Black Powder for Home Defense

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mh2000 said:
A frend of mine wanted to loan me his Ruger 9mm until things blow over, but after thinking about it, I decided just to rely on my Peitta 1858 New Army.
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That's what friends are for. He made a suggestion that could save your family grief and death.Take him up on it. Don't be a jackass.

With his Ruger you just point and shoot. No hammer cock, no bad percussion caps, everything is better and easier. If it's just you, then do what you want but you have to think of your family first.
 
I'll say two things:
1.) Blackpowder guns did the job in the 19th century and would be equally effective today. Smoke would be a minor inconvenience in a situation where your life is in danger.

2.) PLEASE just go ahead, as soon as possible, and get a modern pistol. .45ACP is good, 9mm. will also work well with modern rounds. .357 S&W revolver would be swell.

One problem attendant to cap 'n' ball revolvers is unloading them. At the range, one can just fire off all chambers. In the house? Well, you can disassemble it, take the nipples off, shake out the powder, poke out the bullet .....
Really?

Just get the modern fire arm. I love blackpowder. I own modern guns to defend myelf.
 
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Patocazador -

All things being equal I’d agree with you but he said that Glock 9 stovepipes and he’s unfamiliar with it, too. Not a good combination. mh2000 already knows his Remington. First shot placement being everything, I’d choose my Remington over someone else's dicey 9, any day.
 
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damoc said:
UH No not like a Glock that requires in most places background checks and waiting periods and will soon fail if you start reloading with BP and not to mention that the power from a .45 acp glock loaded with BP will be a disapointment.This is important for many reasons. I will never own a semi auto for personal and home defense if it can not function reliably with BP.
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What the heck is BP? Oh, black powder. I see. You want to load a modern pistol with black powder. You go, Dude! Now ya talkin’.
 
100% reliability and the ability to kill a Cav horse doesn't count anymore. Just like a 30-30 can't kill a deer and .308 cant shoot accurate past 100 yards now that technology is better. But really, If you really think you may shoot this thing for any reason indoors, you need a modern gun. BP can and does set things on fire.
 
Eyrie G. Dogg said:
Patocazador -

All things being equal I’d agree with you but he said that Glock 9 stovepipes and he’s unfamiliar with it, too. Not a good combination. mh2000 already knows his Remington. First shot placement being everything, I’d choose my Remington over someone else's dicey 9, any day.
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He could be wrong about the malfunctioning. Jus’ sayin’.
 
rpenmanparker said:
Sure, but the mention was so out of context with regard to a modern pistol, I just couldn’t figure it out. Carry on.
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The original post brought together both modern and historical and once things trip over into fantasy the mods will close thread. LOL and I enjoy these what if posts.
 
I have a number of cartridge revolvers, a S&W 9mm and a Colt .32 Pocket, but I keep a '51 Navy loaded next to my 12 gauge. My Navy is tuned with a cap post. it just shoots "where I think". It is what I shoot most often and am comfortable with.Larger issues grab the shot gun.
p.s.do have a pair of Rem '58s.
 
Where I live, I can drive a few miles out of town and just shoot the gun empty! :)

I've seen balistic tests online that put the .44 balls in the same range at least with .38 Special.

I know a lot of people don't like smaller calibers, but I was thinking if I went with semi-automatic that I'd get a .380 ACP for in a pocket.

Regarding my friend's 9mm, when we went out shooting a few years ago, the thing stove-piped a lot more than I liked!
 
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Probably if my Colts had the post and I was convinced it solved my cap jams, I'd just load them up. the remmy just works!

I'm really more a guns for enjoyment kind of guy than a serious home defense person. :(
 
mh2000 said:
Where I live, I can drive a few miles out of town and just shoot the gun empty! :)

I've seen balistic tests online that put the .44 balls in the same range at least with .38 Special.

I know a lot of people don't like smaller calibers, but I was thinking if I went with semi-automatic that I'd get a .380 ACP for in a pocket.

Regardign my friend's 9mm, when we went out shooting a few years ago, the thing stove-piped a lot more than I liked!
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That all depends on the powder and projectile. With an energetic powder you are within the beginnings of standard .45 ACP performance with a ball, and on the higher end of standard with shorter bullet.

