Somebody’s time is running out…

Posted on August 10, 2014 by Oleg Volk

1858 Army, target version.

This is my first foray into black powder, so I tried to pick something with practical value.

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7 Responses to Somebody’s time is running out…

  1. David E says:
    August 10, 2014 at 4:37 pm

    You are going to have fun with this one. 😉

  2. len faria says:
    August 10, 2014 at 6:46 pm

    The colt Army and navy revolvers are large, elegant and dangerous weapons. Heavy and yet comfortable and an extension to your arm that is easy to point. I bought one in 1970 at the age of 17 when I couldn’t buy firearms or most ammunition. walked into the store with $100 and walked out with a .44 New Army revolver, a pound of 3f powder, 100 caps, 100 .451 balls (cut a nice ring when pressed and no wax required), a powder flask/measure and cleaning rod. I learned to carry a little oil can that I filled with solvent. After firing six rounds you could flush out the action with the solvent and reload and fire another six before having to disassemble and clean. Loads of fun. Noise, smoke, flash and reasonably accurate and fast. Get a holster and belt.

  3. Eric Wilner says:
    August 10, 2014 at 6:54 pm

    Oh, fun indeed!
    I got the cheap version (brass frame, fixed sights) back in the early 90s. Took it out to the range; on the call of “commence firing”, all the yuppies would start loading their wondernines, then shooting, then reloading… meanwhile, I was doing the “powder, wad, ball, ram, 6x… cap, 6x” thing; about the time they were starting on their second magazines, I’d take careful aim, and BOOF! Now everyone downwind is looking around to seewhere the smoke came from.
    Even the cheap one was accurate enough to be fun rather than frustrating. Also, it’s much easier on the ears than its moden counterparts, which is cool if you’re having a blackpowder-only party.

    • Lyle says:
      August 11, 2014 at 3:40 pm

      A tight gun, loaded to near full power, is plenty loud. The Remington New Model Army can easily equal the ballistics of the hottest loads published in the Speer manual for the 40 S&W with a 180 grain bullet.

      You don’t want to do that with a brass frame though.

      When I got my first percussion revolver (a Pietta Colt repro) it had a huge cylinder gap, and it went “Bwoof” when it fired. I tightened the gap to 5 thousandths, and now it goes “Crack!” like a modern gun. I’ve taken the gap on another Colt repro down to three thousandths with no binding/fouling issues at the cylinder face so far.

      Anyway; really nice photo there, Oleg.

      • Eric Wilner says:
        August 13, 2014 at 12:18 pm

        Interesting !
        I figured mine was a recreational oddity, not a serious tool, so I never considered trying to improve on “good enough”.
        Guess my usual urge to tinker must have been otherwise directed.

  4. Lyle says:
    August 11, 2014 at 6:47 pm

    That ain’t no starter’s pistol neither.

  5. Sid says:
    August 15, 2014 at 1:17 pm

    The thing I like about this generation of guns is that they are the perfect design if you are gonna whack a surly bartender…… even if it ain’t much of a crime.

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