Go BLACK you won't go BACK!

[rbertalotto]

I'm back with the Black!

I recently acquired few 1800 single shot rifles. A few years back I bought a Shiloh Sharps and shot it a bit, but my head was more into precision BR and at the time the waiting period for Sharps rifles was a year or more. Someone offered me stupid money so I sold it.

Cowboy Action Shooting grabbed my interest a year or so ago and watching the side match buffalo shoots renewed my interest in 'Buffalo" rifle. I bought a Winchester 1885 BPCR, a Pedersoli 1874 Sharps and a Pedersoli 1871 Remington Rolling Block. All in 45-70......The search starts for accuracy!






This Rolling Block now wear a tang sight and a globe front. That Tasco reproduction scope was like looking through the bottom of a Vaseline jar!



At first I was buying my lead bullets. Although there are many custom bullet makers to sell you their wares, it soon became obvious that the hobby would not be complete unless I cast my own bullets. So a few hundred dollars later , a ton of molds, a PID, two furnaces, a Star Lubrisizer, and a sore back for my postman delivering 70 pound boxes of lead from RotoMetals, I'm now an official bullet caster.




I didn't want to use Black Powder because of the cleanup chores of brass and gun. I started out using smokeless powders. But I just couldn't get the Winchester or the Rolling Block to shoot accuratly. The Sharps is an amazing tack driver with anything I load into it. And this gave me a false sense that the other two rifles should perform likewise with smokeless powder.



Forums such as this kept telling me I needed to go BLACK. I resisted. Simply didn't want to deal with the clean up. But I finally bought some FFg and loaded a few rounds and headed to the range. The Rolling Block went from a 5" rifle at 100 yards to a 1.5" rifle! And at 200 yards I can easily keep five shots within 4" with iron sights! The Winchester wears a Malcolm short scope and it can now hold less than 3" at 200 yards. I've not taken the targets out to 300 and 500 yards yet.

I discovered two thing that make it crazy easy to clean up BP.

Ballistol and Stainless Steel Pin Tumbling!

I made up a bottle of "Moose Milk", 25% Balistol to 75% Water. I put it into a spray bottle. Before I shoot the rifles I spray some on a rag and wipe down the guns. Any BP residue that comes in contact with the rifles easy wipes off at the end of the shooting session. I saturate a few cloth patches and swab the chamber of the rifle before shooting. After I fire five rounds I use a damp patch to swab the bore before I fire five more rounds. I find this proceedure removes the fouling without disturbing my point of impact. When I'm done shooting I use 100% Balistol (available in a spray can) to clean everything. The bore gets a couple of three wet patches and then five or six strokes of a bronze brush and a few more wet patches followed by a few dry and then a storage coating of 100% Ballistol. This takes about 5 minutes and my bores look and perform beautifully!

For the brass, I'm here to tell you that the Stainless Steel pins that all the shooting forums are talking about are simply amazing.

At the range I use a simple water bottle filled with water and a squirt of dish detergent. As I fire a round, the empty case goes into the water bottle. After there are a few round it gets a shake.

Once I get home the bottle is emptied, the brass is placed in a rotary tumbler with water, SS pins, a shot of dish detergent and a splash of white vinegar. I let them tumble for an hour or so. The brass comes out looking brand new. Inside and out! I do not remove my primers. I tumble with primers in place and it is simply fantastic how clean the INSIDE of the cases are.

To dry the cases I made a little rig out of suspended ceiling vent material and I stand the cases on top of my dehumidifier where the warm, dry air is blowing into the cases. They dry in about 10 minutes. Ready for decapping and reloading.



I'm not sure how it could be much easier.

Go BLACK, You won't go back!

[Steel Horse Bailey]

Another fine report, rbertalotto!

You're hooked for sure, now.  I DO love the look of the Malcolm scope, but all the trouble you went 'thru (in your other postings) is beyond my level and wallet.

[rbertalotto]

Yup, This stuff is just too much fun!

I just ordered a set of Lee Shaver sights for the Winchester. After all that scope work, I'm finding I can use the tang sights just as well as I can use the scopes. For target shooting where the bullseye is huge, the tang and globe work fine. But for hunting or "Rock Shooting" the scope is a better match.