Many writers and posters make loading .45 Colt BP rounds seem like an arcane science, prone to failure and disappointing results unless expensive bullets, proprietary lubes, fiber wads, etc are used.
This is horse-hocky...using nothing but commercial hardcast bullets and a microwave, entirely satisfactory and accurate black powder loads can be assembled with not much more trouble than loading standard smokeless.
Firstly, let's deal with the bullets....commercial hardcast RNFP or SWC bought properly sized to fill chamber throat and bore are a must-have. If your gun has undersized throats swaging bullets down to a rattling fit going down-bore, you can stop right here....conversely, oversized throats/undersized bullets will allow a lot fouling blow-by/build-up. If your gun is properly made, simply place a folded papertowel in a stout tupperware container, set your bullets base-down on the towel, and micro-wave on a lower setting like "reheat" to melt out most the useless crayon-hard lube....the bullets will get hot very quickly, so keep an eye on things so they don't get hot enough to do a China Syndrome thing through the tupperware....then, set them aside and allow bullets and lube-soaked paper to cool....it's OK if traces of lube remains on bullets.
Secondly, let's deal with lube....BP and petroleum based stuff just doesn't mix....paraffin, petrolatum (Vaseline), etc, various greases, expensive additives, etc. either don't keep fouling soft, and/or make fouling cake-on and burn like spilled oil on an exhaust manifold. All you will need is a cake of beeswax and some veggie oil. Using another tupperware container, and using the microwave on "reheat", simply put chunks of wax in the container, add a little oil, and heat until melted. Allow the stuff to cool, and then add either more wax or more oil and re-nuke to adjust stiffness...expect this to take a couple of tries.
Thirdly, let's lube the bullets....using the tupperware you heated the bullets in, place your now-delubed bullets back in the container, without a papertowel, reheat your lube, and pour it into the bullet container until grooves are just covered...leave 1/2" min. spacing between bullets....after the lube/bullet cake cools, pop it out of the tupperware, hold it in your hand, and whack the bullets on the nose with a plastic mallet, piece of dowel, etc., knocking them out base-first from the back of the cake onto a waiting folded papertowel...it helps to knock them out between your spread fingers, the fingers supporting the cake so it doesn't break, ditto the space we left between bullets.
Fourthly, load them just like you load your smokeless rounds, but use Magnum pistol primers such as CCI 350's, the only caveat being BE SURE THERE IS NO AIRSPACE LEFT IN THE CASE OR YOU WILL BLOW YOUR GUN UP!!!.....do I need to repeat that?....no?....OK.....either fill the case with BP until bullet base contact during seating is guaranteed, or, add a filler such as Cream Of Wheat or cornmeal until bullet contact is guaranteed....IF YOU LEAVE AIRSPACE, YOU WILL BLOW YOUR GUN UP!!!....oh, sorry, you said you didn't need the repeating.
With this recipe, you will have assembled loads that will fire 50rds straight without the slightest hint of binding/fouling, and which will maintain whatever accuracy your gun started with until the last round is fired....in truth, the gun will appear cleaner than loads using Bullseye pistol powder.
Cleaning is a chore, no getting around it, but, again, and can be simple and cheap.....very hot tap water in the sink with ammonia-based household cleaners works great, as does Murphy Oil Soap....I recommend detail strip every time, cleaning the large parts in the sink, and small parts in a bowl. After cleaning, flush parts with very hot water, shake/blow, place on papertowel, and immediately lube with either a thinned version of your bullet lube or Bore Butter (same thing), then reassemble.
You'll note no fancy chemicals, lube, wads, greases or bullets were harmed during the filming of this....errr......film.....and neither were you by contact with any of them.....
The brass should be immediately deprimed after firing and chucked into a jug filled with a soap/water mix, occasionally sloshed around....once home, rinse/slosh several more times in the jug, then dump them out to dry on a papertowel, and then clean as usual.....or just be lazy, use your old cases, and trash them after firing.....but I would NEVER do such a thing.....
