign for it, but when I ordered a cap and ball pistol, with powder, caps, balls, wads, the works, they left it by the gate on the side of the driveway...
 
Im getting excited!

Back when I was much younger I was RSO at Lake Chabot gun club. We had one day each week just for black powder. Between the "Ceasefire" and "Range Clear" could be over 5 minutes while I waited for the smoke to clear.

:)

I don't think my local range allows black powder so I gonna have to drive to the private range over an hour away.

Oh well, I think it will be WORTH IT!
 
I had one a long time ago, a Cabela's special in .44 with a 12" barrel. It was a hoot to shoot. I can't remember where it went, I'm sure it was traded off. The above advice is good stuff. Read up on what to do with a hang fire. Black powder can take a loooooong time to go off sometimes. In other words, you think the cap was a squib but it will go off. When I shoot my black powder rifle, if it doesn't go off I let it sit for a full minute before trying again or unloading it. The cleaning advice is important, do it the same day and be thorough. Have fun! It's cool to squint through the smoke cloud to see if you hit what you were aiming for.
 
I have a flintlock Rifle I made from a kit, definitely different to shoot. Lots of fun though. Just have to get used to the flash before it goes off. PA has lock deer season, so get a extra week to hunt.
 
33IMP said:
Also buy a can of crisco, and keep it away from your wife. After loading, fill the cylinder up the rest of the way with the crisco.
Click to expand...

THIS ^^^ cannot be stressed enough. The last thing you want is all 6 chambers going off at once, lol.
 
I had an 1851 navy colt in .36 and currently have a wells fargo pocket colt in .31 love shooting them. The 2 .50 and 1 .45 cal rifles are fun to shoot as well.
 
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