OT- Made some smoke

Andrew · Post by **Andrew** » Fri Jan 25, 2008 6:20 pm

I made my way to the country today to make some smoke with the Old Army. It was a learning experiance.

Did you know if you don't reset the locking screw after installing the cylinder, that when you try to seat a ball with the lever you can pull the cylinder pin out just far enough to bend the $#@% out of it? Oh yeah, it can be done.

I fixed that and went back out to try again. I started with just 20g cause the manual recomended it for a good "accurate" load. I didn't have any fill material and 20g gets swallowed by the chamber. Had to try a couple caps to get it to go. When it did it was weak.

30g worked nice the first time and sounded good too. 35g sounded even better and felt good too.

That's it. I shot 3 times. It was too cold to manipulate the caps on the nipples, and the lube was almost solid making it very difficult to get it ready to go. I still had a blast though and I loved the sound it made, more like a "woosh" than a "bang".

I cleaned it up with soapy water and then dried it off and took it home. It lays right now with the cylinder and grips removed and is awaiting a final inspection and oiling before getting put back in it's case. Good times.

BTW, I kind of sorta didn't get the second chamber that was loaded with 20g to go off. I.E., the ball is still in there. I don't have a nipple wrench to go in the back way and was wandering how hard it woul be to pull it out?

I would like to thank dr walker as well for his generous donation of .457 balls to me. They came in the mail today and look great, thanks again.

TedH · Post by **TedH** » Fri Jan 25, 2008 6:23 pm

That ball shouldn't be too hard to pull out. Try and drill a small hole in the center of it and turn in a long screw to pull it out with.

ScottT · Post by **ScottT** » Fri Jan 25, 2008 6:24 pm

Andrew,

You can take the offending nipple off, and empty the chamber from the nipple side. Then a thin rod can be used to push the bullet out. A little help from a mallet might be needed, but you can unload it that way. It is a straight shot down the chamber. I have a brass rod for this purpose.

Andrew · Post by **Andrew** » Fri Jan 25, 2008 6:28 pm

TedH wrote:That ball shouldn't be too hard to pull out. Try and drill a small hole in the center of it and turn in a long screw to pull it out with.

Sweetness! The bit pulled the sucker out all in one motion, thanks.

ScottT · Post by **ScottT** » Fri Jan 25, 2008 6:30 pm

Three of my friends got together and gave me one of these Old Army revolvers this week. I went to the range that afternoon and fired 100balls downrange.......It is a lot of work to shoot 100 balls!

It really shoots too!!!

Looks really businesslike from the front end.

But it did get a little dirty over the course of the afternoon.

Griff · Post by **Griff** » Fri Jan 25, 2008 6:41 pm

A few needed accroutements:

For those little "oopsies": Ruger Nipple Wrench

For ease of loading: Walker Flask, Adjustable. This makes consistent loading a breeze. Your Ruger will handle all the loads that can be dispensed with this.

Also for ease of loading: In-line capper. I keep two of 'em loaded up. Some revolvers can use a "Snail" capper, but you really need to check the fit of the "neck" before you buy.

And for dry holes, this may just be the best thing since sliced cheese: Ball Discharger. Read directions carefully!

Griff · Post by **Griff** » Fri Jan 25, 2008 6:44 pm

And, ScottT, now that they've been discontinued, even more valuable. Looks like fun. Did you try any FFFg in it. I found with both my '51 Navies and my .44 1858 Remington, I get better loads using the finer powder. More "CRACK" than "WHOOSH"!

Andrew · Post by **Andrew** » Fri Jan 25, 2008 6:52 pm

Griff after this afternoon all of those things are on my list.

I saw a cap dispenser at BassPro and thought "That looks stupid", but, turns out I'm just stupid. Those #10's are infinitely tiny once your fingers get too cold.

I am gonna hold off on the flask for now until I get to shoot it more and figure out exactly what load it likes and proceed from there. The powder measurer I got works great, it's just slower than a flask.

Scott, do how you like using those wads? I may get me some if it would help any.

Griff · Post by **Griff** » Fri Jan 25, 2008 7:02 pm

Andrew wrote:Scott, do how you like using those wads? I may get me some if it would help any.

Not Scott, but I use 'em all the time in my '51s. As they say, "wouldn't leave home without 'em! They really make loading easy. Dump powder, push in wad, set bullet and ram the works down! You do have to keep everything lubed up good tho' as you're not getting any lube from the front of the ball. Some folks still lube, but, if I'm using wads, I don't. Just lazy I guess.

ScottT · Post by **ScottT** » Fri Jan 25, 2008 7:05 pm

Griff wrote:And, ScottT, now that they've been discontinued, even more valuable. Looks like fun. Did you try any FFFg in it. I found with both my '51 Navies and my .44 1858 Remington, I get better loads using the finer powder. More "CRACK" than "WHOOSH"!

Griff,

All I have in the powder magazine is GOEX Cartridge and FFG, though I have a pound of FFFFG that should last me forever for priming the flint lock.

But black is hard to get around here.

ScottT · Post by **ScottT** » Fri Jan 25, 2008 7:06 pm

Griff wrote:
Andrew wrote:Scott, do how you like using those wads? I may get me some if it would help any.
Not Scott, but I use 'em all the time in my '51s. As they say, "wouldn't leave home without 'em! They really make loading easy. Dump powder, push in wad, set bullet and ram the works down! You do have to keep everything lubed up good tho' as you're not getting any lube from the front of the ball. Some folks still lube, but, if I'm using wads, I don't. Just lazy I guess.

I'm the same way, if you look at the photo from the front, you can see that after 50 or so rounds, there was a good amount of lube on the muzzle. That is what you want with black powder. I shot all 100 rds without having to clean anything. Use the felt wads....they work.

Andrew · Post by **Andrew** » Fri Jan 25, 2008 7:21 pm

I was using Pyrodex P FFFg equivolent; FFFg is what the manual recomended.

I just noticed that in the box with the .457's is a bag of felt wads, so I will try them next time I go shoot.

dr walker · Post by **dr walker** » Fri Jan 25, 2008 8:48 pm

Glad you recieved the package.
I settled on about 35 gr of powder, one of those felt wads, a ball, and a thumb of crisco over the top. As long as the humidity was low I could shoot 100 shots, but in humid weather I was lucky if I could get through 40.
Enjoy shooting your ROA. They are great fun.

Pete44ru · Post by **Pete44ru** » Fri Jan 25, 2008 8:56 pm

http://www.taylorsfirearms.com/products ... 0Cylinders

Post by **Ysabel Kid** » Fri Jan 25, 2008 10:34 pm

ScottT wrote: It is a lot of work to shoot 100 balls!

Scott -

If that is your definition of "work", I'd love to hear what you think "fun" is!