This is a quick video I shot today of a range session with my Pietta "fantasy gun," a steel framed, .44 caliber colt navy. Pietta makes this, well... I guess because they can. The cylinder is the same as a .44 Colt Army, as is the frame, but the barrel and loading lever are upsized versions of the 1851 Navy in .36. The grip frame is the Navy sized frame so some people may prefer that over the larger Army grip frame.

I like this pistol, as I prefer the thump of the .44 blackpowder pistols. I prefer the Army overall, as I like the larger grip frame, but this thing is a hoot.

Video for any interested. If not, no biggie.

https://youtu.be/AWtXTUrfg70

I haven't shot my BP pistols in years, so it was good to watch your video. Curious about Hodgdon powder that you used, I checked their website, and it says there's no sulfur smell! What the hell???

How was the powder, other than that? I can't find real black powder any where, and since Dupont quit making it many years ago, I'm wondering if everybody else quit as well.

In this video I was shooting Goex black powder FFG... were you referring to another video where I compared Hodgdon's 777 and Pyrodex? Yeah, they both stink worse than black to me. I really hate pyrodex smell and triple 7 isn't much better. 777 is supposed to be more powerful by weight though, so if you're trying to get the max velocity that might be the way to go.

I used to be able to get black powder from a gun store in my town but it went under and nobody else wants to carry it. I'm still using up my 30-year-old stash.

I thought I heard Hodgdens fffG, but maybe not...

I still have some ffG and fffG that may be Elephant brand (?) BP? It's about 10 or 15 years old, and was carried by a small fishing and hunting store about 15 miles from me. I used the fffG in my 1860 Army and made up some BP rounds with about 37 grains of ffG for my 1873 Cattleman in .45LC. I still have a box or two of the .45LC rounds somewhere in my ammo stash.

I'll do a search for Goex, as I remember it being pretty decent powder when I was more active in BP shooting.

quote:

Originally posted by newtoSig765:
I thought I heard Hodgdens fffG, but maybe not....

Ah... I used Hornady round balls, and 2FG. Maybe that's where the confusion came from.

Elephant is supposed to be good stuff.

Nice use of "KY windage".

I dearly miss my Ruger Old Army. It was a hoot!

Nice shootin' Tex!
Buy another one and come play Cowboy with us. You can shoot them every weekend!

Also "Navy Yank" would be a neat Alias.

That does look like fun!

How time consuming is cleaning it?

quote:

Originally posted by Warhorse:
That does look like fun!

How time consuming is cleaning it?

Takes a while for sure. There are people who don't actually disassemble the guts between matches and just clean the bore and cylinder, which is much quicker. they just drip ballistol down in front of the hammer, through the hand slot, and through the bolt slot and they keep running and supposedly don't rust, and they just completely strip/clean them after a season. This is the SASS blackpowder guys.

I take mine fully apart after every range session because I shoot them pretty infrequently and I don't want them sitting full of crud for months. Plus, I found a spent cap inside the guts when I stripped it this time.

Moose milk (ballistol+water) is good stuff for this, and after the water evaporates it leaves the parts with a coating of oil.

But yes, they are time-consuming to clean properly. However it's fairly straightforward to get them apart and back together again. It's kind of part of the ritual.

That is a nice looking revolver. If I were to get a BP pistol, that would be it.

Very nice. Love the fireball and smoke!

I have always wanted a .36 caliber BP revolver.

I am discovering they are a lot less common than .44cal BP stuff.

quote:

Originally posted by 357fuzz:
Very nice. Love the fireball and smoke!

I have always wanted a .36 caliber BP revolver.

I am discovering they are a lot less common than .44cal BP stuff.

they seem to be, but they're out there and go on sale fairly often also. Here's a video of my .36 navy if interested
https://youtu.be/gV8_hZ3SUdA

That's your personal indoor range?

If so, I'm velly jelly.

Does anybody know a source for conical bullets in .36 or .44 cal?

Thanks!
That was both entertaining and informative.

Good shooting!

Silent

quote:

Originally posted by 1KPerDay:
http://www.oldsouthfirearms.co...451diameter200g.aspx

http://www.oldsouthfirearms.co...375diameter130g.aspx

http://dixiegunworks.com/produ...php?products_id=3630

Thanks! Those prices are steep, so I guess it's time to consider casting, again.

Cabela's was running a pretty good sale on the Pietta BP revolvers they carry. Looks like the sale is over, but I was able to pick up a nice steel-frame 1851 Navy in .36 for $199.

cool! that's a good choice.