Just Starting Help Please

[Iain D]

I am just about to take delivery of a .36 1862 Navy Colt what would you recomend as a starting load both with Black Powder and also Pyrodex as a substitute. I am trying to get a starting point established so as I can get some results to work from.

Also when you are shooting to establish accuracy what distance do you tend to shoot at and group size would you expect or hope to achieve taking account of the human factor.

I may have a few more questions, I am trying to get hold of one of the members at the club to help but work issues make this a bit difficult at the moment.

Any and all help appreciated

[Smokeless Coal]

12 to 15 grains of either should be ok.

I think most of us shoot at 25meters.

Expect your first groups to be about 12 to 18 inches, seriously.

How good are your eyes when shooting a rifle over conventional open sights? Thats got to be the best you could achieve with your pistol with practice and getting your loading sussed.

[lilguy43uk]

12 to 15 grains of either should be ok.

I think most of us shoot at 25meters.

Expect your first groups to be about 12 to 18 inches, seriously.

How good are your eyes when shooting a rifle over conventional open sights? Thats got to be the best you could achieve with your pistol with practice and getting your loading sussed.

I wish My targets always look as if I'm using a shotgun.

[Iain D]

I wish My targets always look as if I'm using a shotgun.

Fills me with hope

should be interesting, the pistol should arrive today, just got to wait on the certificate coming through. So i'll go and have a look at it at the RFD's

Something to look forward to when I come back from holiday.

Iain D

[tim56]

First time i shot my first b/p revolver (a Rogers and Spencer, .44, London grey with fixed sites) i only hit the target board about 6 shots out of 13, never mind the actual target. 25 yds/metres seems a long way away when looking down a pistol barrel. I started to doult my own shooting ability for a while especialy as the other guys where consistantly putting their shots in the black. Only later talking to these guys did i find out they had been shooting for years well before the pistol ban and where actually shooting postal leage competition cards. Over 10 years later and im still shooting with these guys and they are still better than me but at least im keeping em on the target with a fair few in the black now, so dont get upset if at first you dont equal the other guys. Main thing is to enjoy your shooting and get lots of practice. Tim

[Smokeless Coal]

Initially just load the thing and shoot it to get the feel of it and a clear idea of what you are doing, have fun, enjoy the bang and the smoke its good for the soul.

After a couple of visits to the range sit back and take stock, look at how you might improve your chances of getting them on paper.

The most crucial thing is consistancy of load, get each chamber as accuratly matched as you can. Even down to weighing your balls. You would not expect a cartridge loaded with X grains of powder to shoot the same as one loaded a bit hotter or with different weight bullets would you.

There are loads of tips you will hear, many will say load your ball as close to the front of the cylinder as you can, and use a filler. Give it a bit of a clean between loadings, a brush down the barrel takes seconds.

BP and Pyro should be treated as the same weight wise volume wise and that they both like a little bit of compression, 777 should not be compressed but it does not like an air gap.

Maybe there are some readers who dont understand how to use the open sights on these things. Ok, raise the pistol at arms length using a 2 handed grip, then move your finger to gently rest on the trigger, get the front sight on the target first, some go for the flat top of the blade through the center of the black some prefer the bottom of the circle as its a clearer datum. Then bring the rear sight up and aligned with the front, this is where to get your aim off to suit the pistol, some might use the top edge aligned with the top of the front some use the front half way into the V some at the bottom, it will depend on where you chose to align the front sight and how the gun zeros.
Then concentrate on your visual focus which should always be on the front sight. dont worry that the black spot in the distance is slightly blurred and out of focus.

You dont want to rush your shot but you dont want to hold on aim for too long because you will start to get the wobbles and never hit it. Come down and rest then slowly back to aim and fire, it looks like you know what you are doing if you come off aim and rest so theres nothing wrong with it.

[Buckle]

I've just started out with the black arts too - with a second hand Remington .44 target. Take your time with load development - and don't be tempted by those who urge you to "stoke" up the load! So far my most consistent load is around 15gr by vol of Pyrodex P. With this load (using two hands) I can get 4/5 of 6 shots in the black at 25yds, with all on the target. I started at 25 Grs by vol and don't know where most of those shots went!

Sage advice above regarding time to take the shot. Once on target I start counting slowly in seconds, if I get to 5 the shot will be a waste due to wobbles so slowly down, take a few breaths and repeat. Eventually I get to pull the trigger.

A quick clean between reloads is also good advice - on my first few outings I suffered a few failure to fires because of not doing this (in ignorance!). Now each reload the nipples are poked through and the crud wiped off the cylinder and frame.

I'll be interested to hear how you progress with the Colt as that is likely to be my next purchase pistol wise. All the best.

[Iain D]

The pistol did not arrive today, so I will not get my hands on it for another fortnight aas I am off to the sun. I am looking forward to trying this out as I have never fired a BP pistol.

Some fun awaits when I get back, it's going to be a long fortnight.

Thanks for all the pointers so far


Iain D