What a magnificent day. Woke up and it was 66 degrees out in Phoenix. Called my friend and we both headed to Ben Avery to try out our new 1858 Remington reproductions.
First time in months we could get a table to shoot on without having to wait for an hour. Hunters are all in the wood now and that's a good thing.
I shoot USPSA matches with a revolver and love it. But, this BP stiff is a gas. It's great, slow paced and very relaxing. We have a 15 minute shooting time, followed by a safety break to set targets, then back to 15 minutes.
I found I can reliably load 6 chambers and shoot in about 11 minutes without rushing. Then just relax for the rest of the time. Much more comforting that shooting 100 round of .38s or .45s in the same time frame.
What I learned. Have everything you need neatly layed out on the bench in front of you. Caps are left at the shooting table so there is no chance of a cap going off by your powder supply. I loaded powder, then wad for each chamber and then put the ball on top of the charged chambers. This way I could see the patch wad and know the chamber was ready for the ball.
My friend loaded powder in each chamber, then the wad and ball. His first relay he had one with no powder. Taught us both to watch what we were doing.
I only fired 18 rounds my first trip out. Buddy fired six because of his earlier problem. He got frustrated. But I think I'll stick to it. Already looking at another BP pistol. The 1858 is wonderful but really doesn't fit my hand well and I shake too much with it. Still managed decent groups at 10 yard. Learning a new gun I can't see going past 10 for sight in.
One main problem. How much grease to use in front of each cylinder? Do you fill it up? Use exactly the same amount on each? How do you measure it out?
I used some Dow Corning #4 compound that I got with an old box of black powder pistol equipment at a local gun dealer. My friend had the stuff from Cabelas but it didn't work at all. Was a pure liquid in 75 degree weather, by the time we were shooting our pistols.
First time in months we could get a table to shoot on without having to wait for an hour. Hunters are all in the wood now and that's a good thing.
I shoot USPSA matches with a revolver and love it. But, this BP stiff is a gas. It's great, slow paced and very relaxing. We have a 15 minute shooting time, followed by a safety break to set targets, then back to 15 minutes.
I found I can reliably load 6 chambers and shoot in about 11 minutes without rushing. Then just relax for the rest of the time. Much more comforting that shooting 100 round of .38s or .45s in the same time frame.
What I learned. Have everything you need neatly layed out on the bench in front of you. Caps are left at the shooting table so there is no chance of a cap going off by your powder supply. I loaded powder, then wad for each chamber and then put the ball on top of the charged chambers. This way I could see the patch wad and know the chamber was ready for the ball.
My friend loaded powder in each chamber, then the wad and ball. His first relay he had one with no powder. Taught us both to watch what we were doing.
I only fired 18 rounds my first trip out. Buddy fired six because of his earlier problem. He got frustrated. But I think I'll stick to it. Already looking at another BP pistol. The 1858 is wonderful but really doesn't fit my hand well and I shake too much with it. Still managed decent groups at 10 yard. Learning a new gun I can't see going past 10 for sight in.
One main problem. How much grease to use in front of each cylinder? Do you fill it up? Use exactly the same amount on each? How do you measure it out?
I used some Dow Corning #4 compound that I got with an old box of black powder pistol equipment at a local gun dealer. My friend had the stuff from Cabelas but it didn't work at all. Was a pure liquid in 75 degree weather, by the time we were shooting our pistols.