I have a 170 grn WFN bullet that is just 0.40” long and a 195 grn WFN that’s just 0.460” long (about the length of a ball). My 1858 likes a 30 grn charge with those projectiles or a ball. When I’ve weighed my 3F Olde Eynsford I found it weighs about 33 grns. And with the 195 grn bullet or a ball there is still room for a bit more than 5 grns of powder. But 30 (33) grns is more accurate.

If you don’t use Olde E, Swiss, or Triple 7 you will get around .38 Spl performance. A fellow on another forum has a short 100 grn WFN bullet for his .36 cal and with 20 grns of Olde E he is getting light .380 ACP performance.



http://poconoshooting.com/blackpowderballistics.html
 
mh2000 said:
Where I live, I can drive a few miles out of town and just shoot the gun empty! :)

I've seen balistic tests online that put the .44 balls in the same range at least with .38 Special.

I know a lot of people don't like smaller calibers, but I was thinking if I went with semi-automatic that I'd get a .380 ACP for in a pocket.

Regarding my friend's 9mm, when we went out shooting a few years ago, the thing stove-piped a lot more than I liked!
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Limp wrist?
 
Really??? I can shoot that "big heavy" 1858 one-handed with no problem. The Ruger in question, maybe I just don't know it very well. Honestly, I've only owned revolvers.
 
rodwha, yeah, 30 grains 3F GOEX is my standard load for the 1858. I can certainly hit a human sized target and I think it would stop someone!
 
mh2000 said:
Really??? I can shoot that "big heavy" 1858 one-handed with no problem. The Ruger in question, maybe I just don't know it very well. Honestly, I've only owned revolvers.
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Look up limp wrist. It has nothing to do with being able to shoot a heavy gun.
 
mh2000 said:
rodwha, yeah, 30 grains 3F GOEX is my standard load for the 1858. I can certainly hit a human sized target and I think it would stop someone!
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For about $1 more you can get Goex’s Olde Eynsford powder instead. Not only is it much more energetic it also burns a little cleaner leaving less fouling.
 
I use a cut down 1860 most of the time... BUT, I got a conversion for it for a couple reasons. First, rain and rivers... I do carry it a lot loaded BP, but when in town or anywhere else that the problem is more likely to be two legged then four I use the conversion... Ive never HAD a problem with wet primers, but the concern was enough to warrant doing something about it... Now that i have, no more concern in that regard. Second, in the home there WOULD be a lot of smoke ad possible FIRE as well. Yes, I can hide behind the wall of smoke just as easy as the intruder, and being on my own home turf it might even give me an advantage... But can i be SURE of that? Nope. Also, I would really rather not be hiding behind a wall of FLAME in my home.. And that is almost as likely as smoke with the BP. Third, if I ever did have to shoot a person, the cops would take the gun for God only knows how long... Would much rather have it setting in the evidence locker for 6mos dirty from smokeless then from BP.

I do have plenty of centerfires... In fact, I really cant BE anywhere in my home that Im more then 2 steps from a firearm... But the one ON my hip most is the one that suits both me and my situation... I dont live in a very big place where trouble is common. Since its the one WITH me most times, and will probably be the one WITH me if trouble ever does show itself, thats the one I choose as my go-to. A loaded '58 or '60, ON my hip beats the HELL out of a shiny new $1200 Kimber back home in the drawer, any day of the week...

Get a conversion if ya bent on going this route... Or a at the very least get you some T7 for the BP cylinder... Or both.
 
Forgot I kept some screen shots of a fellas powder testing from another forum. Check out his results:

1-EEF7694-F692-4908-BA2-D-C7540-E77-DED2.png


6-B61-E94-A-DAA5-43-CC-BDA3-B32-C059-A12-AE.png


The Pyrodex was old and opened for a long time. Typically I’ve seen the results closer to what Grafs and standard Goex give, but in a book I have Pyrodex can achieve what Swiss, Olde E, and T7 do. Granted their’s is the only time I’ve seen it so I don’t consider it an energetic powder figuring the odds are it achieves what’s more typically seen.
 
>> Is the perceived threat stated in your OP genuine or not?

I really dont know. A jilted ex who thinks she has a score to settle with me and who is now hanging out with an armed ex-con sent me a message saying, "I told him all about you and he said he knew what to do with men like you." How would you take that? That's all I got.

Ivy League school, proffessional carreer and she's sending me stuff like that!
 
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