Incendiary cap 'n' ball experience.

[Dark Skies]

The other day I was shooting my Pietta 'Colt' Navy .36 using home cast balls, homemade wads (hat felt + tallow + beeswax) and 15 grains of black powder.

A paper target mounted in a plastic holder was twenty-five yards away.
Three shots in and I noticed the paper was rapidly getting darker with some orangey flickery bits around it. I immediately twigged it had caught fire and had to get all the other lanes to cease fire before I could rip the target down. A close call as the ceiling above has polystyrene tiled insulation.

My guess is the stiff and sticky wad had followed the ball all the way to the paper, carrying some still burning powder. Has anybody had this happen to them? At twenty-five yards that has to be a fluke, right?

 

[Dave Markowitz]

I've had wads impact my targets at 25 yards and leave deep dents. I've had them embed in the cardboard target backer when shooting at closer range.

You might try wads lubed with 100% pure neatsfoot oil. They will help keep fouling soft and may be less prone to setting a target on fire. They are also simpler to lube since you don't need to mix up or melt the lube. Just immerse the wads in the lube and squeeze out any excess.

 

[hawg]

I use olive oil.

 

[Eyrie G. Dogg]

Me too, with bee’s wax.

I have had felt wads follow balls and conicals into chunks of wood. They looked pretty well toasted.

 

[Navy Six 2]

Every once in a while I find the wads stuck to the cardboard target or actually punched through if I'm shooting close enough.

 

[beag_nut]

Every indoor range I ever visited did/does not allow any black powder, and not just because of the smoke.

 

[Miguel Loco]

Man....I'd pay extra for the flaming targets!

 

[Ugly Sauce]

Yes, wads can travel 25 yards easily. Heavier on the wax, and less lube could help. Wads dipped in pure melted bee's wax might be better, but in a .36 can be kind of difficult to get started in the cylinder. Or consider a STIFF lube (not gooey like crisco) over the ball instead of a wad, but most people don't like fooling with that. I've found that if you pre-make balls of lube, that makes lubing over the ball faster and less messy.

 

[hawg]

You could take those lube balls and put them under the balls. Yeah they would take up room better used by powder. I lube my wads with olive oil and have never had one reach the target.

 

[Terry G]

That begs a question. I have a .44 Colt copy made by Pietta. I haven't fired it.in years, but I'm going to get back into it. My question is do the felt wads go between the ball and the powder or over the top of the ball and powder. How many grains of Black Powder/ Pyrodex is a good load? I have both. Thanks for any help.

 

[Heir Kommt Die Sonne]

That begs a question. I have a .44 Colt copy made by Pietta. I haven't fired it.in years, but I'm going to get back into it. My question is do the felt wads go between the ball and the powder or over the top of the ball and powder. How many grains of Black Powder/ Pyrodex is a good load? I have both. Thanks for any help.

They go between the pwoder and ball. You pour your powder charge then, then place the wad over it, then you seat the ball.

Edit: Anywhere between 18 grains to 30 grains of powder is a good load. If it's a brass frame, stick closer to 18-21 grains.
As for pyrodex, use this same information.

 

[hawg]

Pyrodex is a straight across substitute for bp by volume not by weight.

 

[woodnbow]

Yes, wads can travel 25 yards easily. Heavier on the wax, and less lube could help. Wads dipped in pure melted bee's wax might be better, but in a .36 can be kind of difficult to get started in the cylinder. Or consider a STIFF lube (not gooey like crisco) over the ball instead of a wad, but most people don't like fooling with that. I've found that if you pre-make balls of lube, that makes lubing over the ball faster and less messy.
View attachment 1135538

You could market those! “Old Ugly’s Wonder Balls” or something… catchy huh?

 

[hawg]

You could market those! “Old Ugly’s Wonder Balls” or something… catchy huh?

I could say something but I won't.

 

[Eyrie G. Dogg]

Ugly Sauces’ Original Pistol Puddin Boogers.

The fellow at Long Hunters uses those over a veg card. I’ve rolled a few. Works good.

 

[Ugly Sauce]

You could market those! “Old Ugly’s Wonder Balls” or something… catchy huh?

Catchy and a bit sketchy. Since they are a blend of Wonder Lube and Bee's wax, I guess they would be "Wonder Balls". Or wonderful bee balls. Or something like that. !!!!

 

[Ugly Sauce]

I could say something but I won't.

Thank you Hawg. This could get...wait for it...UGLY!

 

[dickydalton]

Hit the target fine and dug out of the sand behind.You can tell which one was Goex vs Swiss!

 

[Dark Skies]

Every indoor range I ever visited did/does not allow any black powder, and not just because of the smoke.

Is that because of a risk of fire, or because it's an explosive with scope for flasks to become hand grenades?

Smoke and pungency wise, I've not noticed a discernable difference between black powder and substitutes - that said, we have an excellent extractor system in our range.
I've put thousands of rounds down range over the years without incident.

 

[whughett]

I use 50/50 beeswax crisco, the solid type. I’ve had occasional target impact and, rarely, a smoke trail from a wad. By and large if I wanted to take the time to find and recover, the wads could actually be reused. Wad material is heavy 1/8 wool felt from DuroFelt.

 

[whughett]

Yes, wads can travel 25 yards easily. Heavier on the wax, and less lube could help. Wads dipped in pure melted bee's wax might be better, but in a .36 can be kind of difficult to get started in the cylinder. Or consider a STIFF lube (not gooey like crisco) over the ball instead of a wad, but most people don't like fooling with that. I've found that if you pre-make balls of lube, that makes lubing over the ball faster and less messy.
View attachment 1135538

I experimented with and had good luck making lube pills by pouring molten 60/40 wax and solid Crisco onto the surface of cold water in a pan. Drained, dried then coated with cornstarch the 44 caliber pills were cut from the sheet with a 45ACP case.
Works well and I still use them in 45C cartridges on occasion.

 

[hawg]

How do you get them out of the case?

 

[Speedo66]

I use olive oil.

Does Italian first cold pressed extra virgin work best?

You could market those! “Old Ugly’s Wonder Balls” or something… catchy huh?

A certain Jerry Lee Lewis song comes to mind…

 

[woodnbow]

How do you get them out of the case?

I’ve done something like this with a 45 colt case. I drilled the primer pocket and put a 10-32 machine screw through the pocket with a retaining nut on the outside. It worked ok but I think Ugly’s method is probably easier.

 

[Lyle]

I made lube pills in the past and found them to be too much work. I currently use soy wax flakes over a cardboard wad made from cereal boxes. 20 grains of powder, cardboard wad, fill the chamber almost full with the soy wax flakes and load the ball. This makes a nice wax star on the muzzle and is less messy. When the temperature reaches 110 degrees outside most other lubricants are extremely messy.