tradja
Member
I am very new to blackpowder. Last fall, I spent an afternoon with a friend, an experienced blackpowder shooter, and got the basics of safety and technique.
Fast forward to last weekend. My wife's parents visited and gave me a blackpowder pistol that had belonged to my wife's grandfather.
It is a plains-style single-shot percussion pistol, in excellent condition, marked FIE (isn't this the Tangfolio outfit?). It seemed like too big a bore to be a .36, and a when I tested for fit, a .45ACP slug seemed tight in the muzzle.
I brought it to Sportsman's Warehouse, and the clerk measured the bore with calipers (in the back room), and told me it was a .40cal. He said that ideally, I was looking for a .415 or .425 ball. However, the only .40 balls he had were .433. They are are a snug fit in the muzzle, and won't accomodate a patch, so he sold me some .44/.45 wads to use instead of a patch. I wonder what projectile/patch/wad combo this gun was originally designed for?
In retrospect, this is where the comes in. I'm not convinced he was half as knowledgeable as he came off. Should I really shoot these .433 balls with a wad? Or should I order some .415 or .425 from trackofthewolf.com? Or is this really a .36cal pistol, using patched .375 balls?
I don't know of any real blackpowder shops or blackpowder gunsmiths in my area.
Just my luck to get an oddball caliber, but I am very pleased to have received a gun as a gift, my first blackpowder piece, and one with family significance.
Thanks.
Fast forward to last weekend. My wife's parents visited and gave me a blackpowder pistol that had belonged to my wife's grandfather.
It is a plains-style single-shot percussion pistol, in excellent condition, marked FIE (isn't this the Tangfolio outfit?). It seemed like too big a bore to be a .36, and a when I tested for fit, a .45ACP slug seemed tight in the muzzle.
I brought it to Sportsman's Warehouse, and the clerk measured the bore with calipers (in the back room), and told me it was a .40cal. He said that ideally, I was looking for a .415 or .425 ball. However, the only .40 balls he had were .433. They are are a snug fit in the muzzle, and won't accomodate a patch, so he sold me some .44/.45 wads to use instead of a patch. I wonder what projectile/patch/wad combo this gun was originally designed for?
In retrospect, this is where the comes in. I'm not convinced he was half as knowledgeable as he came off. Should I really shoot these .433 balls with a wad? Or should I order some .415 or .425 from trackofthewolf.com? Or is this really a .36cal pistol, using patched .375 balls?
I don't know of any real blackpowder shops or blackpowder gunsmiths in my area.
Just my luck to get an oddball caliber, but I am very pleased to have received a gun as a gift, my first blackpowder piece, and one with family significance.
Thanks.