bedbugbilly
New member
The other day, my cell phone rang and when I answered it, a good friend and Lodge Brother was on the other end. All I heard was "Brother, I need help!"
My friend is 83 years old, active and a great guy to know. Always a smile, always helping others so I was tickled he was finally asking for some. I asked him what I could do and he said . . . "I was at Cabbalas and saw a pretty cap and ball revolver . . . and I bought it. Now, I need some lessons on how to shoot it."
He's a very handy fellow and is also a retired Naval Reserve officer. His son, who joined the Army later in life and has served something like three tours in the Gulf and is now discharged. They have been doing a lot of shooting together . . mainly modern pistols and rifles as well as some shotgun. He is sore of a "impulse buyer" and evidently, the cap and ball revolver was calling his name.
This afternoon, I met with him to teach him about it and get him started. We met at his home shop and his new purchase turned out to be a Pietta 1860 Army. Now some folks often ask . . which is better, Pietta or Uberti. Well, I own both and like both. I was very impressed with his Pietta Army . . . great fit and finish, nice crisp action . . . I could not find anything to "find fault with". After going over the saftey, proper loading, etc. . . I showed him how to remove the barrel wedge and break it down. It was heart warming to know that "Egor" still works for Pietta and instead of having him installing screws so you can't remove them, they now have him installing barrel wedges!
But, I finally got it out and then helped him clean it.
While he had a basic understanding of how it works from reading the manual . . . I walked him through it starting with snapping caps and then loading. He has a kit built Hawken that he used to hunt with and he always used Pyrex. I suggested he stick to BP and to grease the wheels on that, took him half a pound of 3F Goex, several tins of #10 caps and a large tin of my home made BP lube that I've used for years.
I got such a kick out of it as he was like a kid in a candy store. His hands are arthritic so I made some suggestions on how to make things easier. I gave him an extra CVA brass flask that I had on the shelf and I had a 20 grain spout on it so that worked well for getting him started with light loads. Rather than load it up for him, I walked him through step by step and he picked it all up quickly. Time was running out so we took it out back where he and his son shoot. He figured I should shoot it first and I refused saying it was bad luck to shoot another man's gun before he had a chance to try it. I picked a target out that was about 15 yards away and told him to put his muffs on and get busy. Whole he didn't hit it (a small piece of yellow plastic) he came very close and I could see a great big smile on his face. Afterwards, I had him break it down and instructed him on cleaning. His son is coming this weekend so I'm sure he will be out there to shoot it again!
The thing that tickled me was how much fun he was having and I'm sure I can chalk him up as another "convert" . . . even at 83! The smile on his face was a great thing to see and it ws nice to be able to help someone out who has spent so many years helping others. I know that he and his son are going to have a great time shooting his new C & B and that's another great reward. I lost my Dad 20 years ago and there isn't a day that I don't miss him. We never know how much time we have left on this earth and I just think it's fantastic that as a father and son, they can share their time together shooting and making memories. And, now that he's "smelled the smoke of real BP' . . . he doesn't need any encouragement to try it again!
Sometimes some things just turn out "right"!
And oh yea . . . I've always shot Navies. I had a 60 Army many years ago and ended up giving it to a friend who wanted a BP revolver in the worst way but couldn't afford it. After this afternoon . . . . I'v meeting the "hankering" for one again . . .
My friend is 83 years old, active and a great guy to know. Always a smile, always helping others so I was tickled he was finally asking for some. I asked him what I could do and he said . . . "I was at Cabbalas and saw a pretty cap and ball revolver . . . and I bought it. Now, I need some lessons on how to shoot it."
He's a very handy fellow and is also a retired Naval Reserve officer. His son, who joined the Army later in life and has served something like three tours in the Gulf and is now discharged. They have been doing a lot of shooting together . . mainly modern pistols and rifles as well as some shotgun. He is sore of a "impulse buyer" and evidently, the cap and ball revolver was calling his name.
This afternoon, I met with him to teach him about it and get him started. We met at his home shop and his new purchase turned out to be a Pietta 1860 Army. Now some folks often ask . . which is better, Pietta or Uberti. Well, I own both and like both. I was very impressed with his Pietta Army . . . great fit and finish, nice crisp action . . . I could not find anything to "find fault with". After going over the saftey, proper loading, etc. . . I showed him how to remove the barrel wedge and break it down. It was heart warming to know that "Egor" still works for Pietta and instead of having him installing screws so you can't remove them, they now have him installing barrel wedges!
But, I finally got it out and then helped him clean it.While he had a basic understanding of how it works from reading the manual . . . I walked him through it starting with snapping caps and then loading. He has a kit built Hawken that he used to hunt with and he always used Pyrex. I suggested he stick to BP and to grease the wheels on that, took him half a pound of 3F Goex, several tins of #10 caps and a large tin of my home made BP lube that I've used for years.
I got such a kick out of it as he was like a kid in a candy store. His hands are arthritic so I made some suggestions on how to make things easier. I gave him an extra CVA brass flask that I had on the shelf and I had a 20 grain spout on it so that worked well for getting him started with light loads. Rather than load it up for him, I walked him through step by step and he picked it all up quickly. Time was running out so we took it out back where he and his son shoot. He figured I should shoot it first and I refused saying it was bad luck to shoot another man's gun before he had a chance to try it. I picked a target out that was about 15 yards away and told him to put his muffs on and get busy. Whole he didn't hit it (a small piece of yellow plastic) he came very close and I could see a great big smile on his face. Afterwards, I had him break it down and instructed him on cleaning. His son is coming this weekend so I'm sure he will be out there to shoot it again!
The thing that tickled me was how much fun he was having and I'm sure I can chalk him up as another "convert" . . . even at 83! The smile on his face was a great thing to see and it ws nice to be able to help someone out who has spent so many years helping others. I know that he and his son are going to have a great time shooting his new C & B and that's another great reward. I lost my Dad 20 years ago and there isn't a day that I don't miss him. We never know how much time we have left on this earth and I just think it's fantastic that as a father and son, they can share their time together shooting and making memories. And, now that he's "smelled the smoke of real BP' . . . he doesn't need any encouragement to try it again!
Sometimes some things just turn out "right"!
And oh yea . . . I've always shot Navies. I had a 60 Army many years ago and ended up giving it to a friend who wanted a BP revolver in the worst way but couldn't afford it. After this afternoon . . . . I'v meeting the "hankering" for one again . . .