Schofield and BP

[hoosegowhank]

I read of several using the Uberti Schofield with BP without it binding up.  I have tried all of the suggestions without success.  I have tried both the 200 and 250 BL Bullets 45 LC and the guns still bind up after 5 shots using 3 F Schuetzen.

[Flint]

I have an original S&W Model 3 in 44 Russian, and a 2nd model S&W Russian revolver as well, and neither will shoot much more than one cylinder full of black powder loads.  This means spraying Windex or Ballistol between loads even with an original S&W.  The originals should never be fired with a smokeless load.

The Uberti made Schofield has a very short gas ring, as the cylinder is longer than the original S&W, allowing fouling to be blown into the cylinder's axis.  The Uberti Russian gas ring is a bit longer, but still not as long as the original, so neither the Schofield nor the Russian by Uberti will handle black powder loads even as well as the originals.  Luckily, the Uberti made revolvers are rated to handle smokeless powder.

[Dick Dastardly]

Howdy Hank,

http://www.theopenrange.net/forum/index.php?topic=6034.0

Some are more successful than others, but it's been done.  The answer seems to be a combination of gun prep, the right bullets and some good lube.  Were I to shoot a match that mattered with a Schofield I'd want a spritz bottle of moosemilk on my cart.  The tests that were run on the above thread did work.

Anything you can do to keep that cylinder center pin wet seems to be the ticket to continued shooting without binding.

DD-DLoS

[Hell-Er High Water]

DD,

I just finished shooting 5 stages of a 2 day, 12 stage match with my pair of stock, Navy Arms, Uberti Schofields without any binding or other problems.  I purposely did not use any Moosemilk spray or other lubrication between stages as I wanted to see how these revolvers would function in what is probably a worse case weather scenario for black powder revolvers.  This was the Roop Co. Days match and was held in Fernley, NV.  This is a high desert location and the weather was the normal hot and dry, temperatue in the low 90's and relative humidity below 10%.

The reason that I only shot 5 stages was that I still only have the original 50 cases the AJ sent for the initial test.  Now that I know that these revolvers will run through a normal shoot - wait - shoot - wait, etc, etc scenario I'll get more cases on order.  The load, bullet, lubrication, etc was the same as those used during the initial range test;  Cowboy 45 Special cases, EPP-UG 45 150 grain bullet sized 0.454", Pearl Lube and 1.3cc of compressed GOEX 3f with a heavy crimp.

I thought that this might be of interest to anyone that still has misgivings about BP in the Navy Arms Schofield revolvers.

Thanks again to you and AJ for your help with this project.

HHW

[Dick Dastardly]

Thanks HHW,

That little bullet hauls a LOT of lube for it's size.  Also, PL-II is very hard on fouling.  The sooty stuff seems to stay mushy soft and blow away with the next shot.

There's an ingredient in Pearl Lube that acts like teflon.  It cleans up easy but fouling just doesn't seem to get a grip on the metal.  I've grown confident enough that I frequently shoot GF with my ROAs and those little bullets and PL.  I had equally good luck with my brace of 1860 open tops.

Hang on to those Schofields.  They will run with Holy Black.

DD-DLoS