Finally got the chance to use my new BP pistol

[NigelG]

don't usually come onto this forum, but was having a look around as we were given a very good demonstration on how to load a BP pistol last weekend at our club. One of the things stressed was seating depth of the ball, it needs to be seated just to the front of the cylinder, any deeper and the ball will be travelling too fast to properly enter the rifling, that is apparently why you pack with a wad and semolina then grease on top of the ball if using BP rather than pyrodex or 777

[NigelG]

also I believe, the pieta can have indexing problems? Is that correct?

on this particular .44 pushing the loading lever to the very bottom of its travel was seating it too deep

doesn't sound like the quality be there, then we were showed a Remington, what a difference

[thegreyman]

Interesting, I seated the ball as far as level would let me and this was (at a guess) circa 15mm, possibly more from the mouth of the chamber...

That, as previously mentioned, appeared to be with a light load, so when I try more powder, I will inevitably have to seat the ball a little higher to compensate for the extra volume of power.

Then if she shoots better, I will have to argue whether more power and/or a higher seating depth cured the problem lol

As for indexing, all seemed groovy with mine

[tacfoley]

don't usually come onto this forum, but was having a look around as we were given a very good demonstration on how to load a BP pistol last weekend at our club. One of the things stressed was seating depth of the ball, it needs to be seated just to the front of the cylinder, any deeper and the ball will be travelling too fast to properly enter the rifling, that is apparently why you pack with a wad and semolina then grease on top of the ball if using BP rather than pyrodex or 777

Well, Sir, I have to admit that I've never heard THAT one before. I concur about the need to have the ball level with the front of the chamber or thereabouts, but as for the ball going too fast to enter the rifling if it's seated deeper, perhaps you'll advise me just where else it's going to go?

There's about 18,000 of us on muzzleloadingforum.com with bated breath, awaiting your answer.

tac

[NigelG]

maybe i didnt explain it very well it went something like this....... you need the ball to enter the rifling as slow as possible, therefore by loading it right at the front, it will do just that as it's only just got moving before it gets there. If seated deep into the cylinder, it will be moving faster and not engage the rifling nice and evenly but tend to strip and cause innacurate flight

that was my understanding, maybe i got it all wrong, don't know, but this guy knew his stuff, he also knew which chambers gave the worst performance in his collection and fires a 5 5 3 sequence

[tacfoley]

maybe i didnt explain it very well it went something like this....... you need the ball to enter the rifling as slow as possible, therefore by loading it right at the front, it will do just that as it's only just got moving before it gets there. If seated deep into the cylinder, it will be moving faster and not engage the rifling nice and evenly but tend to strip and cause innacurate flight

that was my understanding, maybe i got it all wrong, don't know, but this guy knew his stuff, he also knew which chambers gave the worst performance in his collection and fires a 5 5 3 sequence

Thank you for indulging me with your response - much appreciated by me and the guys over on muzzleloadingforum.com.

I have to admit, since I have only got a City & Guilds in Mechanical Engineering, and not a degree, that that is the most unusual concept I've heard of in years.

I'd like for your expert to advise me/us of the difference in velocity between a ball moving from a standstill at the end of the chamber nearest the barrel forcing cone and moving from an undisclosed distance - probably not more than around a tenth of an inch more - down the chamber to the barrel.

Or on the other hand, never mind - I'm probably too old and set in my ways to understand anyhow.

tac

[NigelG]

the guy isnt a member on here and doubt if i'll see him for a few months now

but

I quite like the idea of putting in for a variation to get one, however, although I liked the look of the Pieta, I found the grip very smal and knuckle of 2nd finger was against the rear of the trigger guard, guess this would hurt a bit

what makes have a larger grip, more along the lines of a S&W revolver (those were the days), the Remington felt a bit more decent but didnt catch the model he had

would probably go for a .44 cal in stainless and must be able to use a capper with it without having to "modify" around the nipple area, any help appreciated

[tacfoley]

Well, my Rodgers & Spencer has a pretty sizeable grip, far bigger than any Colt, replica or otherwise. See if you can lay your hands on one to give it a try. Pretty uncommon in UK though, sadly.

tac

[NigelG]

one of our club members has a copy of one that he uses and a real one that he spent £150 having it worked on to bring it up to shooting standards, mainly the forcing cone area as was well worn out, seems made too late for American civil war but used in the Spanish one

[NickHarvey]

I can only speak for the one I used to own (0.44 with progressive rifling) but it shot remarkably well with 18gn of Swiss 2. It won the Bronze medal in Batesville in 2004 and did 100 at an MLAGB open meeting.

I've always used filler for the same reasons given in earlier posts. I have a spout for Sainsburys semolina (the only one I've found that flows properly). Others tend to be like flour and don't flow or are too granular and compress too much so you end up with a pile of semolina proud of the chamber before you seat the ball. Back in the days of cartridge revolver shooting, it was considered to be very important that the bullet be as close as possible to the face of the cylinder. So much so that some gunmakers machined the cylinder back to the length of a 38 special case and then fitted a new barrel that filled the gap. The reasoning was along the lines of it wasn't a good thing to have the soft lead bullet slamming into the rifling at speed which would strip lead from the bullet and quickly cause fouling and inaccuracy. Best analogy I can think of is the difference between shooting a 12bore with it tucked firmly into the shoulder and allowing it to sit just clear of the arm as it goes off. It may not travel far but it'll bloody hurt when it gets there!

Something else that may be significant is where the ball hasn't seated properly. A fellow GB team member managed to bulge a rifle barrel when he fired it after holding it muzzle down with a relatively loose ball. In my own case, I was trying an original pistol (a recent acquisition) last weekend and felt that the ball didn't seat properly on a couple of occasions and the ball went walkabout without my having any idea where it went. My best tip? Use semolina to fill the chamber so that the ball sits just below the face of the chamber. Have a sharp knife handy to trim back the balls that remain proud when you don't seat them properly and use a coffee stirrer from your local coffee shop to spread a thin film of grease (I do use petroleum grease but clean the guns thoroughly each time). Revolver shooters have a reputation for throwing grease all around the range but it's totally unnecessary. The first shot will blow any surplus out of the adjacent chambers and it's only really there as belt and braces to prevent flashover.

Persevere with it, it's worth it in the end.

[NigelG]

so I was right and I've never fired one (yet)