Anyone shoot blackpowder handguns??

[Zee]

I'm always in search of an 'original sin' as far as doing something new and different in my hobbies.

Recently, I have been interested in some of the percussion revolvers. Like the 1861 Colt Navy repros, etc...
Anyone out there shoot these?
If so, experiences, good/bad and anything a newb sould know before I dive in and buy??

Thanks!!

[ANIMAL]

Who is the maker? what caliber? brass or steel frame?

Ubertti is a very well respected relica manufacturer as are a few others.

The "Navy" signified a brass frame with a .36 caliber on the originals. Now they are made in a few calibers on either a brass or steel frame.

My experience tells me to go with a steel frame if you plan on doing considerable shooting. the brass is soft and will get sloppy over time. A 36 is a fine round but if you plan on hunting with it or have a 44 rifle and would like to keep your equipment room from exploding keep with the 44 round.

If you need any more info just e-mail or pm me. I shot with the NSSA for about 5 years and did civil war re-enactments for another 10 or so. have learned a lot and some contradicts what is normally thought of as fact.

Enjoy

[alex-vitek]

I have done a bit over the years, mostly in the last century. In fact, casting the roundballs for the revolver was what got me started in casting for centerfire--so I bought a centerfire handgun which got me into reloading.

There are some interesting characters who have tables at the larger gun shows. These guys specialize in blackpowder guns and will provide some good answers.

What I have been giving some more thought to was loading BP subsitutes in centerfire cases for shooting from my single action revolvers. Initial experiences over the summer say that this is pretty easy to do. The cleanup of the gun was easy.

With all those 1,000s of 38 Spec cases I have it was a good use for them.

[Al Lowe]

I have a Euroarms repro of the .36 caliber Remington New Army C&B revolver. I haven't fired it in years. The main spring broke and I never got it fixed until a couple of years ago. Still haven't fired since it's been fixed.

I guess next trip to the range I should take it out and shoot it a bit.

[goldwing2000]

I've got an Armi San Marco repro of an 1847 Colt Walker.

It's a blast to shoot (pun intended) but it's a pain in the butt to clean!