This is horse-hocky...using nothing but commercial hardcast bullets and a microwave, entirely satisfactory and accurate black powder loads can be assembled with not much more trouble than loading standard smokeless.
Firstly, let's deal with the bullets....commercial hardcast RNFP or SWC bought properly sized to fill chamber throat and bore are a must-have. If your gun has undersized throats swaging bullets down to a rattling fit going down-bore, you can stop right here....conversely, oversized throats/undersized bullets will allow a lot fouling blow-by/build-up. If your gun is properly made, simply place a folded papertowel in a stout tupperware container, set your bullets base-down on the towel, and micro-wave on a lower setting like "reheat" to melt out most the useless crayon-hard lube....the bullets will get hot very quickly, so keep an eye on things so they don't get hot enough to do a China Syndrome thing through the tupperware....then, set them aside and allow bullets and lube-soaked paper to cool....it's OK if traces of lube remains on bullets.
Secondly, let's deal with lube....BP and petroleum based stuff just doesn't mix....paraffin, petrolatum (Vaseline), etc, various greases, expensive additives, etc. either don't keep fouling soft, and/or make fouling cake-on and burn like spilled oil on an exhaust manifold. All you will need is a cake of beeswax and some veggie oil. Using another tupperware container, and using the microwave on "reheat", simply put chunks of wax in the container, add a little oil, and heat until melted. Allow the stuff to cool, and then add either more wax or more oil and re-nuke to adjust stiffness...expect this to take a couple of tries.
Thirdly, let's lube the bullets....using the tupperware you heated the bullets in, place your now-delubed bullets back in the container, without a papertowel, reheat your lube, and pour it into the bullet container until grooves are just covered...leave 1/2" min. spacing between bullets....after the lube/bullet cake cools, pop it out of the tupperware, hold it in your hand, and whack the bullets on the nose with a plastic mallet, piece of dowel, etc., knocking them out base-first from the back of the cake onto a waiting folded papertowel...it helps to knock them out between your spread fingers, the fingers supporting the cake so it doesn't break, ditto the space we left between bullets.
Fourthly, load them just like you load your smokeless rounds, but use Magnum pistol primers such as CCI 350's, the only caveat being BE SURE THERE IS NO AIRSPACE LEFT IN THE CASE OR YOU WILL BLOW YOUR GUN UP!!!.....do I need to repeat that?....no?....OK.....either fill the case with BP until bullet base contact during seating is guaranteed, or, add a filler such as Cream Of Wheat or cornmeal until bullet contact is guaranteed....IF YOU LEAVE AIRSPACE, YOU WILL BLOW YOUR GUN UP!!!....oh, sorry, you said you didn't need the repeating.
With this recipe, you will have assembled loads that will fire 50rds straight without the slightest hint of binding/fouling, and which will maintain whatever accuracy your gun started with until the last round is fired....in truth, the gun will appear cleaner than loads using Bullseye pistol powder.
Cleaning is a chore, no getting around it, but, again, and can be simple and cheap.....very hot tap water in the sink with ammonia-based household cleaners works great, as does Murphy Oil Soap....I recommend detail strip every time, cleaning the large parts in the sink, and small parts in a bowl. After cleaning, flush parts with very hot water, shake/blow, place on papertowel, and immediately lube with either a thinned version of your bullet lube or Bore Butter (same thing), then reassemble.
You'll note no fancy chemicals, lube, wads, greases or bullets were harmed during the filming of this....errr......film.....and neither were you by contact with any of them.....
The brass should be immediately deprimed after firing and chucked into a jug filled with a soap/water mix, occasionally sloshed around....once home, rinse/slosh several more times in the jug, then dump them out to dry on a papertowel, and then clean as usual.....or just be lazy, use your old cases, and trash them after firing.....but I would NEVER do such a thing.....
