Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Handguns Shot One of My Black Powder Pistols Today

It was such a perfect day, weather-wise, and all the talk here about black powder recently had me leaning that way for a while now. It's been years since I've shot any of my black powder guns, so I figured I'd start with something simple ... my screw-barrel .45 caliber, cap and ball Derringer.

Loads of fun. I used real black powder (FFFG) that I had on hand from like twenty years ago or more. Already had the .451 balls, also very old stock, and caps (old too). Everything worked without a hitch. I guess this stuff lasts a long time in storage.

I had to shoot within ten feet (yes, you heard that right) to get any kind of decent groups, since there are literally no sights on the gun, not even rudimentary, so you really are left with almost guessing where the barrel is aimed (the view is almost completely obscured by the cocked hammer). These were intended as belly guns, to be used at bad breath distances. They were quite popular once, though, back in the middle 19th Century.

Still put a smile on my face, despite the absence of sights.

I loaded the max charge. You screw off the barrel with the supplied tool (fits into the rifling from the muzzle), then fill up a reservoir in the receiver with powder. Then you place the ball on top of the powder, and screw the barrel back on over it using the tool. There's some resistance, since it has to be snug.

Cleaning was no big deal. Just lots of hot soapy water in a tub (Only the nipple, barrel, and tool, got actually dunked ... everything else made of metal was brushed and swabbed with soapy water), followed up by rinsing then drying everything, then applying Ballistol liberally and wiping down.

Cool.

That's awesome fun!!

I remember as a kid shooting black powder single shot pistols with my brother and dad. We had a lot of fun with them. One was a kit gun that he put together and the other he bought second-hand somewhere.

The gun that shot Lincoln was similar in size and caliber, but required conventional front stuffing, since it lacked the convenience of a screw-off barrel.

Absolutely awesome.

Well done.

Very cool Hawkeye, I have a cap & ball revolver and the accuracy is amazing....
Thanks for sharing....

Put this gun in a vice, and it will likely pattern tightly too. It's the human factor that causes a spread at ten feet. No way to align the barrel at any particular point on the target. The idea was just to pull it out, and essentially jab it at someone standing next to you (or at contact distance), and fire.

Keeping the lineage alive.

Good on you.

Speaking of cap and ball revolvers, this video is pretty interesting.

Good thread!

That's a cool slo-mo video!

All black powder is real, the other stuff is phony.

Lord Black has no shelf life unless it gets wet.

Apparently so, since that can has been in my possession for well over twenty years (I believe, upon reflection, that I purchased it in the early 1990s). Good to know.

I have some 2F that is near 40 years old, works just dandy. Historical record recounts BP kegs found in old mines estimated to be 150 years old or so...still viable.

Might as well stock up, then.

The owner of Hodgdon Powder Co, who was one of my customers in the Wholesale Firearms Industry several years ago, told me the same thing. Said they had some at the Factory that was well over 120 years old. that they tested from time to time.

Now that is a neat little Pistol !!

What kind of Powder charge did you use ?
Wonder what kind of speed you are getting from it ?

Funny thing about the powder charge is that you cannot load more or less than the reservoir allows. Any less and you risk detonation. Any more will just fall over the sides and be wasted before you could screw on the barrel. I suppose you could front stuff it and load a bigger charge, but it’s not designed to be loaded that way. I think, with the standard load, the ball isn’t moving much more than 600 FPS. I seem to recall someone saying that who reviewed it on YouTube.

This thread is making me want to shoot this Colt...might try it out next range trip. Could be fun.
Bob

Very nice. An 1851 Navy .36? Or is that a Dragoon .44? With the trigger guard squared, it must be a Dragoon.

Colt 2nd gen 1851 .36 Navy. I have two...one cased, one without. Both unfired. Colt made both round and squared guards for the '51 2nd gen.
Bob

Here is an original manufactured in 1852 and sporting the other (round) trigger guard. My wife's re-issue OTOH, has the squareback.

Wow! An original. Cool.

PS one cool thing about my screw barrel pistol is that the trigger folds into a recess in the frame when the hammer isn’t fully cocked, and then pops out when cocked.

It was in excellent shape mechanically with only traces of blue left but definite traces of silver on the brass grip frame. Additionally, it had a full cylinder scene-leaving a lot of experts saying the cylinder had been replaced, but IIRC, the cylinder was numbered to the gun. It supposedly came from a Fort Scott, Kansas family, right on the border with Missouri, and had been used by a "Jayhawker" in the Bleeding Kansas conflict (1855-1858). I could never get documentation on this even though the dealer I bought it from said he'd help. I finally got tired of it and considered it just another "story gun" though it had some other cool aspects. It went in some trade.

For the distances it would be used at I imagine that 600 FPS from a 44 or 45 would be deadly.
Jammed into the ribs of an assailant might result in Barbequed ribs !

Nice Gear

Thank you.