brewer12345
Member
- Joined
- Nov 29, 2015
- Messages
- 2,754
Shot the 1858 36 sheriff today, the first time I have shot a cap and ball. I only had time for 5 cylinders worth, but I learned a lot just in that time. I have it drying out after cleaning so I can oil it up, but I have some questions after my first outing.
- How the heck do you get the nipples off the cylinder? I tried two different wrenches and it seems like neither would work.
- I only had my rifle powder measure with me so it was hard to be precise since the thing is designed to go up to 150 grains and the range I was looking for was 9 to 22 grains of 3F. What do I need to measure more finely?
- of the loads I tested, 20 grains seemed the most promising although I will need to experiment further. All loads shot 4 to 6 inches low and a couple to the left. Any obvious way to get closer to POA? The front sight is dovetailed.
- none of my existing cleaning rods are skinny enough for a 36 cal. Any suggestions?
- I started out trying Rem #11 caps but half of them fell off the nipples (which are supposed to take #11 caps) before I could fire those chambers. #10 Rem caps fit and stayed on, although my supply of those is modest. I mostly have CCI #11. are they a little tighter than the #11 Rem? Any obvious solution?
Thanks for any pointers. I really like revolvers and I like black powder stuff, so this is like the old Reese's commercials. Loading is a bit tedious, but I imagine I will get faster. I found that if I lubed the cylinder pin and face every cylider fired or two it kept the gun from gumming up and binding.
- How the heck do you get the nipples off the cylinder? I tried two different wrenches and it seems like neither would work.
- I only had my rifle powder measure with me so it was hard to be precise since the thing is designed to go up to 150 grains and the range I was looking for was 9 to 22 grains of 3F. What do I need to measure more finely?
- of the loads I tested, 20 grains seemed the most promising although I will need to experiment further. All loads shot 4 to 6 inches low and a couple to the left. Any obvious way to get closer to POA? The front sight is dovetailed.
- none of my existing cleaning rods are skinny enough for a 36 cal. Any suggestions?
- I started out trying Rem #11 caps but half of them fell off the nipples (which are supposed to take #11 caps) before I could fire those chambers. #10 Rem caps fit and stayed on, although my supply of those is modest. I mostly have CCI #11. are they a little tighter than the #11 Rem? Any obvious solution?
Thanks for any pointers. I really like revolvers and I like black powder stuff, so this is like the old Reese's commercials. Loading is a bit tedious, but I imagine I will get faster. I found that if I lubed the cylinder pin and face every cylider fired or two it kept the gun from gumming up and binding.