Cowboy guns target shooting

March 31, 2019, 08:20 PM

1KPerDay

https://imgur.com/a/spqoCtu

hopefully that link works.

On THR a guy is running an informal postal match with center fire or black powder single action revolvers from 15 and 25 yards offhand.

First time I've ever shot paper offhand at 25 and I don't have the patience or skills for it.

15 went okay for the most part.

Reposted

I took several of my cap and ball revolvers to the range tonight but I underestimated how long it takes me to load and shoot 26 shots. LOL

I started with the Pietta .36 1851, loaded it up with 20 grains of FFg (I burned up all my 3f) under lubed felt wads and Hornady .375" balls, Remington #10 caps, and shot 6 sighters from 15 yards on a B3. Based on the center of that group I guesstimated where I should stick my POA sticky, and proceeded to shoot 10 for score from 15 yards, two handed. The first couple shots surprised me as the trigger on this thing is surprisingly good, especially compared to my Colt SAA which has a terrible trigger.

After 5 shots I walked down range to see if I was close and was surprised to see 2 Xes.

So I held the same place for the last 5 and it printed another X and a score of 95-3x! Wow! For me that's amazing. I haven't shot this pistol other than at steel plates at 20 yards. Looks like I need to file the left side of the notch a little.

The target was already fuzzy at 15 but I figured I already got the gun dirty so I may as well try from 25, so I estimated where my POA should be and shot five balls. Way higher and further right than I figured, so I put another POA sticky on and shot my final 5 for a score of 76. It was getting pretty smoky by the end and I need a new prescription obviously so those are my excuses.

Fun!

1kperday
3/29/19
Pietta 1851 .36 bone stock
20 grains Goex 2f
Hornady .375" LRB
Remington #10 caps
Cabelas lubed felt wads

15 yds: 95-3X
25 yds: 76

March 31, 2019, 08:32 PM

Warhorse

Congrats for finding a fun new way to shoot black powder. Were you shooting one handed, or two?

March 31, 2019, 08:43 PM

1KPerDay

Two for most. With the Colt SAA I shot one target strong hand only and did worse... I think 82 vs 94 with two hands. I also shot one at 25 with the Remington SHO since my 2 handed group was so bad (60) and the POI shift down and to the left wasn't as bad as with 2 hands. I think I hold the gun closer with 2 hands and I can see the sights more clearly, and since it's not regulated properly I actually do worse with that one.

March 31, 2019, 11:13 PM

92fstech

Lol the angry face on the first one (I presume that's a 25 yard target?) cracked me up. That's honestly not bad shooting, though, and looks like a lot of fun! I don't have any BP guns, but I do have a Blackhawk in .45 and it's a tack driver. I'm not sure I've ever shot it on paper at 25, though. I'll have to give this a try. Any excuse to shoot the single-action

March 31, 2019, 11:32 PM

1KPerDay

It's an eye opener for sure. Also makes me want to regulate the sights and actually do some load development. And get my prescription updated

April 01, 2019, 12:03 AM

phydough

How long did it take you to load and shoot 26 shots? Inquiring minds.....

April 01, 2019, 12:18 AM

1KPerDay

Well when I did some pyrodex vs BP tests and shot over 100 shots with each I timed myself and it takes me about 2 minutes to load and fire 6 shots with a Colt army, using a ted cash capper, 30 grain spout, and lubed felt wads. If you don't use wads that saves a few seconds. However I don't have a 20 grain spout so I have to use a separate measure, which takes time. And I lost my capper so I had to fumble around with loose caps, and I took time to make sure they were seated. So I would estimate it probably took me 4 minutes per cylinder. Plus I was marking and taping targets and taking notes and shooting pics so I think that whole thing took me an hour and a half for 26 shots with the Navy. LOL

April 01, 2019, 10:09 AM

colt_saa

quote:
Originally posted by 1KPerDay:

hopefully that link works.

On THR a guy is running an informal postal match with center fire or black powder single action revolvers from 15 and 25 yards offhand.

First time I've ever shot paper offhand at 25 and I don't have the patience or skills for it.

15 went okay for the most part.

Reposted

I took several of my cap and ball revolvers to the range tonight but I underestimated how long it takes me to load and shoot 26 shots. LOL

I started with the Pietta .36 1851, loaded it up with 20 grains of FFg (I burned up all my 3f) under lubed felt wads and Hornady .375" balls, Remington #10 caps, and shot 6 sighters from 15 yards on a B3. Based on the center of that group I guesstimated where I should stick my POA sticky, and proceeded to shoot 10 for score from 15 yards, two handed. The first couple shots surprised me as the trigger on this thing is surprisingly good, especially compared to my Colt SAA which has a terrible trigger.

After 5 shots I walked down range to see if I was close and was surprised to see 2 Xes.

So I held the same place for the last 5 and it printed another X and a score of 95-3x! Wow! For me that's amazing. I haven't shot this pistol other than at steel plates at 20 yards. Looks like I need to file the left side of the notch a little.

The target was already fuzzy at 15 but I figured I already got the gun dirty so I may as well try from 25, so I estimated where my POA should be and shot five balls. Way higher and further right than I figured, so I put another POA sticky on and shot my final 5 for a score of 76. It was getting pretty smoky by the end and I need a new prescription obviously so those are my excuses.

Fun!

1kperday
3/29/19
Pietta 1851 .36 bone stock
20 grains Goex 2f
Hornady .375" LRB
Remington #10 caps
Cabelas lubed felt wads

15 yds: 95-3X
25 yds: 76

Fixed the photo link for you
You might want to edit the size to 900 or 1000 pixels wide in the future