Been Thinking About It For a While

[Flatbush Harry]

and I, you should pardon the expression, pulled the trigger. I bought (for delivery on Tuesday) an Uberti Remington 1858 with R&D .45 Colt conversion cylinder.

Last week I stumbled on some Rem #10 caps, grabbed 300 and decided to try BP. I'll drop in to Cabela's or Bass Pro tomorrow to pick up a bottle of Triple 7 or Pyrodex and, you should pardon the expression, give it a shot on Wednesday. I've kinda been thinking of trying BP for months but there were no caps to be had.

Depending on the outcome, I may go for a replica Colt 1860 Army or 1851 Navy. With each purchase I make these days, I want to try a new shooting experience and BP has finally shinnied up to the top of the list. I have a nice Uberti 1875 "Outlaw" and, before I start loading .45 Colt with BP or BP substitute, I thought I'd try C&B for real.

Range report to follow.

FH

PS-My next rifle will almost certainly be a muzzleloader...muzzleloader elk tags are easier to get in CO. I just hope I don't feel the need for flintlock.

 

[Pancho]

Muzzloading is like benchloading at the range without having to fuss with brass and there is another advantage, instant gratification. Load it, shoot it, evaluate it you can't do that at your loading bench.

 

[Crawdad1]

I love mine, shoot it weekly sometimes daily, especially during hunting season, which in my case is nearly all year long.

Are you going to try out the conversion cylinder also?

 

[Flatbush Harry]

I got the conversion cylinder to use with BP- or Pyrodex loaded cartridges. I have a Uberti Rem 1875 revolver for smokeless use...I really like it and may get a second of the 1858 or the 1875 for CAS.

FH

 

[rdstrain49]

just a reminder, Bass Pro does carry Goex.

 

[Doak]

As for muzzleloadin' rifles, whatever you do...don't get a flintlock!

The disease is incurable, and you'll never go back to cap-guns.

Kindest Regards,
Doak

 

[Flatbush Harry]

I got my Uberti Rem 1858 earlier this week and went to the range this afternoon.

What a hoot!!! I could kick myself in the butt for waiting to try 150 y/o technology until now...this is fun!

Using 30gr Pyrodex pellets, wonder wads over the Pyrodex, Hornady .454 swaged balls and a dab of bore butter over the top of the balls, Rem #10 caps, I fired two cylinders full with no hang fires, click...bangs, or misfires. Also excellent accuracy, as good or better than my Uberti Rem 1875 with .45 Colt. I had a large 3" 6-shot hole in the chest of my silhouette target with my second cylinder.

Just thought I'd report...undoubtedly, all you guys already know what a hoot this is.

Cheers,

Harry

 

[jgh4445]

As rdstrain49 said, Bass Pro does carry Goex. You really owe it to yourself to try real black powder.

 

[Dframe]

What jgh4445 said! Holy Black!
Glad you enjoyed yourself. You can see why people get hooked on these things. One thing you might consider is a loader. They make loading SOOOO much easier and don't cost much. They also eliminate the wear and tear on rams and loading levers. They're especially easy with the Remy replicas.
I use mine all the time for my remy, Rogers and Spencer, and Ruger. Going to get another one to use with my 36s

 

[Flatbush Harry]

Thanks to all for the suggestions.

Cheers,

Harry

 

[IROCZ]

And another addict is born...

 

[EljaySL]

Just so you know, if you're using wads you don't need to also put goo over the balls, although it won't hurt any if you enjoy being messy. I'm not here to judge.

When you get to the point where you're reloading cartridges - it's pretty straightforward, just remember you're loading by volume and you don't want any air in there. I load mine so there's just a tiny amount of compression with either 3F Goex or 2F 777 (you're not supposed to compress 777 in cartridges by any substantial amount, and you're supposed to use 2F in cartridges). I cast but if you use pre-bought bullets you'll want to make sure they have a black powder friendly lube or you'll end up melting out the old lube and re-lubing which is kind of a shame.

Shooting cartridges is also a hoot, in something of a different way. There's less fuss at the range and the same cloud of smoke but maybe not quite as satisfying and you can't tune the load in the same way. Don't be shocked if the gun gets really hot, and you'll need to relube the pin that the cylinder rotates around maybe every other cylinder so you'll probably not be shooting quite as many rounds as you think. That being said it's pretty easy to kill a box of 50 in a session.

Keep your eyes on Cabela's after Thanksgiving through the end of the year for the 1860 and 1851. They have sometimes outrageous sales. I think my 1860 was around $180.

 

[Dframe]

As I've mentioned before a small package of baby butt wipes are REALLY handy at the range for cleaning not only your hands but wiping down the face of the cylinder and "Field Cleaning" the cylinder arbor. Dab on a little bore butter, reassemble, and return to shooting. Takes not much more time than it took to type this. And can greatly extend your range time before things start getting really dirty and clogged up. Also a dab of "Cornhuskers" lotion rubbed on the back of your hand especially around the web, will make it a heck of a lot easier to get all the black powder residue off your hands when you're done.

 

[EljaySL]

It's also handy to have alcohol wipes and a rag. But definitely when the last kid gets out of diapers my wife's going to wonder why I keep buying baby wipes...

 

[Flatbush Harry]

Thanks all for the additional follow-up. I appreciate your sharing your experience.

Harry