Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Muzzleloaders Black Powder Handguns

Just about all of the discussion here is about long guns. But what about black powder pistols?
What types of black powder handguns do you like to shoot?
I have several replicas. An 1851 Navy in .45, an 1858 Remington also in .45. I like the the Remington better because it shoots right where I hold and it is easeyer to take apart and clean. The Navy hits 2 feet high at 15 yards because of that little bead front sight. I also have a single shot percussion pistol of unknown make that I bought used that shoots very well.

Shortly after I got my first paying job I bought an 1858 Remington replica. I shot the heck out of it until the notches wore off the back of the cylinder. It shot a foot and a half high at about 25 yds. Decided there was too much cleaning for the amount of shooting and got rid of it. I bought a .54 cal T/C Scout pistol when they came out and an extra .45 barrel for it. Carried it a couple times as a back up to my .54 New Englander but never needed it. Wanting to take a deer with a BP handgun I procured a couple Knight Hawkeyes but have yet to take a deer with one. Maybe this years doe season I'll use one. They're all fun!

i have a TC Scout rifle and pistol.both love xtp 240 with 90 grains goex. i used to want a Knight pitol but gave up looking for one after several years.How accurate are they?

I've got an old no-name 1860 Army I've had for a couple of years, rescued from certain death at some gun buy-back in California. I've found Italian proof marks and a date code that tells me it was made in 1978. I can't find a makers mark on it anywhere.

It was long in the arbor, which set the cylinder too far forward and caused misfires. So I unscrewed the arbor and turned the shoulder back until I achieved an additional half turn into the frame. This set the whole barrel back a substantial distance and other accommodations were needed. I removed 0.011" from the bottom of the barrel assembly, to set the wedge hole back the proper distance for the shortened arbor. I had ordered a hardened Uberti wedge, which required lengthening the wedge opening in the arbor at the front. This is done a few file strokes at a time until the wedge just slipped through the off-side of the frame. This of course set the cylinder back, just a little too far, and I had to file back the corresponding cylinder boss in the frame. Then, the cylinder hand wanted to bind up, making cocking difficult and retarding forward motion of the hammer. This was corrected by careful file work on the arbor and frame window. The barrel assembly and cylinder's relocation 0.011" to the rear insures the hammer will ignite the cap on every chamber. Once it was all sorted out, I reset the arbor in the frame with a generous dose of Loctite Red; and installed the barrel assembly and wedge to keep everything aligned while the Loctite set.

The old gun is now reliable as the sunrise and a shooter to boot. Here it is with an old carbon, stag handled bowie I picked up awhile back.

I had a Ruger Old Army for a time. Like the man said, it's a lot of work for a little bit of shooting. Unless you cast your own bullets (more work) it's not even cheap to shoot. I still get the urge for one from time to time, but fortunately haven't succumbed.

These days, you can have most of the same "fun" for about half the price by getting an Eyetalian Remington replica. The Rugers are very pricey these days.

I had a Ruger old Army that was a dead eye dick shooting sombuck, gave it to a nice guy that needed one.

Hey Tmitch, I have one of those 54 cal Scout pistols too, have shot so many 535 gr no excuse bullets out of it the whole backside around the nipple has no finish left, it's a damn hoot buddy, 100 grs of Black is a real flamethrower!

Thanks for sharing everybody. I would love to get a LeMat replica but I don't want to spend that much on a cap and ball revolver.

I have an Ethan Allen .45 caliber that I picked up several years ago.

They're slow to load, so it's best to keep several on hand.

100 under a 535!?! That oughta make her buck and snort a bit! I usually loaded 80 under a 435 Maxi or a 348 Powerbelt and that makes it jump just a little. You're right, they are a hoot!

I am a fan of the Colt Dragoon. I like the feel and heft and balance, firing full power loads is like firing 38 Special out of an N-frame.

Tough to dislike a Colt Walker

I've got an original 1851 Navy that came down through the family. I'm named after my Great or Great Great Uncle who carried it in the Civil War. Main spring's a little weak, and somewhere along the line, someone replaced the pivot screw that holds the ram rod in with a driven in steel pin. Other than that, it looks like it's ready to go shooting. I bet it hasn't been fired in over a century.